Dictionary

Words on this page

Advent

Advent means ‘coming’ and is the special four-week period leading up to Christmas. It is a time to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’s birth but also for his coming in glory at the end of time.

Bishop

‘Bishop’ comes from the Greek word for ‘overseer’. So a bishop is a senior Christian minister authorised to have oversight for God’s people. As well as duties given to deacons and priests, bishops confirm and ordain.

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’).

Lent

Lent is the six-week period leading up to Easter. It is a particular time to confess sin and to seek personal and collective renewal (a ‘springtime of the spirit’). Lent has a special focus on Jesus’s journey to the cross and prepares the Church to celebrate his resurrection.

Prayer

Prayer sustains our human relationship with God and may involve words (formal or informal) or be silent. Prayer can involve adoration (‘I love you’), confession (‘sorry’), thanksgiving and supplication (‘please’).

Home Faith 2024: The Year of Salt and Light

2024: The Year of Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth.”

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world.”

Following on from the themes of Prayer, Discipleship and Pilgrimage, from Advent 2023, the Diocese of St Davids will focus on Social Responsibility.

The year of Salt and Light, as it has become known, naturally follows discipleship as it helps us focus on how we live our lives within the worldwide context on our pilgrimage through ordinary life.

Social responsibility is so big and so wide that it would be impractical to try to tackle it all in even one year. Thus, we have chosen to focus on a few areas during different seasons in the year. Bishop Joanna was keen to encourage us to raise our eyes not just upward but also outward, not to focus only on God or ourselves or the issues closest to us, but on the wider world we live and move in.

Thus, there will be an element of challenge, getting us to consider that which we may not be comfortable with. A further element is one of encouragement. Simply put, social responsibility is so integral to the Christian faith, that many of us are already involved in it in one form of another. Be it volunteering; advocating; spreading Jesus’ message of love, hope, and peace; or just being there for our neighbour; we should not underestimate the effect of "doing the little things", just like we cannot underestimate the effect salt and light.

Calendar:

Creationtide 2024 - Environment
October 2024 - Farming & Fishing
Kingdomtide 2024 - Peace & War

Email StDavids.YearOf@cinw.org.uk to register your interest. (Also available in Welsh.)

April/May 2024 - Racial Justice - an Introduction

STRANGERS,. FOREIGNERS AND SOJOURNERS - THE PLIGHT OF REFUGEES Jesus was a refugee. So was Mones Farah. In this introduction to the Epiphany theme, he talks about the importance of welcoming people fleeing war and persecution into our communities.