Union of Welsh Independents

Last updated
Union of Welsh Independents
Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg
Union of Welsh Independents logo.jpg
Logo of the Union of Welsh Independents
(Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg).
Classification Protestant
Orientation Reformed
Polity Congregationalist
Llywydd (president)Beti-Wyn James
Secretary GeneralDyfrig Rees
Distinct fellowships Congregational Federation
Associations World Communion of Reformed Churches,
International Congregational Fellowship,
Council for World Mission,
World Council of Churches
Cytûn
Region Wales
Congregations400 (2021)
Members31,000 (2006)
Official website http://www.annibynwyr.org/

The Union of Welsh Independents (Welsh : Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg) is a Reformed Congregationalist denomination in Wales.

Contents

History

St Mary's Church (Anglican) and Capel Sul (Independent) in Kidwelly St. Mary's and Capel Sul, Kidwelly (23946623785).jpg
St Mary's Church (Anglican) and Capel Sul (Independent) in Kidwelly

Welsh Congregational churches or Independents stand in the Puritan tradition. The first Congregational congregation was founded at Llanfaches, Monmouthshire, in 1639. Early founders were in the Puritan tradition. Later, several churches were founded and formed separate denominations. They embraced different theological positions. Finally, the denomination was founded in 1872 as a voluntary association of churches. It was called Independent because each congregation claims to be under the authority of Christ. Individual congregations cooperate through associations. Now the Union works through six departments: finance, mission, ministry, education, churches, communication. The Union churches have much in common with other free churches in Wales. Ministers can freely move their ministry among them. The Union's council met once a year. The Union is a free and voluntary body, its aims to help to make churches a fellowship that serve Jesus Christ. [1] The church has high emphasis on preaching the Gospel, and education, empowering church members. The latest strategy is the Welsh Independents Development Programme. [2]

Statistics

In 2006 the Union of Welsh Independents had 16 associations of churches, 450 congregations, 31,000 members and about 107 ministers. Its worship services are held primarily in the Welsh language. [3]

According to the latest statistics in 2021 it had over 400 congregations. [4] The president is Beti-Wyn James. [5]

Blaen y coed Welsh Independent Church Blaen y Coed Chapel (geograph 6893569).jpg
Blaen y coed Welsh Independent Church

Interchurch relations

The Union is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, [6] the International Congregational Fellowship, [7] Council for World Mission [8] and the World Council of Churches.

It has friendly relations with the Congregational Federation. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterianism</span> Branch of Protestant Christianity in which the church is governed by presbyters (elders)

Presbyterianism is a Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Though there are other Reformed churches that are structurally similar, the word Presbyterian is applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Reformed Church</span> Christian church organisation in the United Kingdom

The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregationalism</span> Religious denomination

Congregationalism is a Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. These principles are enshrined in the Cambridge Platform (1648) and the Savoy Declaration (1658), Congregationalist confessions of faith. The Congregationalist Churches are a continuity of the theological tradition upheld by the Puritans. Their genesis was through the work of Congregationalist divines Robert Browne, Henry Barrowe, and John Greenwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Church of Christ</span> Protestant Christian denomination

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran traditions, and with approximately 4,600 churches and 712,000 members. The UCC is a historical continuation of the General Council of Congregational Christian churches founded under the influence of New England Puritanism. Moreover, it also subsumed the third largest Calvinist group in the country, the German Reformed. Notably, its modern members' theological and socio-political stances are often very different from those of its predecessors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United and uniting churches</span> Union of Protestant churches of different creeds

A united church, also called a uniting church, is a denomination formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations, a number of which come from separate and distinct denominational orientations or traditions. Multi-denominationalism, or a multi-denominational church or organization, is a congregation or organization that is affiliated with two or more Christian denominations, whether they be part of the same tradition or from separate and distinct traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of South India</span> United Protestant church in South India

The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant denominations in South India that occurred after the independence of India.

The Congregational Federation of Australia and New Zealand is a Congregational denomination originally comprising fourteen congregations in New South Wales and Queensland but now including congregations in New Zealand.

