The Most Rev. Andrew Thomas Griffith John (usually known as Andy John; born 9 January 1964) is the current

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 ...

, of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an 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 bishops. The position is currently held b ...

. He became the

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 ...

in 2008 and was appointed archbishop in 2021.

Early life

A native of

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

, John attended Ysgol Penglais before studying law at the

University of Wales, Cardiff Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. After graduating in 1986, he studied theology at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, graduating in 1988, followed by a diploma in pastoral studies at St John's College, Nottingham in 1989.

Ordained ministry

He was ordained

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 ...

in the Diocese of St Davids and a

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 ...

at Petertide 1990 (on 30 June at St Davids Cathedral by George Noakes, Bishop of St Davids and Archbishop of Wales). Until his election as Bishop of Bangor, all his ministry was in the Diocese of St David's. Initially he was

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 ...

for Cardigan, Y Ferwig and Mwnt from 1989 to 1991 and then in Aberystwyth from 1991 to 1992. He was a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

in the Rectorial Benefice of Aberystwyth from 1992 to 1999. From 1999 he was vicar of Henfynyw with Aberaeron and Llanddewi Aberarth, to which was added Llanbadarn Trefeglwys in 2005. In 2006 he was appointed vicar of Pencarreg and Llanycrwys and the Archdeacon of Cardigan.

Episcopal ministry

John was elected

on 9 October 2008 and was consecrated in Llandaff Cathedral on 29 November 2008, along with the new Bishop of St David's, Wyn Evans. He was enthroned in

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 ...

on 24 January 2009. On 6 December 2021, John was elected to serve as

(remaining Bishop of Bangor) by an Electoral College of the Church in Wales meeting at Holy Trinity Church, Llandrindod Wells; his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

was confirmed (and therefore he legally took up the archiepiscopal see) immediately. He was formally enthroned as Archbishop of Wales on 30 April 2022. He was honoured as a member of

Gorsedd Cymru 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 ...

in 2023 as were two previous archbishops of Wales, Barry Morgan and

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 ...

Views

Archbishop John identifies himself with the Evangelical tradition of Anglicanism. However, some of his actions and views also align with

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and with liberalism.

Personal life

The Archbishop and his first wife, the Reverend Caroline John, have four children. Following their divorce, he remarried.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Andrew Thomas Griffith 1964 births People from Penparcau 21st-century bishops of the Church in Wales Alumni of Cardiff University Alumni of the University of Nottingham Archdeacons of Cardigan Bishops of Bangor Archbishops of Wales Living people People from Aberystwyth Welsh-speaking clergy Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham People educated at Ysgol Penglais School