The new Archbishop of Wales says his Church is seen as looking after its own interests before others as he seeks to address a steady decline in attendance.

After first press conference since being elected, John Davies told Christian Today the Church in Wales needed a confidence boost as it tried to turn around a negative perception.

'There is a perceived decline,' he said. 'Well, an actual decline.

'I think that is because we are not very good at communicating our message.

'We are seen as an institution that lives for itself when really the Church is there to serve the community. But that is not necessarily understood.'

The Church in Wales is declining even faster than the Church of England with average Sunday attendance down nearly a third in just over a decade. A report on the latest figures noted it was 'particularly worrying' to see a rapid declines of the Church's typical entry services with baptisms down eight per cent on last year alone and confirmations down 21 per cent.

On top of that the report said a downward trend in expenditure 'has seemed to indicate a lack of confidence by parishes, particularly in taking on major projects' with parishes frequently having a large surplus.

Bishop Davies admitted: 'I think we need to create a culture where we grow in courage about the message we are proclaiming and engage in better communication.'

He takes over from Dr Barry Morgan who retired after 14 years in the post. A prominent liberalising figure, Dr Morgan used his final presidential address to urge Anglicans to rethink views on same-sex marriage and said sex within a committed gay or lesbian relationship is perfectly 'proper'.

But Bishop Davies caused fury among more liberal members of the Church when he strongly opposed the promotion of a senior gay cleric Jeffrey John earlier this year, prompting allegations of homophobia.

In emails released after a freedom of information request, Bishop Davies wrote to his fellow bishops at the time warning John's appointment 'could set off a media circus' and it would 'do the perception of the Bench, at home and elsewhere, no particular good either'.

He wrote to colleagues before the vote where Dr John narrowly missed out on the two-thirds needed to be appointed: 'My instinct is that JJ's stance on the matter of same-gender relationships and his own situation might be unwelcome to many in the Diocese who would suspect that Barry's [the former archbishop's] evident liberal agenda was being perpetuated by his election.'

After the vote he wrote: 'As for the Jeffrey John saga, I (and a number of people, not least some C of E bishops) am of the firm view that we have had a lucky escape and that the Holy Spirit spoke (at least to some!).'

Asked about his role in the election he told Christian Today the bishops had closely followed the process for electing a bishop under the church's constitution.

'It may be that people were disappointed,' he said. 'The bottom line was Doctor John did not achieve the number of votes in the college and the process had to be followed.

After the vote the bishops then blocked Dr John from further consideration but Bishop Davies told Christian Today that decision was justified: 'I think it would have been unjust and unwise for us to include somebody for consideration who had previously been considered by the college.

'I am very sorry if people were disappointed and I am particularly sorry if people feel trust was damaged by what happened but we had to follow the process.'

As to his own plan for the Church in Wales, Bishop Davies said the idea Morgan had a liberalising agenda was 'perrception not a reality': 'I don't think it was actually liberal.'

And would he be different? 'I don't see any change coming,' he said.