The Governing Body of the Church in Wales is the deliberative and legislative body of the
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...
, broadly speaking equivalent to the
General Synod of the Church of England
The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...
. The Governing Body usually meets twice each year to receive reports, discuss issues concerning the church and make decisions on matters brought before it.
History
The Church in Wales was created in 1920 under the
Welsh Church Act 1914
The Welsh Church Act 1914 is an Act of Parliament under which the Church of England was separated and disestablished in Wales and Monmouthshire, leading to the creation of the Church in Wales. The Act had long been demanded by the Nonconformist ...
. It came about as a result of a desire by the Welsh people to be led by Welsh bishops and to be able to worship in their own language. It is not only a
disestablished church but also a disendowed church. It became an independent province of the
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
. It adopted a written constitution and elected a Governing Body which at first used to meet once a year, but now meets twice annually. The Governing Body has ultimate authority "to approve liturgies, review organizational structures, and secure firm fiscal resources for the mission and ministry of the church". The Church in Wales was one of the first members of the Anglican Communion to adopt synodical government.
The Governing Body
The Governing Body of the Church in Wales is
tricameral
Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted with unicameralism and bicameralism, each of which is far more common.
Varieties of tricameralism
A disputed type of tricameralism is one whe ...
and consists of three orders of participants; the first order is the House of Bishops, which includes all six bishops from the six
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
s in the archbishopric; the second is the House of Clergy, which includes fifty-one clerical representatives who are elected at diocesan level; the third is the House of Laity, which includes eighty-six non-clerical representatives from the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
es of the archbishopric, again elected at diocesan level.
[ The chairman and vice-chairman of the ]Representative Body of the Church in Wales
The Representative Body of the Church in Wales is a registered charity, regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, responsible for holding property and assets on behalf of the Church in Wales. It was set up in 1917 to oversee th ...
are ex-officio members and other persons can be co-opted to cover their areas of expertise.
References
External links
Governing Body of the Church in Wales
{{Church in Wales
Church in Wales