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.

Evangelism

‘Evangelion’ means ‘good news’. Evangelism is about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection in the hope that others may come to believe in and follow Jesus.

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 Open to God

Open to God

The Year of Mission

The Year of Mission runs from Advent Sunday 2025 and follows on from previous themes - Prayer, Discipleship, Pilgrimage, Salt & Light and Children Youth and Families.

It will be built around a major set-piece event - Open to God - to take place at the Carmarthenshire Showground on May 23rd., the Saturday of Pentecost 2026. The Sunday will then be an opportunity for churches to celebrate in their own localities.

At the heart of it all lies Code FP: Celebration, Outreach, Discipleship, Evangelism, Fellowship, Prayer

These themes will run through the whole enterprise, both at the Pentecost showpiece and in activities and events held within each LMA between now and the end of 2027.

Open to God has been inspired by Bishop Dorrien and mirrors an event held forty years ago by his predecessor and mentor, Bishop George Noakes.

It was officially launched at the Diocesan Conference, and, in his presidential address, he urged churches to “move forward with courage and compassion. We are co-workers in God’s service.

“Our mission must be collaborative, to make the Church not only relevant but vital to those both within and outside our walls.”

Mission Prayers

OPEN TO GOD 1987 - RE-LIVE THE ORIGINAL