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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’).

Home Pobl Dewi: December 2025 Pruning for Growth

Pruning for Growth

Pruning

How is our garden growing? Archdeacon Paul Mackness outlined the progress to date and what will follow in a presentation to the Diocesan Conference.

Pruning for Growth is a diocesan strategy that seeks to make a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of every church in the Diocese of St Davids.

Launched in July 2024, it has now reached the halfway stage, with every church undertaking in-depth interviews to identify not only their strengths and weaknesses, but also their aims and aspirations.

“It has been a really positive experience,” Archdeacon Paul told conference. “The way parishes have engaged with [the process] has meant we can already see signs of growth in some places.”

So what happens next?

Stage Three involves the Gardening Group, as they are known, going back to LMA Councils with recommendations based on the findings from Stages One and Two. The councils will then be required to disseminate those to their constituent churches. The plan is to complete this by Easter.

Churches will have the opportunity to comment on the recommendations that apply to them; they may wish to disagree. But, as the Archdeacon made clear, “that is not a veto.” Nevertheless, each recommendation will be given due consideration and the recommendations “tweaked” where necessary.

The fourth stage, when the final recommendations will be brought forward, is expected to run from Easter to the end of July. They will be presented to the Bishop, Senior Staff, the Board of Finance, Standing Committee and the Churches & Pastoral Committee as well as to the LMAs themselves.

These may include closure, although “there is no Beeching list.” There may be timetabling changes; equally, there will be cases where additional resources would be used to encourage growth, with time allowed to let the changes that follow embed themselves over a period of one to five years.

“What we want to do above all,” the Archdeacon concluded, “is to put the Church on a mission footing, looking outwards to bring those outside the church in.”