New Diocesan Rural Affairs Officer

The Bishop of St Asaph has appointed a new Diocesan Rural Affairs Officer (RAO).  The Revd Hermione Morris, a priest in the Tanat-Vyrnwy Mission Area, replaces the Revd Heather Fenton in the role.

In 2019, Hermione, who is married to a beef and sheep farmer and lives in Llanfyllin, spent a three month sabbatical visiting agricultural chaplaincies and Diocesan Rural Officers across Wales and England.

She said: “I believe my appointment to this role is a succession to this exploration and time of discovery.  I am very aware that rurality is more than agriculture and land-based activities and looks different depending on the local context.  One of the things I am very much looking forward to is discovering how rurality looks in and for other Mission Areas in the diocese, working and celebrating with people there, as we continue to minister God’s love and good news to all.”

“It is with a sense of great joy, delight, privilege, and responsibility that I have accepted Bishop Gregory’s appointment as Diocesan Rural Affairs Officer , as I seek to follow in Revd Heather Fenton’s very long-standing footsteps.”

Having been brought up in rural Kent, Hermione spent the first 24 years of her working life in urban/suburban settings, as a nurse and then as a priest.  For the past 10 years she has been living and ministering in rural Montgomeryshire, based in Llanfyllin, which comes within the Tanat-Vyrnwy Mission Area.  During this time, she met and married her now husband, and become what she describe as a ‘sessional farmer’ as well as a farmer’s wife, and priest-in-charge, looking after four churches covering five communities.

She added: “Through my marriage and increasing knowledge about farming and farming life, alongside my rootedness within rural-agricultural communities, God has ignited a passion to reach out to and minister with those who live and work in predominantly agricultural and land-based sectors.”

The Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron said: “I am also delighted that Hermione has accepted my invitation to succeed Heather Fenton as Rural Affairs Officer.  Hermione, who is rooted in the Tanat Vyrnwy Mission Area, and is also a farmer’s wife, is well suited to take on Heather’s mantle in advocating and encouraging our ministry as a diocese to the rural and agricultural communities of our part of Wales.”

Hermione’s appointment is for three years initially, and during the first 12 months she hopes to:

• further develop the rural pages on the diocesan website to signpost visitors to support for farmers and other agricultural industries
• continue praying for and begin to familiarise myself more deeply with other rural MAs in the diocese (COVID-19 restrictions allowing)
• identify who the ‘rurally interested and skilled’ peoples are across the diocese and look at ways of bringing them together
• establish which rural festivals (other than Harvest) might be contextually relevant to celebrate, developing liturgies and resources to encourage and facilitate their celebration
• participate in the meetings and work of the Church in Wales’ Provincial Rural Life Advisors/Officers group.

In addition to ministry within the Church in Wales, Herimone is also part of the chaplaincy team for the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) based in Llanelwedd; a volunteer for Farming Community Network Cymru (FCN), going into Welshpool Livestock Market in this capacity; and she is a member of the Agricultural Chaplains Association.