Alwyn Rice Jones (25 March 1934 – 12 August 2007) was

Bishop of St Asaph The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy county borough, Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The ...

from 1981 to 1999 and also

Archbishop of Wales The post of Archbishop of Wales () was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came ...

, the Welsh

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

, from 1991 to 1999. During Rice Jones' tenure, the Church of Wales reformed its rules in order to ordain women priests, and to allow

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

es to remarry in church.

Early and private life

Rice Jones was born in

Capel Curig Capel Curig (; meaning " Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 ...

Caernarvonshire Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Geography The county ...

, and spoke Welsh as his first language. He was educated at the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Llanrwst ; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is on the east bank of the River Conwy and the A470 road, and lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (histori ...

, and was orphaned at the age of 14. He read Welsh at

St David's College, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter () was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited degree awarding powers since 1852. It was a ...

, graduating in 1955, and then read theology at

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

, graduating in 1957. He married Meriel Thomas in 1968. They had a daughter together. He suffered from ill health in later life, and was cared for by his wife. He died in

St Asaph St Asaph (; "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, and was survived by his wife and daughter.

Ordained ministry

Rice Jones trained for the ministry at St Michael's College, Llandaff. He was made a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christianity, Western Christian liturgical year, liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the ...

(1 June) 1958 and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

the following Trinity (24 May 1959), both times by

Gwilym Williams Gwilym Owen Williams (23 March 1913 – 23 December 1990) was a prominent figure in the Church in Wales who served as Bishop of Bangor from 1957 to 1982 and Archbishop of Wales from 1971 to 1982. Biography Williams was born to a deeply religiou ...

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Diocese of Bangor of the Church in Wales. The Episcopal see, see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Bangor Cathedral, Cathedral Church of Sa ...

, at

Bangor Cathedral Bangor Cathedral () is the cathedral church of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Deiniol, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship ...

. The early years of his ecclesiastical career were assisted by Williams' patronage, who recognised his talents. He was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Llanfair-is-gaer Llanfair-is-gaer was an ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Ch ...

for four years, also serving as chaplain of

St Winifred's School St Winifred's School was a school for girls in Llanfairfechan, Conwy County Borough, Wales. History St. Winifred's was founded on 3 May 1887 and named after the 7th-century Welsh saint, Winefride. Its driving force and primary sponsor was ...

Llanfairfechan ; ) is a town and community in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is known as a seaside resort and had a population at the 2001 Census of 3,755, reducing to 3,637 at the 2011 Census. The history of the area dates back to at least Roman time ...

, and with the

Student Christian Movement of Great Britain Student Christian Movement of Great Britain (or SCM) is a British religious charity led by students, past and present. The movement is an ecumenical and inclusive community that recognises unity in diversity and explores faith through worship, dis ...

in Wales. He was Director of Education in the

Diocese of Bangor The Diocese of Bangor is a Diocese#Church of England and Anglican Communion, diocese of the Church in Wales in North West Wales. The diocese covers Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and the western part of Montgomeryshire. His ...

from 1965 to 1975. He served as Vicar of

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

from 1975 to 1979, developing close relationships with the local

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church, and was an

Honorary Canon Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

from 1974 to 1978. He was

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

of Llanfair for one year, from 1978 to 1979, before becoming Dean of

Brecon Cathedral Brecon Cathedral (), in the town of Brecon, Powys, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and seat of the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Previously the church of Brecon Priory and then the Parish Church of S ...

Episcopal ministry

He was installed as

in 1982, and as

on 30 November 1991. His consecration as a bishop was at

Petertide Petertide (also known as St Peter's Tide) refers to the Sunday nearest to St Peter's Day on 29 June and to the period around that day. In Anglicanism, Petertide is one of two major traditional periods for the ordination of new priests (the other ...

1982 (29 June); like his previous ordinations, it was at Bangor Cathedral and led by Gwilym Williams, by then

as well as Bishop of Bangor. Rice Jones adhered to a

liberal theology Religious liberalism is a conception of religion (or of a particular religion) which emphasizes personal and group liberty and rationality. It is an attitude towards one's own religion (as opposed to criticism of religion from a secular position ...

, and supported

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

. He supported the ordination of women, but his first attempt to bring a measure in 1994 to make the reform failed. His second attempt, in 1996, was passed, and the first female priests were ordained the following year. He courted controversy by condemning the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

bombing of

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

in 1999. He attended the

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, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

Assembly in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

in 1991, and the

Anglican Consultative Council The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is one of the four "Instruments of Communion" of the Anglican Communion. It was created by a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. The council, which includes Anglican bishops, other clergy, and lait ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in 1993. At the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867. As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...

in 1998, he persuaded the Welshmen present (including

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

) to entertain their guests during a Welsh cultural evening by singing or telling jokes. He was a member of the Welsh

Gorsedd of Bards Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

and regularly attended the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

. He supported Welsh

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

, arguing that the

disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

of the Church of Wales in 1920 made it stronger. He took part in the special service to mark the opening of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

in May 1999. He retired in 1999, shortly after his 65th birthday, and was succeeded as Archbishop of Wales by

Bishop of Monmouth The Bishop of Monmouth (Welsh: ''Esgob Mynwy)'' is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth. The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at Newport Cathedral (commonly k ...

, who would later become the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

References

External links

BBC obituaryObituary, ''The Independent'', 16 August 2007Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 16 August 2007Obituary, ''The Times'', 23 August 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice Jones, Alwyn 1934 births 2007 deaths People from Capel Curig Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Bards of the Gorsedd Bishops of St Asaph Archbishops of Wales 20th-century Anglican archbishops Deans of Brecon Cathedral Alumni of St Michael's College, Llandaff Welsh-speaking clergy 20th-century bishops of the Church in Wales