John Tudno Williams (born 31 December 1938) was the Moderator of the

Presbyterian Church of Wales The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

from 2006 to 2007 and the Principal of the

United Theological College, Aberystwyth The United Theological College located in Aberystwyth, in the county of Ceredigion in mid Wales, is a Grade II listed building which was the ministerial training college of the Presbyterian Church of Wales from 1906 to 2003 and an associate colle ...

, from 1998 to 2003.

Early career

John Tudno Williams was born in 1938 in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

, the son of Arthur Tudno Williams, a minister in the

and an alumnus of

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

, and Primrose (née Hughes Parry).''The Bible in Church, Academy, and Culture: Essays in Honour of the Reverend Dr. John Tudno Williams''
Alan P. F. Sell (ed.) – Pickwick Publications, Eugene, Oregon –

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

pg 1 He was educated at the

Liverpool Institute High School for Boys The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on M ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Colfe's Grammar School Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School, is a co-educational private day school in Horn Park in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headma ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Williams studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

like his father before him, graduating in 1960. On leaving Oxford, he registered as a research student in the Classics Department of

University College of Wales Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

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 ...

, whilst studying at the same time at the United Theological College, Aberystwyth, in preparation for ministry in the

. He was ordained in 1963 and served at

Borth Borth () is a village, seaside resort and community in Ceredigion, Mid Wales; it is located 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberystwyth, on the Ceredigion Coast Path. The community includes the settlement of Ynyslas and the population was 1,399 ...

, in north

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

, for ten years. In 1976 he gained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

for a research thesis on the Jewish background to St John's Gospel.

Aberystwyth

In 1966 Williams joined the teaching staff at the

, under its principal, the Revd

Samuel Ifor Enoch Samuel Ifor Enoch (26 December 1914 – 10 June 2001) was Professor of New Testament Studies and Principal of the Presbyterian United Theological College, Aberystwyth in Wales. Early life Samuel Ifor Enoch was born on 26 December 1914 at Ciliau A ...

, lecturing in

Biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

. Williams took leading baritone roles in the University College's

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

Society, then under the conductor

David Russell Hulme David Russell Hulme (born 19 June 1951) is a Welsh conductor and musicologist. He is an emeritus reader and the former director of music at Aberystwyth University and is known for his research and publications on the music of Arthur Sullivan, th ...

. On his retirement in 2003 Williams had completed a period of 37 years as a lecturer within the Faculty of Theology of the University of Wales. He served as Principal of the United Theological College in

between 1998 and 2003.

Achievements

Williams served two terms as Dean at the Aberystwyth and Lampeter School of Theology (1985–1987 and 1994–1997), and was visiting professor at Acadia Divinity College,

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

in 1997. He sat on the translating panel for the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

section of Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd (The Revised New Welsh Bible) from 1975 onwards and was secretary of the Theological Branch of the

's Guild of Graduates for 36 years. He also served as chief A level examiner in

Religious Studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

for the WJEC for twelve years. Currently, he is an honorary research fellow at the

University of Wales, 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 Academic degree, degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited degree awarding powers sinc ...

's Department of

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

and Research Fellow at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

. In 2002/03, he was Moderator of the

's Association in the South and was the General Assembly's Moderator in 2006/07. In 1990 he was elected Moderator of the Free Church Federal Council in Wales and England: only the second of his denomination to fill the post in half a century. In 2006, Williams received the honorary degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

from the

in recognition of his contribution to biblical scholarship and to religion and education in Wales. In 2011 the volume ''The Bible in Church, Academy, and Culture: Essays in Honour of the Reverend Dr. John Tudno Williams'' edited by Alan P. F. Sell was published in honour of his contributions to the Church and to scholarship. In 2012 he was elected a Fellow of the

Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and Charitable organization, charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the W ...

. Williams married Ina Evans in 1964; the couple have two children, Haf and Tomos Tudno Williams.Sell, pg 6

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John Tudno Living people Welsh scholars and academics Welsh theologians Welsh Presbyterians 1938 births People educated at Colfe's School Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Principals of the United Theological College, Aberystwyth Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of Aberystwyth University Translators of the Bible into Welsh People from Aberystwyth Welsh-speaking clergy Welsh-speaking academics Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales 20th-century Presbyterians 21st-century Presbyterians