The Presbyterian Church of Wales ( cy, Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru), also known as Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

in Wales.

History

Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru, Caernarfon (7395630736)

The church was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland in the 18th century and seceded from the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

in 1811. In 1823, a Confession of Faith was created and adopted, based on the standard

Westminster Confession The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard ...

. Theological colleges for ministerial training were opened in

Bala Bala may refer to: Places India * Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedin� ...

, then in Merionethshire, now Gwynedd (1837),

Trefeca Trefeca (also Trefecca, Trevecca, and Trevecka), located between Talgarth and Llangorse Lake in what is now south Powys in Wales, was the birthplace and home of the 18th-century Methodist leader Howell Harris ( cy, Hywel Harris, italic=no). It was ...

, then in Brecknockshire, now Powys (1842), and

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location i ...

, in Ceredigion (1906). It produces a quarterly journal ''Y Traethodydd'' and a monthly periodical ''the Treasury''. It is distinguished from other forms of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

by the

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

nature of its theology. For the history of the church, see ''

Calvinistic Methodists Calvinistic Methodists were born out of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival and survive as a body of Christians now forming the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Calvinistic Methodism became a major denomination in Wales, growing rapidly in the 1 ...

''. In 1840, the Foreign Missionary Society was formed in Liverpool to provide missionaries to India. It held its first General Assembly in 1864. In 1928 it officially adopted the name ''Presbyterian Church in Wales'' but still retained the name ''Welsh Calvinistic Methodism'' with equal standing. In 1933 its constitution was modified as a result of the Presbyterian Church in Wales Act of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1933, receiving Royal assent. In 1947 the Association in the East was established for English-speaking churches. In 1978 Pamela Turner became the first woman to be ordained as a minister. In 2004 the central office moved to

Whitchurch, Cardiff Whitchurch () is a suburb and community in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is approximately 3 miles north of the centre of the city on the A470 road and A4054 road. It falls within the Whitchurch & Tongwynlais ward. The population of ...

. In 2007 new boundaries and structures was adopted for presbyteries. It claims to be the only truly Welsh denomination in Christianity, and is rare among Presbyterian Churches, by originating in the Methodist Revival rather than deriving from the Calvinist Reformation.www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/presbyterian-church-of-wales
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Statistics

The Presbyterian Church of Wales has around 20,000 members who worship in around 620 churches. Most of these churches are in Wales, but due to strong historical links between the Welsh and certain English cities, there are churches using both the English and the Welsh languages in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Churches belong to one of eighteen Presbyteries, grouped into three Provinces, the Association in the South, the Association in the North (Welsh language), and the Association in the East (English language), along with a General Assembly. The Church offices are located at the Tabernacle Church, 81, Merthyr Road, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 1DD.

Social issues

The church is active in discussing social issues within Wales. In 2014, the church opened up a discussion on whether to bless or recognise same-gender relationships. The church has ordained women as ministers since 1978.

Presbyteries and chapels

Chapel names

In the Welsh chapel tradition, chapels, rather than being dedicated to a particular saint, are named after places from the Bible. Because these place-names are written in Welsh orthography (in some cases based on the spellings used in the

Authorised Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of ...

or William Morgan's Bible), and because several of the place-names are quite obscure to the interested reader, the table below identifies the referents of these dedications. Welsh words used in chapel names that have a theological meaning are also included. If a chapel name cannot be identified in the below list, it probably refers to a neighbourhood or locality within the town or village in which the chapel is located, or is an adjective such as ''Hen'' (old), ''Hyfrydle'' (delightful), ''Newydd'' (new) or ''Unedig'' (united).

Bodies to which PCW is affiliated

* Cytûn – Churches Together in Wales *

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical organisation. The members include most of the major churches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. CTBI is registered at Companies House with number 05661787. Its office is in Cen ...

* Conference of European Churches *

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

www.ebcpcw.org.uk/english/what-we-do/mission
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References

External links

Presbyterian Church of Wales
Creeds of Christendom website {{DEFAULTSORT:Presbyterian Church Of Wales 1811 establishments in Wales Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Members of the World Council of Churches Methodist denominations established in the 19th century Presbyterian denominations established in the 19th century Presbyterian denominations in Europe Presbyterianism in Wales Religious organizations established in 1811