Synod Cymru

We travelled down to Llandudno last night and were surprised to be travelling part of the way in snow. We were even more surprised to wake up to find snow lying on the promenade in Llandudno this morning and leaving the Great Orme looking like an alpine peak – well almost!

I had been invited to speak to members of Synod Cymru at St David’s Methodist Church about lay leadership and we had a good morning sharing experiences both from my travels and of what is happening within their District.

Synod Cymru is now one circuit that brings together the Welsh speaking Methodist Churches across Wales. One of its biggest challenges is a lack of ordained ministers and even with the support of a good number of supernumery ministers there is an increasing recognition that lay people will need to take on a greater role within the life and work of local churches and the circuit. It was good to hear stories of this happening already in a number of places.

We also talked about the importance of the Welsh language and about the growing number of young people learning the language. Whilst Synod Cymru may have experienced years of decline, there could be real opportunities in the future for Welsh speaking congregations that can find new ways of engaging with young people who are increasingly proud of their national language.

In recent weeks I’ve had the good fortune to meet up with a number of my predecessors, and today it was a delight to meet Sister Eluned Williams who was Vice-President in 2000/1. Shortly before she took up office the Vice-Presidential cross had been stolen and so Eluned used a temporary one. The newly made cross was first given to Ann Leck in June 2001, but today it was Eluned’s turn to wear it.