INTRODUCTION
In his April Presidential Address the Archbishop focused on two issues: the Report of the Review Group chaired by Lord Harries and same-sex marriage. His concern with the Review is that ‘it is possible to get so bogged down or hung up on some of the details of the Provincial Review that there is a danger in dismissing all of it because one disagrees with some of the points it makes’. He regretted that churches with ordained clergy ‘have been tempted to assume that all ministry is vested in an omnicompetent professional minister’ and reminded his listeners that the basic sacrament of the Church was not ordination but baptism. His concern with the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was that clergy who would not conduct same-sex marriages needed protection, yet the Church itself needed to be allowed to conduct such marriages if it decided to do so in future. He felt that the Church ‘needed to have a discussion as to whether we want to continue having this special status in law as far as marriage is concerned’.
CHURCH IN WALES REVIEW: PROGRESS
At the September 2012 meeting a small Implementation Group had been appointed to advise on the process for consideration of the Harries Review. Taking forward 50 recommendations for consideration, decision and, where agreed, implementation was not an easy task, and the Implementation Group had focused initially on what it saw as the core vision of the Report: the reorganisation of the local church into Ministry Areas, the provision of ministry via collaborative Ministry Teams incorporating both lay and ordained ministers and an integrated programme of training for lay and ordained ministers to develop leadership skills and collaborative working practices. It was decided that proposals for a Provincial Framework for Ministry Areas would be brought to the Governing Body in September 2013 for consideration and approval. The Framework would be sufficiently broad to enable experimentation and variation at the local level in order to ensure that the new structures would best meet local needs.
The Framework duly appeared; and at its meeting in September 2013 the Governing Body agreed a motion to ask dioceses to embrace the Review's vision of a re-energised Church, to develop and enhance the Church's ministry by adopting the Provincial Framework, to develop specialised ministries reaching beyond the regular worshipping community – especially to young people – and to request Provincial Bodies to provide all reasonable assistance to dioceses. Dioceses were asked to report annually to the Standing Committee on progress in developing Ministry Areas and Ministry Area Teams; the Standing Committee was asked in turn to bring forward proposals for any necessary constitutional changes to enable implementation of Ministry Areas and Ministry Area Teams.
WOMEN IN THE EPISCOPATE
The Bench of Bishops sponsored the introduction of legislation to permit the ordination of women to the episcopate. The original intention was a ‘double bill’ approach: the first to make provision in principle for the consecration of women as bishops which would come into effect on the same date as a second bill addressing questions of conscience for opponents.
In the event, at its September meeting the Governing Body dropped the ‘double bill’ approach and removed the clause that would have delayed the implementation of the first bill until the second had been passed. Instead, the Bill to Enable Women to be Consecrated as Bishops became a one-stage vote on the issue, with a Code of Practice to be written by the bishops ‘without delay’ so that everyone, including dissenters, ‘may have a sense of security in their accepted and valued place within the Church in Wales’. The Archbishop said that the Code would be debated at the next meeting of the Governing Body, at Llandudno in April 2014, before being presented in its final form next September.
THE CHURCH IN WALES AND THE NATIONAL SOCIETY
Since devolution, education policies in England and Wales have diverged. Because the National Society's relationship with the Church of England is changing, at the September meeting the Council of the National Society and the Bench of Bishops approved a Memorandum setting out the relationship between the two bodies and their mutual expectations. Following a motion and debate in the Governing Body, the Memorandum was signed by the Archbishop and the General Secretary of the National Society, the Revd Janina Ainsworth. As a result of the Memorandum, the National Society will continue to provide legal support for the Church in relation to Welsh Government legislation and regulations and will support and resource Diocesan Directors of Education and education teams.
ORDERS OF SERVICE
At the April 2011 meeting, Orders of Service for Marriage within a Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Marriage without a Eucharist and the Blessing of a Marriage following a Civil Ceremony, with some supplementary material, had been approved for experimental use for a period of three years. At the April 2013 meeting they became part of the Church in Wales' Book of Common Prayer.
In September 2004 the Governing Body had authorised the experimental use of a new Alternative Ordinal. Following a discussion at the Governing Body, the Bench of Bishops will consider suggestions already made and any subsequently submitted and will make recommendations for the final text in a Bill to be presented to the meeting in September 2014. If agreed, the Bill will place the Alternative Ordinal on a permanent footing.
PROVINCIAL WELSH LANGUAGE COMMITTEE
A Welsh Language Committee has been established with terms of reference agreed by the Standing Committee. It will develop and oversee a Welsh language strategy for the Church, oversee the implementation of recommendations in Each in Our Own Language and monitor the Church's policy and practice in relation to the use of Welsh.
