Welsh churches have lost voice, warns new Presbyterian Moderator

The Rev Gwenda Richards said that Welsh churches were losing the ability to speak to their communities, to each other and to God.

She made the comments in her first address as Moderator to the Church’s General Assembly on Tuesday night.

Rev Richards was installed earlier in the evening, replacing the outgoing Rev Hadyn Thomas, who earlier in the Assembly called for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.

In her address, Rev Richards said that churches needed to re-learn how to speak to their communities if they were to be "relevant and live and contemporary".

“Going to the chapel and then ignoring the problems on your doorstep is not the message conveyed by the Gospel, but rather, trying to deal with local problems by offering a strong Christian voice on matters which concern people,” she said.

“In an age full of difficult questions about the value of life, the right to live, war and terrorism, the environment and the future of the planet, we have a Gospel to offer and a Saviour to present. We must rediscover how to speak to our society.”

Rev Richards warned, however, that churches could not develop a relationship with their communities without first speaking to each other and "more importantly, without discerning how to discern that God is speaking to us".

"We must be ready to listen to each other and to share good ideas and good practice," she said.

"We must remember that we are one Church – the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Although this is difficult as local churches face difficulties and pressures from every side, we must also develop a greater readiness to listen to each other and to understand the different opinions and needs which exist among us."

Rev Richards went on to stress the importance of worship and the Sunday School in confirming the Church's life in God, adding that she wanted to see Sunday Schools increase in influence in Welsh towns and villages.

Rev Ifan Roberts, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, welcomed the new Moderator, saying she would "fully commit to moving the Church forward over the next year".

Rev Richards is the current minister of Seilo Church in Caernarfon, where she was brought up, as well as of a small church in nearby Waunfawr.