“A Welshman to the core” - tributes paid to the Revd Lyn Lewis Dafis
Tributes are being paid to a cleric and prominent Welsh language champion who died last week.
The Revd Lyn Lewis Dafis, 61, served in the Bro Padarn Local Ministry Area (LMA), Aberystwyth, with particular responsibility for St John’s Church, Penrhyncoch. He was also the Welsh Language Officer for the Diocese of St Davids and a member of the Church in Wales’ Welsh Language Committee.
Lyn was ordained six years ago, after a 25-year career as a librarian at the National Library of Wales. He was a regular media commentator and contributor on Welsh language and church issues.
The Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, said Lyn was “a dearly loved member of the diocesan community.” She added: “Lyn worked assiduously to ensure that the life and ministry of St Davids could flourish in Welsh and that this part of our common life is properly encouraged and resourced.
“Along with his family and friends, Lyn’s parishioners and colleagues in St Davids will miss him greatly. We thank God for gentle kindness and good humour, his love of God and the service he gave to others, even at difficult times.
Originally from Mynachlog-Ddu in Pembrokeshire, Lyn read Welsh at Aberystwyth University. He served as a lay reader before training for ordained ministry at St Michael’s College, Llandaff.
As part of his ministry, Lyn was the vocations adviser for the Archdeaconry of Cardigan. The Archdeacon of Cardigan, Eileen Davies, described him as a “Welshman to the core”.
She said, “Lyn was called to serve, and this he did until the very end. Lyn was an exceptionally knowledgeable person, a true Welshman to the core, living his deep faith in his daily life. He was a great theologian, read, understood and communicated the word of God to people of all ages in a meaningful and accessible manner. The Diocese of St Davids has lost a good and faithful shepherd, a true friend, and my heartfelt sympathies are extended to his family and great friends.
Canon Andrew Loat, Dean of Bro Padarn LMA, said Lyn would be missed “as a friend as well as a colleague, remembering his patience, his impish humour and his wide interests. Above all, for his love of Wales and his eagerness to puncture the balloon of anyone who assumed English was a superior medium. Yet everything was wrapped in his love of Christ and neighbour, and his desire to be that ‘good and faithful servant’ so warmly commended in the parable. I pray he is at peace, in the joy of his master.
The Revd Canon Enid Morgan, who served with Lyn in the Bro Padarn LMA, said, “Lyn was in a proud tradition of lay and ordained individuals in the church who loved Wales, its traditions, its literature and language, and loved the church and its Lord even more. He had worked tirelessly as a lay reader in Santes Fair Aberystwyth and his subsequent priesthood at Penrhyncoch was immensely valuable, despite his increasing ill health. His time as master of meta data at the National Library meant he was able to adjust the use of new technology after the lockdown. We will remember his sometimes mischievous humour, his gentleness and his capacity for quietly tackling demanding projects.”
Richard E. Huws, his former colleague, friend and parishioner, has written the following tribute