Cymraeg
CY
Dictionary

Words on this page

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 Pruning for Growth

Pruning for Growth

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15.1)

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.

The strategy was unveiled at an Extraordinary Diocesan Conference held on Saturday July 6th. 2024

The strategy consists of four phases. The first, now completed, was a fact-finding exercise to establish an up-to-date snapshot of each church, based on an eight-point matrix that will identify churches that are flourishing, growing, declining or dying.

The matrix covers community engagement, education, stewardship, children youth & family provision, governance, buildings, attendance and ministry. An additional Miscellaneous category covers anything that does not fall into any of these but which are deemed relevant.

Scoring Criteria

This document details the different aspects of church life and activity covered in each section

Findings

The first interim report on the findings in Stage One is now available

Phase Two

The second phase involves conversations with key individuals based on the findings gathered in Phase One to drill down into the detail; it is expected to be complete by the end of November 2025. Then, Phase Three will draw up recommendations ahead of the final phase, when decisions will be made about implementation (Phase 4).

An interim report on progress was made to the Diocesan Conference in October 2024, with a further update delivered to the 2025 Conference.

2025 Conference progress report [conference video]

Each of the initial (2024) presentations is available to view or to download here: