Church in Wales seeks next generation of leaders

The Church in Wales is on the look out for young people with a fresh vision to become the next generation of church leaders.

It has launched a new five-year strategy called 'Here I Am, Send Me', to seek out young people who may be feeling "called" to ordained ministry.

The Church in Wales wants to increase the number of new clergy to ensure the Church can continue to serve every community in Wales in the future.

Speaking at the recent launch, the Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, called invited young people with a "vision of change” to consider Christian ministry.

He said, “We want to generate a sense of excitement and discussion about the call to Christian ministry and an understanding of the nature of vocation.

"This is an opportunity to recruit a new generation of leaders of the Church – and specifically to target younger people and bring their new vision into the life of the Church.

"Come and lead us, come and enthuse us with your vision of change.”

The strategy aims to see an average of three people ordained a year in every diocese, with two under the age of 35.

Bishop Cameron, who is chair of the vocations strategy group, said the Church was looking for people who had found a lively faith of their own.

He said, “We want people who understand Christianity as an encounter with the living Jesus who calls the church onwards to activity and mission.”

A quarter of our clerics are approaching retirement in the next few years and fewer than one in 10 are aged under 40. Bishop Cameron said the Church needed to "act now" if it was to have enough stipendiary ordained ministers to cover all the dioceses.

The Church is dedicating one Sunday in the year for congregations to focus on people considering ordination. The Sunday after Ascension, which this year is May 16, will be “Ministry and Calling Sunday” when there will be specific prayers and readings for vocations.

"We remain convinced as a Church that the ordained ministry has still got an important role to undertake, and we need to do some work in seeking out and nurturing vocations – especially among younger people," said Bishop Cameron.

“We want people to consider whether God is calling them to ordained ministry and we also want to help those whom God is calling to respond with the answer ‘Here I am, send me’.

“The Sunday after Ascension as comes just at that point of the Church’s year when the disciples were waiting for the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and we are waiting for God’s spirit to renew our Church in our own day.”