By STEPHEN WIGLEY

CARDIFF – The Methodist Church in Wales is made up of two Districts, both of which are part of the British Methodist Church.

One of them, Synod Cymru, works mainly in the Welsh language and is mainly situated in the north and west of Wales. The other, which works mainly in the English language, is the Wales Synod. Wales Synod has about 10,000 members in about 220 churches spread across Wales and is served by 75 ministers.

These churches are currently organised in 26 circuits, each with its own Superintendent Minister. 

In addition, there is also an independent Methodist School, Rydal-Penrhos, situated in Colwyn Bay in North Wales.

However, in common with the rest of the British Methodist Church, The Methodist Church in Wales is currently undergoing a process of restructuring, with the theme of “Mapping the Way Forward – Regrouping for Mission.” 

The intention is to have fewer and larger circuits, with a wider ministry and better administrative support. This will mean that by September the number of circuits will be reduced by a third, to 17.

The recent history of Wales has been very much associated with the industrialisation of the early years of the 20^th century, particularly with the coal mines and steel works in South Wales and the mines and quarries of North Wales.

Unfortunately the decline of these industries in the 1970s and 1980s has left its mark, both on the communities and in the life of the local churches. 

Much of the old chapel culture, which developed at the same time as industrialisation, has declined in influence. But at the same time, there has been new industrial developments and inward investment (much of it from outside the United Kingdom) along the coastal strip and in the valleys of South East Wales.

This, along with the emergence of Cardiff as the capital city and centre of the devolved Welsh Assembly Government, has led to a new phase of development. At the same time, both Snowdonia in North Wales (with its mountains and moors) and Pembrokeshire in West Wales (with its beaches and bays), are notable tourist areas which, together with their history and heritage, attract visitors and holiday-makers from all over the world.

The Methodist Church has circuits and churches across all these areas. Some of them have experienced decline and retrenchment in recent years. But in other places the Church has discovered new life and hope for the future. It has planted new churches in some areas of significant new housing.

There are new projects underway, for example, with the Amelia Trust Farm, a city-farm mission project engaging with hundreds of disadvantaged youngsters in the Vale of Glamorgan. 

The Church recently appointed a Mission Enabler to work with Ethnic Minority congregations, developing new work among Urdu-speaking communities who have moved to Wales. And major refurbishment programmes have been undertaken in a significant number of local churches.

So although, as with many of the mainline churches in Britain, The Methodist Church in Wales experienced a numerical decline, it is not without life and hope.

The Rev Dr Stephen Wigley is Synod Chairman of The Methodist Church in Wales. This article first appeared in Connection, a fortnightly English publication of The Chinese Methodist Message, Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference.