The Aberconwy Mission Area and Our Church Communities
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Croeso! Welcome! Diolch am eich diddordeb yn Ardal Genhadol Aberconwy, ac yn yr eglwysi. Thank you for your interest in the Aberconwy Mission Area and our church communities. We’re a group of ten churches in North Wales, serving an area from Llandudno to Llanrwst along the eastern side of the River Conwy. Right on the edge of Snowdonia, this is one of the most scenic parts of Wales, but still only an hour and a half from Manchester with good road and rail links to North West England, South Wales, London and Birmingham. The churches in our area have been working hard to grow in numbers and in spirituality over the last few years, and we have some impressive results to show for it. The first church in Wales to broadcast its Sunday services on social media is in our area, and our project using Lego to tell children about God led us all the way to the Rhyl Film Festival. We’ve sung evensong with four people in a camper van and sung carols to 400 people last Christmas. We’re working on a million pound project to restore one of our historic churches and place it at the heart of its community. And we have hundred pound bursaries for children to find out more about Jesus through traditional church music. But now we’re looking for someone to inspire us to keep the energy, the growth and the Holy Spirit at the centre of what we’re doing. Could you empower us to do even better? Read on: see what we have to offer, and how you could help us build an exciting future. Ein Cynefin - The Aberconwy Mission Area The Aberconwy area has been called “the heart of North Wales” for centuries, and remains so to this day. Our area is a cultural, economic and administrative hub for the region. North Wales’ largest theatre is just yards from one of our churches and the Eisteddfod, one of Europe’s largest cultural festivals, was held in our patch last year. The Welsh Government’s North Wales base is round the corner from St Michael’s in Llandudno Junction, as are the best fish and chips for miles! Our churches often have an important civic role. Clergy have served as mayors’ chaplains and officiated at council and ceremonial events. But serving an area like ours also brings challenges and responsibilities. Some of the most expensive properties in North Wales are here, but less than half a mile from some of the most deprived parts of Wales. Large coastal towns contrast with small villages inland, often with the familiar problems of social isolation. This is also an area with a large population of older people: Conwy county has more people over 90 than any other area of Wales. The Welsh language is widely spoken in some areas, particularly in the Conwy valley. We’ve been working hard to know our communities better over the last few years, and have made a good start. Last summer, we rejoiced at baptising a family from an estate where we’d previously had no connections at all (above). Are you a leader who’s equally at home talking to the Mayor of Conwy or a young family? Chatting with the lifeboat crew or helping with the weekly homeless kitchen? BELOW: St Paul’s in Llandudno, surrounded by Victorian villas, retirement homes, hotels, social rented housing and houses of multiple occupation. Deuparth Gwaith Yw Ei Ddechrau - Our Next Steps All of our churches have been working hard at growth, setting priorities locally to match the needs of their communities. You can find out more about what they’re doing and their successes in the next few pages. Here’s what we’d like to focus on in the coming years: 1) Deepening our faith through prayer and scripture We have a passion to see God’s kingdom on earth, but know this needs to start with us. HOW COULD WE DO THIS? - Ensure that everyone in our mission area has access to a group for prayer or reflection - Look at ways to deepen our understanding of the eucharist and other sacraments - St David’s church is looking to strengthen and enhance the monthly service led by its lay worship group - Choir members at St Paul’s now take the lead in choosing hymns and planning services; they’re looking to use this to deepen their understanding of scripture WE NEED A LEADER WHO…... A Journey of Faith: Hannah - Is a person of prayer - Can interpret, preach and teach the gospel in a I joined St Paul’s way that encourages faith development choir in 2017, - Is proud of the traditional forms of worship we mainly to improve use and understands how these can help us my singing. I’d grow the church been brought up - Will also help our mission area to develop new going to church, and creative ways of“ being church” and had drifted away in my teens. But the energy BELOW LEFT: St Paul’s choir sing evensong with a and spirituality of my colleagues VW camper van on Llandudno promenade inspired me to think about God again. Over the next few years I’d BELOW RIGHT: children’s holiday club in full swing, like to help us reach out to other rehearsing for a performance of Joseph and the young people in the area. Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 2) Reaching out to people who don’t know church We want to see all ages and social demographics as part of our church family , but we also know that we need to be even more welcoming and inclusive. HOW COULD WE DO THIS? - We need to be more creative in our use of social media and communications - Over a third of Glan Conwy (700 people!) already have a connection with St Ffraid’s church. How can we build on this? - St Hilary’s church plan to increase the welcome given to baptism families - St Paul’s has started a project to connect with children through traditional church music WE NEED A LEADER WHO…… - has a strong sense of the mission of the church - has previous leadership experience within the church - supports existing initiatives to reach diverse groups (eg Open Table) - helps members of the church to show God’s love in action - can encourage and support our ministry to children and their families 3) Working with our communities We are concerned about social justice issuesand want to make sure our churches are at the heart of the communities we serve HOW COULD WE DO THIS? - Develop our use of the Welsh language - Many of our churches and halls are already used as community venues for concerts and fundraising: can we develop this to raise our profile and enhance our churches’ role? - Make our churches into community hubs with mini-libraries, locations for defibrillators WE NEED A LEADER WHO…... - Finds relating to people outside the church easy and comfortable - Has a heart for the Welsh language and culture, and is either a Welsh speaker or willing to learn - Can embrace civic duties, seeing them as an opportunity for mission - Listens and is sensitive to the needs of those among whom they live - Can discern gifts in others and empower lay people to reach their potential within the church and beyond Ein Gorau Glas - Growth Successes • All Saints’ Church has increased fellowship and attendance at its midweek service by serving brunch afterwards • St Grwst’s is completing a million pound restoration, part funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. As part of this, a dedicated officer will develop a programme of events, activities and clubs, as well as -co ordinating volunteers • St Michael’s is looking to grow its church family with a new type of service called “tots, tea and teddies”. We have reminded them bears don’t count towards the attendance! • St Paul’s recently began a new twist on a familiar service: junior evensong, where the children do everything, from the readings, prayers to acting as cantor (right). Y Tîm - Who’s Who We have four priests, including the mission area leader, who have worked well as a team since the mission area was set up in 2017. The clergy team meet each week, and support each other through prayer. A curate will also join us in 2020. We have three lay readers, who are active in a number of roles, and a number of worship leaders and other lay people who plan worship (such as the director of music at St Paul’s). All work closely with our part time administrator, who’s based at St David’s in Penrhyn Bay. Our mission area also has a lay chair and two wardens, who are keen to develop their role alongside the clergy. Two joint secretaries, treasurer and bookkeeper complete the team. Each priest takes pastoral responsibility for two or three churches where their role is to provide spiritual leadership and empower the congregations in generating growth. Our journey as a mission area has seen lay people in our churches discover new energy in growing our congregations, coming up with new ideas and making them happen. At St Ffraid’s, the congregation successfully appealed to the community to secure the church finances, while at St Paul’s, the choir (below left) are leading a project to reconnect the church with local schools. Lay people have dedicated thousands of hours to the project to reorder St Grwst's church and restore the Gwydir Chapel alongside (below right). Ein Teulu - A Growing Family Of Churches As mission area leader, you’ll have pastoral responsibility for two churches: St Hilary’s in Llanrhos and St Paul’s, serving the eastern half of Llandudno.