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Anglican

Anglicans form the family of Christians closely related to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Whilst tracing their inheritance back to Christ and the earliest Christians and to the ancient Roman Catholic church, the sixteenth century Reformation was a crucial moment for Anglicanism.

Eucharist

‘Eucharist’ comes from the Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’. At the Eucharist the Church remembers Jesus’ last supper where he gave bread and wine to be his body and blood, a sign of his saving love. See also Holy Communion.

Holy Communion

At Holy Communion blessed bread and wine is shared, by which we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The congregation gives thanks for Jesus’ life, his death and resurrection and his continuing presence. See also Eucharist.

Theological

‘Theology’ means literally ‘words about God’. Christian theology involves our trying to understand and explain what God has revealed about himself through Scripture. This work is aided by the writings of past and present theologians and human reason.

Home Pobl Dewi: December 2025 The Nicene Inheritance

The Nicene Inheritance

The power of Porvoo

Since 1995, the Church in Wales has been a member of the Porvoo Communion which brings together many of Europe’s Anglican and Lutheran churches, acknowledging the life and ministry of each member church. Ainsley Griffiths reports on a rare – but significant – event.

Each October a residential conference is held and this year it was the Church in Wales’ turn to arrange and host, meeting in the lovely Cornerstone conference centre in Cardiff.

During the opening Eucharist, delegates from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Faroe Islands signed the Porvoo Declaration and thereby became full members.

This year’s gathering was a theological conference, arranged to explore the inheritance of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), 1700 years after that first general assembly in the history of the Church.

The main focus of that immensely significant event was to clarify the understanding of the Lord

Jesus Christ as “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God”, words spoken from Sunday to Sunday as worshippers throughout the world recite together the Nicene Creed.

The centrepiece of the Cardiff conference were keynote lectures by two distinguished Welsh theologians. The New Testament scholar, Prof. Catrin Haf Williams, explored the biblical foundations of the Creed, whilst the former Archbishop of Wales and Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt. Revd. Dr Rowan Williams spoke on “Nicaea, the New Creation and the Body of Christ.” In addition, ten shorter papers were presented by delegates, bringing wide-ranging international perspectives on these important themes.

In addition to this brain strain, there were times of shared worship – including Vespers in the Roman Catholic Cathedral – and opportunities to enjoy Wales’ capital city, with visits to Cardiff Castle and the Senedd.

The delegates greatly enjoyed a delicious dinner which included contributions by the Royal Harpist, Mared Emyr Pugh-Evans, and students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama who introduced the Plygain tradition.

Here we find some of Wales’ literary and musical gems which proclaim (in the words of the renowned hymn writer Ann Griffiths) that in the tiny child of Bethlehem we discover “the Giver of Being, the vast sustainer and the ruler of all things”. In this we rejoice.