Governing Body Meeting to be held April 15-16

The Governing Body of the Church in Wales will meet at Venue Cymru, Llandudno, next week.

The two-day meeting on April 15 and 16 will bring together up to 143 elected clergy and lay representatives from across Wales, representing all six dioceses of the Church.

Proceedings will begin with the Holy Eucharist at Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno, where members will gather for worship before the start of formal business.

The agenda includes a presidential address by the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Cherry Vann, on the first day.

Throughout the meeting, members will receive reports from the Representative Body, Standing Committee and Bench of Bishops, as well as updates on key areas of the Church’s work. These include a safeguarding presentation and update, and a progress report on the Church’s commitment to net zero.

Members will also debate a private members’ motion proposing the establishment of a Disability Welcome Delivery Group, aimed at supporting churches to become more accessible and inclusive.

A significant item of business will be a Bill for incorporation into the Book of Common Prayer a service of blessing for those in same-sex marriages and civil partnerships. This represents a further stage in the Church in Wales’s ongoing discernment in this area, following earlier decisions which enabled clergy to offer blessings of same-sex civil marriages and civil partnerships on a time-limited experimental basis.

The Bill, which follows a period of reflection and listening across the Church, seeks to make this provision permanent. If approved, it would provide an authorised liturgical form for such services within the Church’s Prayer Book.

The meeting will be live-streamed via a link on the Church in Wales website at www.churchinwales.org.uk and YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/churchinwales