People from across north-east and mid-Wales have been talking about how their churches demonstrate love, as part of the Bishop of St Asaph’s 2025 Advent Message.

The contributions, gathered after the Diocesan Conference last month, illustrate the many ways individuals and churches show they love and care for their local communities. Through activities for children, to opening food hubs, or offering a smile and a listening ear, people in churches are demonstrating God’s love to people in their communities.

These examples will be shared in churches across the Diocese of St Asaph on Advent Sunday (30 November) as part of the Bishop of St Asaph’s Advent Message. The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron introduces the clips, explaining that “demonstrating love” is “not just about feeling love or even showing love. It’s about proving love in action.”

He quotes the seventeenth century hymn My Song is Love Unknown reminding churches that, as Christians, “we believe that God loves us and therefore everyone is worthy of being a receipt of love” and “the real value of a church will be shown by its ability to transform lives.”

Bishop Gregory issues a challenge to churches, encouraging them to “push the boundaries” in order to be “known for the quality of love they show to others.”

Demonstrating love is the third in a series of core values underpinning the diocesan logo since 2022. The diocese adopted growing faith, bringing hope, demonstrating love to reflect the themes in the New Testament, in the teaching of Jesus and in the life of the early church. You can find out more at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/faith-hope-love/

Bishop Gregory’s Advent Message is available in five formats – a film, along with an audio recording in Welsh and English and a written letter in Welsh and English. It will be shown, heard or read in all 210 churches across the Diocese of St Asaph on Advent Sunday (30 November). You will be able to watch the Advent Message from Advent Sunday at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/bishopgregory/advent-message/ or via the diocesan social media channels @stasaphdiocese.

The Diocese of St Asaph is part of the Church in Wales, an autonomous Province within the worldwide Anglican Communion of Churches.  The diocese is a community of 210 churches covering the counties of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham and parts of Gwynedd and Powys.  It looks after 49 schools, including one shared faith secondary school.