The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands is a united church formed on 1 December 1965 as the "United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman" by bringing the Protestant denominations "Presbyterian Church in Jamaica" and "Congregational Union of Jamaica" together. The "Disciples of Christ in Jamaica" joined on 13 December 1992, at which time the current name was adopted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Association of Congregational Christian Churches</span>

The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) is an association of 304 churches providing fellowship for and services to churches from the Congregational tradition. The Association maintains its national office in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. The body was founded in 1955 by former clergy and laypeople of the Congregational Christian Churches in response to that denomination's pending merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church to form the United Church of Christ in 1957.

The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) is a prominent Christian denomination established in 1967, following the unification of various congregational movements within Southern Africa. Its origins can be traced back to the missionary work of the London Missionary Society in the Cape Colony in 1799. The UCCSA plays a significant role in the religious landscape of Southern Africa, with a membership of approximately 500,000. It maintains a notable presence in countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. The UCCSA is recognized for its contributions to education and social justice in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Congregational Christian Conference</span> Congregationalist denomination in the United States

The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference is a Congregationalist denomination in the United States. It is the most conservative and oldest Congregationalist denomination in America following the dissolution of the Congregational Christian Churches. It is a member of the World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship and the National Association of Evangelicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Communion of Reformed Churches</span> International Christian organization

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Reformed (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 Christian communion in the world after the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. This ecumenical Christian body was formed in June 2010 by the union of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rees (Y Cynhyrfwr)</span> Welsh Congregationalist minister

The Reverend David Rees was a Welsh Congregational minister of Capel Als chapel Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, and an editor of a radical Welsh language Nonconformist periodical titled Y Diwygiwr. Known as 'Y Cynhyrfwr', he held radical political views and opposed the relationship between the Established Church and the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bala-Bangor Theological Seminary</span>

Bala-Bangor was a theological seminary belonging to the Welsh Independents, an association of Welsh congregationalists. It was founded in 1841 at Llanuwchllyn, then moved to a permanent location at Bala, Gwynedd in 1842 under the principalship of Michael Jones (1787–1853), who was followed by his son Michael D. Jones (1822–1898).

Y Cofiadur is published by Cymdeithas Hanes Annibynwyr Cymru, a society founded in 1920 by Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg. The first issue was published in 1923. It is an annual Welsh-language magazine on the history of religion and contains articles on the history of Welsh Independent churches and the individuals involved, with references. It also includes society notes. The magazine has been digitised by the Welsh Journals Online project at the National Library of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelical Church of the River Plate</span>

The Evangelical Church of the River Plate is a United, Protestant denomination with congregations in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is named after the Río de la Plata Basin, where the majority of its congregations are located. The IERP was affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Germany from 1934–1965, when it became independent. The church ordains women as ministers and supported civil unions and same-sex marriage. It has approximately 27,500 members. The denomination is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States</span>

The National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States was a mainline Protestant, Christian denomination in the United States. Its organization as a denomination was delayed by the Civil War. Congregational leaders met again in Boston, Massachusetts in 1865, where they began to hammer out standards of church procedures (polity) and adopted a statement of faith, known as the Burial Hill Declaration. Denominational organization came in 1871 with formation of the National Council of Congregational Churches, which existed until its merger in 1931. In 1928, there were 5,497 Congregational churches in the U.S. with a membership of 939,130. These churches were served by 5,648 ministers.

References

  1. "Union of Welsh Independents – World Council of Churches". www.oikoumene.org. January 1967.
  2. www.cwmeurope.org/en/about-cwm-europe/union-of-welsh-independents Archived 31 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. www.annibynwyr.org/aboutus/index.html Archived 13 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg". annibynwyr.org. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  5. "Union of Welsh Independents welcomes Beti Wyn as the new President". Twitter (in Welsh).
  6. "Member Churches :: World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)". Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  7. "Jewelry Reviews". www.intercong.org.
  8. www.cwmission.org/churches/europe-region/ Archived 24 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "The Congregational Federation in Wales – what is it?". www.cfwales.org.uk.