2010 marked the 90th anniversary of disestablishment; and the Archbishop noted in his April Presidential Address to the Governing Body that though disestablishment had been forced on the Church and its result had been to deplete assets, congregations had twice raised sufficient money to secure the Church's territorial ministry. Though the Church now had fewer attenders, clergy and ordinands than hitherto, it had survived greater challenges in the past. In his September address, as well as looking outwards and comparing the relationship between Gaza and Israel with apartheid in South Africa, he warned that the ‘Big Society’ might merely make life harder for the most vulnerable and reminded the Government that everyone needed good quality education, health and other public services.
As to policy, a major theme that spanned the two sessions was strategic priorities. The April session had highlighted the importance of the Church's presence and accessibility in communities and in Welsh life generally; and in September the Governing Body looked more closely at priorities for ministry, buildings and social responsibility.
ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEE
At the September session the Governing Body received a report by the House of Bishops on the issue of attaching the Archbishopric to a specific see. While there was general agreement about the tasks of bishops there was far less agreement, either within the Governing Body or the dioceses, about the role of the Archbishop. The present Archbishop's personal view was that though the peripatetic model had outlived its usefulness, the Archbishop needed to have a diocese and be rooted in a particular community.
BURIAL GROUNDS
In April the Governing Body considered a report from the Head of Property Services which showed that two-thirds of churchyards will have no more burial space within ten years, that closed churchyards are not well-maintained and that £16m needs to be spent on churchyards with only £3.6m held in reserves to meet that liability. Some local authorities struggle to fund the maintenance of their burial grounds and there are issues of capacity in some areas. The report suggested a number of ideas for addressing the problem, ranging from a meeting with the First Minister and discussions with local authorities to a request for a Government Commission to examine the issue. A further possibility might be a surcharge on burial fees to be directed to a fund to maintain closed burial grounds.
CHURCH COURTS
In 2008 the Governing Body had requested legislation to streamline the Church's court structure; and in September a Bill was passed to amend Chapter IX of the Constitution to reduce the number of courts from six to two. The Diocesan Court will hear all disciplinary disputes at first instance and the Provincial Court will hear appeals, the composition of the court depending on the matter before it. Attempts will be also made to reduce the time that the Disciplinary Tribunal takes to deal with complaints by introducing a more flexible system, particularly by increasing the numbers of those on the list to be called to hear a case in the Tribunal.
CLERGY TERMS OF SERVICE
At the September session an enabling Bill was passed to pave the way for Common Tenure. Those already in post will have the choice whether or not to opt in, but for those appointed after April 2011 Common Tenure will be automatic. The Statement of Terms of Service will include provision for terms and conditions of work, the resolution of disputes, development and personnel support.
COMMISSION OF COVENANTED CHURCHES IN WALES
In 1975 the Church in Wales, the Presbyterian Church of Wales, the Methodist Church, the URC and a number of Baptist Churches entered a Covenant with the goal of ‘visible unity’. A Commission was established to take things forward; and in 2005 the member Churches reaffirmed their commitment to the Covenant, with funding until 2011.
The Commission had set an agenda for 2011–2016 ‘to work towards a Church of Wales that shares one faith, one structure, one ministry and one governance, but that honours and celebrates different theological emphases and worship traditions’. The Governing Body agreed to support the continuation of the Commission for five years from 2011 and to request a review in 2016.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
In September 2008 the Governing Body had recommended that ‘a set of equality policies [be] produced and approved by the Governing Body’ and in September 2010 the Governing Body approved the Equal Opportunities Policy produced by the Human Resources Committee.
The Policy commits the Church to equality of access and of opportunity. It also notes that the secular law permits the Church (and other faith communities) to discriminate in certain circumstances where not to do so would cause offence to a substantial minority of its members. The Policy pledges the Church, so far as reasonable and where the law allows, to act positively to redress inequalities faced by minority groups within it. The Governing Body will monitor the Policy's application and encourage the introduction of positive action if it appears that the Policy is not fully effective.
MARRIAGE LAW
The Governing Body noted that the Marriage (Wales) Act 2010 is now law and that anyone with a ‘qualifying connection’ can now be married in a Welsh parish church.Footnote 1
In order to circumvent the requirement for bill procedure, at the April session the Governing Body invoked the 1955 Canon on experimental use of revisions of parts of the Book of Common Prayer and provisionally approved for experimental use for three years Orders of Service for Marriage within a Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Marriage without a Eucharist, and Blessing of a Marriage following a Civil Ceremony, together with some supplementary material.
SAFEGUARDING
At the April session the Chair of the Provincial Safeguarding Committee outlined the progress over the last 14 years from ‘child protection’ to ‘safeguarding’. However, there were still some communications difficulties and he reminded parishes that even if they did not have children attending worship they were still required to have a child protection policy in place and their volunteers had to obtain a CRB disclosure. The Vulnerable Adult Strategy for the Province was made available in draft for the April session and published during the summer.
WELSH LANGUAGE PROVISION
Concern was expressed at the September session about the lack of vocations to ministry from Welsh-speaking parishes and the availability of Welsh-language services in the parishes. It was suggested that Welsh lessons should be compulsory for those working in Welsh-speaking areas.
