The Diocese of St Davids

The Bishop's Lent Course 2025

You are invited to join a series of five Lent Study sessions every Sunday from March 9th at 7pm for 30-minute sessions followed by 15 mins Q&A:

John’s Gospel is a Gospel full of questions. Some of them are questions about who Jesus is; others are about what the church is and what or who disciples are. The first words we hear Jesus speak in the Gospel are, “What are you looking for?” The Gospel could be seen as a response to that question. In the garden by the tomb on the first Easter Day Jesus asks another slightly different question, one of the last of his earthly ministry, “Who are you looking for?” The Gospel could be seen as a response to that question also. As an author, John answers on behalf of us: we are looking for life, for how to live our best life, for how to embrace life, to experience and aspire to what it is to be truly human. Over the course of five addresses we shall be looking at five of the questions that are posed in the Gospel, and considering what the responses might mean for our discipleship in the church and in the world.

Hosts - The Right Reverend Bishop Dorrien and The Venerable John Holdsworth

John Holdsworth is a former Principal of St Michael's College Llandaff and a former archdeacon of St Davids. Prior to retirement from stipendiary ministry he was Executive Archdeacon in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf. In retirement he writes, teaches and ministers as Canon Theologian at St Paul's Cathedral in Nicosia, Cyprus. His most recent books are Hidden in Plain Sight: Unearthing and Earthing the Psalms, and Honest Sadness, a study in Lament.

Our Lent '25 page contains videos and transcripts of each session

Dates for Lent Study [click on the links to get to the page on Microsoft Teams]

1. Sunday 9th March – video and transcript available via the link above
2. Sunday 23rd March – video and transcript available via the link above
3. Sunday 30th March – video and transcript available via the link above
4. Sunday 6th April – 7pm
5. Sunday 13th April – 7pm

Same-sex blessings: where next?

The Church in Wales is preparing to revisit its stance on same-sex blessings as the time-limited provision introduced in October 2021 nears its expiration in September 2026. In a message to members, the Archbishop of Wales Andrew John has called for a period of prayerful discernment and open dialogue as the Church explores potential paths forward.

Options include allowing the provision to lapse, extending the current blessings, or taking the significant step of introducing a formal service of marriage for same-sex couples.

Watch an introductory video recorded by the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John

Meetings have been arranged in each archdeaconry:

Check the dates and venues in your archdeaconry

©thedailyenglishshow via Wikimedia Commons

2025: The Year of Children Youth & Families

The diocesan Year of Children, Youth & Families started on Advent Sunday 2024 and runs through to Advent 2025.

Throughout the year you can expect to see a series of events which can help LMAs engage with children, youth and families across the diocese, resources and support to help you with your own children, youth and families work and regular updates via social media platforms, through Pobl Dewi, the diocesan website, and the Children, Youth and Families website and newsletter.

Find out more

Forthcoming Events

Pruning for Growth

Pruning for Growth is a new diocesan strategy which, over the next two years, will seek to make a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of every church in the Diocese of St Davids.

The strategy was unveiled at an Extraordinary Diocesan Conference held on Saturday July 6th.

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 scheduled to begin after Easter and will dig deeper into the data gathered so far in an attempt to bring some context within each church.

Find out more

Video presentations