Dictionary

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Anglican

Anglicans form the family of Christians closely related to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Whilst tracing their inheritance back to Christ and the earliest Christians and to the ancient Roman Catholic church, the sixteenth century Reformation was a crucial moment for Anglicanism.

Diocese

‘Diocese’ refers to the geographical territory in which a bishop exercises oversight. The Church in Wales is divided into six dioceses each with its own cathedral in which is housed the cathedra (the bishop’s ‘chair’ or ‘throne’).

Holy Communion

At Holy Communion blessed bread and wine is shared, by which we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The congregation gives thanks for Jesus’ life, his death and resurrection and his continuing presence. See also Eucharist.

The Diocese of St Davids

Welcome to the Diocese of St Davids, named after Wales’ patron saint whose cathedral in Pembrokeshire is one of the jewels of the nation. The diocese also covers the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire including the western industrial valleys and the town of Llanelli.

Archbishop Enthronement

Archbishop of Wales [Cherry Vann][enthronement]

The new Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Cherry Vann, is to be enthroned at a service in Newport Cathedral on Saturday November 8th.

Representatives from across Welsh churches and the Anglican Communion will be joined at the service by guests from Wales’ political, cultural and civic life.

The service will begin at 3pm and will be live-streamed on the Church in Wales website to enable everyone to join in.

Read the announcement in full

Pruning for Growth

Pruning

Pruning for Growth is an ongoing diocesan strategy which, over the next few months, will produce a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of every church in the Diocese of St Davids and provide recommendations to each about future development.

The strategy consists of three phases. The first, now complete, was a fact-finding exercise to establish an up-to-date snapshot of each church, based on an eight-point matrix that will identify churches that are flourishing, growing, declining or dying.

Phase Two is under way, digging deeper into the data gathered from Phase One in an attempt to bring some context within each church. A progress report, delivered to the 2025 Diocesan Conference, envisaged completion of Phase Two by the end of November.

2025 Conference Update

Find out more