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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.

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 - September 2025 Finding your place

Finding your place

Clive Fane de Salis describes some right places, and some wrong ones, on his journey to becoming a Reader.

My wife and I moved to South Wales some years ago when I got a job at Milford Haven Oil Refinery. I remember the Police telephoning me in the early hours one morning to tell me that a man shot and killed in Libya was my younger brother.

I never really understood that because he was in Libya putting in place a new medical system for them, but I have learned since then that there are some places in the world that you simply don’t bother asking “Why?”

So next morning at the refinery I stood up and told everyone that I did not want to be talking about it all day to well-meaning people, and they were indeed, good, well-meaning people.

Clive Fane de Salis

Then, a couple of years ago, I was in Withybush hospital after having a stroke and was told I had to retire early. I was 65. I remember thinking there was nothing “early” about that because 65 was actually the retirement age in those days. I was reminded of this when I was trying to understand the role of a Reader in the Church in Wales.

Most information available is written for the Church of England, not for the Church in Wales. To understand what a Reader is you need to think back to the old university system of a Reader being someone who has studied a subject.

As an Anglican I joined the local church in Neyland and, because I had had a stroke, I had a meeting with the Archdeacon to discuss my licence transfer from Birmingham Diocese to St Davids. I write this because many in the Church in Wales don’t actually know what a Reader is, including some clergy.

I recently got the study books for Reading-up on what a Reader is in the Church in Wales. Of Course, they are books referring to the Church of England. The two books are Reader Ministry Explored by Cathy Rowling and Paula Gooder and The Office and Work of a Reader by Robert Martineau.

Finally, some years ago, I was an umpire at Wimbledon. I never actually sat in the umpire’s chair, but I was a Team Leader there for seven years.

It seems that many people in the Church in Wales don’t know what a Reader is, and so Readers have no place. It is right and good to simply see yourself as a fellow Christian and just sit in the congregation. That’s a good place.