The Bishop of St Asaph has appointed two people to become Honorary Assistant Bishops in the diocese.

The first, the Rt Revd Beverley Mason, was formally commissioned during the Chrism Eucharist in St Asaph Cathedral on Maundy Thursday (17 April, 2025). Bishop Bev is currently the Bishop of Warrington in the Diocese of Liverpool and has a home within the Diocese of St Asaph.

In the service, Bishop Gregory said: “It is a delight and a privilege to be able to offer today my permission as an Honorary Assistant Bishop. You join a host of bishops who serve in different ways in their own ministries and in this diocese. We welcome you to St Asaph.”

Ahead of the service, Bishop Bev wrote on her own diocesan website: “I am humbled and deeply grateful to Bishop Gregory and colleagues in St Asaph for their warm welcome, love and affirmation. St Asaph has opened the door upon a new vista and I look forward with hope to a restored and renewed ministry in the Province of the Church in Wales.

“The Chrism Mass is a poignant reminder for all in Christian ministry of the very essence of our calling and vocation and of our re-covenanting with the God who has lived among us in our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his Cross and Passion, has redeemed the world.  I pray this will be a time of blessing and renewal for all Christ’s Church.”

The second new Honorary Assistant Bishop is the Bishop of Helsinki, Dr Teemu Laajasalo. The Diocese of Helsinki is a link diocese with St Asaph, and Bishop Gregory is due to visit Helsinki in May, when Dr Laajasalo will be formally commissioned.

The visit to Helsinki follows a trip to Wales last year by a delegation of more than 20 representatives from the Diocese of Helsinki. They visited St Asaph Cathedral and churches in Wrexham as part of the link between The Church in Wales and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The churches are linked by the Porvoo Common Statement which establishes full communion between the British Anglican Churches and the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of northern Europe.

The Diocese of St Asaph has several Honorary Assistant Bishops, including the former Bishop of St Asaph, John Davies, the Bishop of Llandaff, Mary Stallard and the Bishop of Lancaster, Jill Duff. The former Bishop of Shrewsbury, John Dudley Davies is an Honorary Assistant Bishop Emeritus in the Diocese.

The Chrism Eucharist took place on Maundy Thursday at 11am in St Asaph Cathedral. Clergy, licensed lay ministers and members of the laity from across the diocese gathered for the service which includes the Blessing of the Holy Oils.

The Diocese of St Asaph is one of six dioceses in the Church in Wales, an independent Province of the Anglican Communion.