Annwyl Gyfeillion

Advent Message

I will be following my usual precedent of issuing a short video message to the diocese for Advent Sunday, with the expectation that it will be used in all the Churches of the diocese at their main service of worship on Advent Sunday, as it is the first Sunday of the Church’s Year.  The message will be made available in good time for Advent Sunday later this month, but do please plan its incorporation into your programmes now, and look out for the package of versions when it is made available. The message will be published in the normal range of formats: English video, English Audio, Welsh Audio, Welsh text, and English text. Select the one which works for your Churches.  The message is about eight minutes long, so it can easily serve as the sermon on that day, if you wish.

Hellins Lecture 2026

The next Hellins Lecture has been arranged for Wednesday, November 11^th at 1930hrs at St Deiniol’s Church, Hawarden.  The Hellins Lecture is an occasional theological lecture in memory of the late Canon E J W Hellins DD, who endowed a trust to resource theological education in the diocese, which in more recent years has been used to invite a distinguished keynote speaker to the diocese.  Everyone is welcome, so please do advertise it to your congregations.

This year we are delighted to welcome the Revd Dr Malcolm Guite, renowned poet and Life Fellow and a former Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge, who will be lecturing on the following theme: ”Imagination bodies forth”: Christ and the Poetic Imagination.

Malcolm Guite is widely acclaimed for his books of religious poetry, particularly his sonnets, which often engage with Christian themes, the Psalms, nature, and the liturgical calendar. He has authored acclaimed collections like Sounding the Seasons, The Singing Bowl, and David’s Crown, and is praised for making faith-infused poetry accessible and inspiring.

As parking immediately around St Deiniol’s Church in limited, you are advised to use the Tinkersdale Car Park (CH5 3DQ) in the village which is a short walk away.

Hwyl a Helo

I am pleased to announce that following the successful completion of her curacy Pam Hallam is to be licensed as Associate Priest in Offa Mission Area. Pam has been doing sterling work especially in Ruabon during its current vacancy, with her licensing an affirmation of the important contribution she has been making to St Mary’s and the wider mission area.

I extend condolences to the Revd Dorothi Evans on the recent death of her husband Robin. Robin had been ill for some time,  and hold Dorothi and her family in prayer. We’ve heard this morning that Sarah Hildreth-Osborn lost her father John over the weekend. We commend them both to God, and pray for all those who mourn.

We recorded Bishop John Dudley Davies’ death in the Ad Clerum last month. His funeral will take place on 3 November at St Oswald’s Oswestry at 1130hrs, followed by cremation at Pentrebychan at 1330hrs

Diary and Events                            

Please read the whole of the diary below carefully. The diary is updated every month to include those fixed dates for events that clergy are required to attend as part of their professional commitment, together with those opportunities to build up our common life by supporting significant moments for our colleagues.

It is very important that each of you make a note of these dates. Please ensure that the dates which are a professional requirement are in your diary, even where the exact format may be open to change.

Where a clash with your own plans comes to your attention, please raise it with Esgobty at the earliest opportunity. I am still occasionally getting excuses late in the day from clergy who don’t seem to have planned ahead, or even to have read this monthly diary, and I am much more amenable when approached early to discuss any potential clashes. Where these matters are professional commitments, I expect you to be present as part of the fulfilment of your duties. I am willing to excuse people for good cause, but it is permission from me and not apology that is required.

Forthcoming events

November

11^th Novr            The Hellins Lecture with Malcolm Guite at St Deiniol’s Church, Hawarden, 19.30 hr (Details above)

26^th Novr            Retired Clergy Association Eucharist, Lunch and Speaker, Cathedral, 11.00 hr (see below)

December

9^th Decr               Confirmation Service, Cathedral, 19.00hr

Dates for 2027

February 25^th     Clergy Synod, all day, St Ethelwold’s Church, Shotton.

March 25^th          Chrism Eucharist and lunch, Cathedral, 11.00hr

June 26^th             The Ordination of Priests and Deacons, Cathedral, 10.00hr

September 23^rd Clergy Synod, all day, venue tbc.

October 7^th         Diocesan Conference, online, 19.00-20.00hr

October 9^th         Diocesan Conference, Llangollen Pavilion

Notes and Queries

Concise Almanac 2026-27 Year B

Once again, we are grateful to Canon Martin Snellgrove for his work in providing us with a user-friendly Concise Almanac. Those who appreciate this simplified form of the lectionary will find the edition for the next liturgical year here.

Retired Clergy Association

All retired clergy and spouses are warmly welcomed to join the Annual RCA Gathering in the Cathedral on 26^th November which starts with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist at 1100hr. Following the service, lunch will follow, also in the cathedral, at 12.30hr.  This will be followed by a talk by Liam Evans-Ford, Executive Director at Theatr Clwyd. There is still time to book places with Sue Huyton, the RCA chaplain. Sue has circulated menu options to the Association and requests attendees let her have their choices no later than November 18^th. Sue can be contacted on suehuyton@cinw.org.uk/01352 746622.

Safeguarding Sunday – November 15th

The theme this year is ‘Love Protects’. The theme comes from 1 Corinthians 13, where we’re told that love protects and helps us understand that our Safeguarding obligations stem not from external pressure as ‘yet another thing to do’ but as an act of love. And of course, love is central to our faith.

Resources for Safeguarding Sunday can be found here: Theme: Love Protects | and the Provincial Safeguarding Team hopes as many of our churches as possible take part as an indication of their wider commitment to safeguarding. ‘

Scam Calls

I repeat the notification first issued in June of telephone calls from a man who describes himself as an Irish traveller and has used the name with some of “Peter Kerrigan”. He explains that he is seeking financial assistance to pay his road tax for urgent personal reasons and has asked whether money could be transferred directly into his bank account. Sadly, like so many of these calls, the request seems genuine, and even at times compelling, but they are unlikely to be true.

St Luke’s Advancing Clergy Reflection

As previously advertised, St Luke’s for Clergy Wellbeing is offering 22.5 hours of funded pastoral supervision to individual clergy, stipendiary or self-supporting. Two-thirds of the allocation to clergy in Wales has now been taken, but there is still the opportunity for anyone who has not yet signed up to do so. Further information can be found here Advancing Clergy Reflection Programme – St Luke’s for Clergy Wellbeing or contact Mike Haslam, Director of Transforming Ministry.

I am always conscious at this time of year of the two great feast days of All Saints’ and All Souls’. If anything for me, they combine two very powerful impulses in our Christian faith – celebration and compassion. On the first day of November, we give thanks to God for the work of Grace which shone forth in the lives of those who have gone before us demonstrating heroic Christian virtue, and a glory into which we are invited to share. On the second of November, we recall the fragility of human life, and our natural compassion towards the dying and the bereaved. Both feasts invite us to see God at work in the world, and to encourage us to be both strong in Christian hope and in Christian compassion.

Every blessing on your ministries,

In Christ,