Application pack for the post of Vicar of Llangollen, Llantysilio and Trevor Valle Crucis Mission Area The Diocese of St Asaph In the Diocese of St Asaph or Teulu Asaph, we’re • Growing and encouraging the whole people of God • Enlivening and enriching worship • Engaging the world We’re a family of more than 7,000 regular worshippers, with 80 full time clergy, over 500 lay leaders, 229 churches and 51 church schools. We trace our history to the days of our namesake, St Asaph and his mentor, St Kentigern who it’s believed built a monastery in St Asaph in AD 560. Many of the churches across the Diocese were founded by the earliest saints in Wales who witnessed to Christian faith in Wales and have flourished through centuries of war, upheaval, reformation and reorganisation. Today, the Diocese of St Asaph carries forward that same Mission to share God’s love to all in 21th Century north east and mid Wales. We’re honoured to be a Christian presence in every community, to walk with people on the journey of life and to offer prayers to mark together the milestones of life. Unlocking our Potential is the focus of our response to share God’s love with people across north east and mid Wales. Unlocking our Potential is about bringing change, while remaining faithful to the life-giving message of Jesus. It’s about challenging, inspiring and equipping the whole people of God to grow in their faith. Geographically, the Diocese follows the English/Welsh border in the east, whilst the western edge is delineated by the Conwy Valley. The northern boundary runs along the North Wales coast as far as Llandudno, but only takes in part of that town. The southern boundary runs from the lower end of Llyn Tegid (Lake Bala) across to Dolfor, just south of Newtown in Powys. Ecclesiastically it is bordered by the dioceses of Chester, Lichfield and Hereford on the northern and eastern sides. To the south we border Swansea and Brecon diocese and to the west, Bangor. Large parts of the diocese are rural, but there are important and continually developing industrial and commercial areas around Deeside (one of the largest industrial parks in Europe) and Wrexham and significant developments along the two main arterial roads (A55 and A483). The coastal strip is home to traditional holiday resorts and tourism is an important industry in many parts of the diocese. St Asaph offers: • A welcome to all • Life enhancing opportunities for all • A commitment to nurture God’s gifts to everyone • A Christian education through our 51 Church Schools • A celebration and conservation of our very special places • A commitment to walk alongside those in need • A prayerful heart at the centre of every community 2 Application pack: Valle Crucis Mission Area Valle Crucis Mission Area This Mission Area was formed when the Deanery of Penllyn & Edeyrnion was divided into two geographically more-or-less equal halves, with this eastern half having the greater population – about 7,000 on the Civil Electoral Roll. It includes the four churches of the Llangollen group, the three in the Glyn Ceiriog group, four of the five in the Corwen group (excepting Cynwyd / Llangar), plus Llandegla and Bryneglwys, totaling thirteen. Until the house-for-duty priest in the Ceiriog Valley relocated recently, each of the four groups of churches had a resident minister. There is also a non-stipendiary priest licenced to the Mission Area. Valle Crucis is the name of a former significant Abbey(left) whose monks are believed to have served both the Ceiriog Valley to the south and Llandegla to the north as well as the Dee Valley. The substantial ruins of this abbey remain as a tourist attraction and a place to wonder about the splendour of a past age. It is said to have been built in 1201 by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor whose influence may also be seen in the name of Pontfadog west of Chirk. Earlier in the year, the emerging Mission Area Conference, consisting of representatives of most of the churches, identified various strengths and weaknesses of the area, both in general terms and with regard to the church. Strengths included: wonderful scenery – it includes parts of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; sites of historic interest such as the said abbey, Castell Dinas Brân, Caer Drewyn iron-age fort, Owain Glyndŵr’s Mount and Plas Newydd; examples of industrial archaeology such as quarries, the Llangollen Canal and Llantysilio Tramway, leading down to it from the Horseshoe Pass; fishing; sports facilities; excellent schools; outdoor theatre and a cultural event out of all proportion to the size of the population, namely the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod; the Llangollen Railway; and through traffic which sustains more shops than could be otherwise. The challenges include: the distances between communities and the limited public transport, which leads to difficulty in travelling to work and shops; restricted opportunities for local employment; localised associated social problems; susceptibility of roads to occasional vagaries of the weather; slow broad-band in more isolated communities; mobile not-spots; distance to the national rail network from the west of the area. With regard to church life, strengths include: a willingness of church members to accept worship led by their own number and capable worship leaders who offer such service; faithful officers who support the administration and practical aspects of their local church; a higher proportion of capable musicians than would be found in the general population. We have supported, with regret, the closure of one church that was in our original complement viz: St Beuno, Gwyddelwern, and we are in the same process with Sant Ffraid, Glyn Ceiriog. In both situations, worshippers can be accommodated at our other churches close by. 3 Application pack: Valle Crucis Mission Area All of our remaining churches remain viable in that all can meet their own share of the Mission Area Share Distances between churches makes sharing of liturgical or practical resources a challenge especially on a Sunday if public transport is depended upon. Members of different churches meeting together for spiritual or social purposes can also be challenging due to a lack of public transport. In response to this, Advent and Lent Study courses and mid-week prayer meetings and services have been organised on a group basis centred on Llangollen, Glyn Ceiriog and Corwen. The emerging structure gives greater prominence to the Mission Area that subsumes the parish status function, but churches continue to be responsible for the maintenance of their pattern of worship, local outreach, pastoral care, social life and the maintenance of their buildings. The Mission Area provides an ‘umbrella administration’ ensuring that whatever happens in any part, it will promote the overall strategy for the whole. The Mission Area is led by our Mission Area leader and two Wardens who jointly Chair the Mission Area Conference. It comprises one elected member from each church who are the Trustees. The week-by- week activities of each church continue much as before under its church committee. The Mission Area encourages wide participation from all church members and encourages them to exercise their initiative and leadership in this context as they do in their other activities. The Mission Area started the process of meeting the challenges ‘Unlocking Our Potential’ in 2017 through a series of meetings and a special one-day Mission Focus workshop on being an inclusive church, and the process continues in 2018. Mission Area Leader Mission Area Clergy The Reverend Canon Martin Snellgrove Y Parchedig Dorothi Evans The Venerable Bob Griffiths Mission Area Wardens Vicar Llangollen group – to be appointed Mr John Gambles House for residence Glyn Ceiriog – to be appointed Mrs Lorna Mills Mission Area Reader Mission Area Administrator and Treasurer Mr Michael Winwood Mrs Lindsay Watkins Mission Area Churches St Collen, Llangollen; St John, Llangollen; Trevor Chapelry, Llangollen; St Tysilio, Llantysilio St Garmon, Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog; St Ffraid, Glyn Ceiriog; St John, Pontfadog Ss Mael and Sullen, Corwen; St Ffraid, Carrog; St Thomas, Glyndyfrdwy St Tysilio, Bryneglwys; St Tecla, Llandegla 4 Application pack: Valle Crucis Mission Area Growing our Church and New Initiatives: our first Priority ‘Our chief priority is to grow the Church spiritually and numerically in a rich tapestry, embracing new and old, contemporary and traditional ways of doings things in our mission areas. We need bold initiatives to support new forms of Anglican communities and fresh engagement, which means that we need to identify sustainable and transformational initiatives. We need to be risk-takers, brave and discerning, calling people to be disciples of Jesus. We recognise as a diocese the differences between urban and rural contexts. We need to pray intentionally for spiritual growth and develop nurture groups in every mission area.’ (Bishop Gregory 2018, Eight Priorities from the Standing Committee’) The Llangollen Group of churches is key to the Valle Crucis Mission Area addressing all Eight of Bishop Gregory’s Priorities, and this chief priority in particular. Together, the Llangollen churches accounted for over 56% of regular Sunday attendance in the Mission Area in 2017 (3 year moving average 2014-2016) with St Collen’s having particular significance with 37% of the MA total. This is an exciting group with enormous good-will towards it from the town community. Sunday morning duties are heavy but not impossible for a reasonably agile cleric to manage. St Collen’s is proud of its open, inclusive and socially engaged mission to the town who strongly identify with its role as the town’s major church. In recent years the churches have embraced a generous, modern and sacramentally focussed vision offering good- quality, engaging worship and ministry.