The Archbishop of Wales & Bishop of Bangor has announced that the Revd David Morris will be joining the diocese this Easter.
David will serve as the diocesan Director of Ministry, while also occupying the stall of Canon Secundus as a Residentiary Canon of Saint Deiniol’s Cathedral in Bangor.
He will take the lead in coordinating our diocesan ministerial processes to support all who share in the Archbishop’s ministry across the diocese, and will build on the hard work of recent years to grow new ministries.
Andrew John, Archbishop of Wales, said: “David joins us ready to nurture the green shoots we have seen over recent years, not least in the licensing of so many new Lay Licensed Ministers last Petertide and in our flourishing pioneer ministries. But he also knows, as I do, the challenges we face to raise up a new generation of vocations to serve Christ and the Church. I look forward to welcoming him back to Bangor and the Cathedral, where David’s own vocation was nourished.”
David’s new role will see him working alongside our Ministry Area Leaders and pioneers to enable the development of new ministries, as well as supporting the vocational initiatives flowing from the Llan project and the Cathedral’s student ministry.
David will also oversee our ministerial students and curates, our engagement with St Padarn’s Institute, our continuing ministerial development programme, and our Grŵp Cadfan meetings.
In all of this, David will be working closely both with the archdeacons and with colleagues in other dioceses, especially to the east in St Asaph as we seek to work more closely together across North Wales.
David will be based in Bangor, alongside other members of Tîm Deiniol, and with a spiritual home and base for his own priestly ministry at the Cathedral.
June Osborne, Bishop of Llandaff, said: “The Revd David Morris is a much-valued Director of Ordinands and colleague in the Diocese of Llandaff, where he has also been an outstanding parish priest in both urban and rural settings. We are deeply sorry to lose David but know that our friends in the Diocese of Bangor will enjoy enormously his steady and wise approach to matters of ministry and his mischievous sense of humour. We send him North with our blessings and very great gratitude for all that he has achieved and his friendship to so many.”
Siôn Rhys Evans, Sub-Dean & Diocesan Secretary, said: “It will be a joy to welcome David back to the city of Bangor. Canon Tracy Jones knows David well from her service as a Provincial Selector, and she joins me in welcoming David’s appointment to join the ministry team at the Cathedral, and we, alongside my colleagues within Tîm Deiniol, look forward to supporting him in his ministry across the diocese.”
Introducing himself, David said: “I’m absolutely delighted to take up this new role and return to the Diocese of Bangor, to share in your exciting missional endeavours and support the ministries of lay and ordained.
“I enjoyed three happy years in the city in 2004-2007 as a student studying theology and assisting at the Cathedral most Sundays during term-time. I can’t quite believe that was 15 years ago!
“Since leaving Bangor I trained for ordained ministry and obtained a Masters degree in Theology at St Michael’s College, Llandaff, before serving my curacy in Merthyr Tydfil. In 2012 I became parish priest of Grangetown, a vibrant multicultural suburb of Cardiff, and during my time there I was appointed a diocesan vocations advisor.
“Latterly, since 2019 I’ve served as Diocesan Director of Ordinands for the Diocese of Llandaff and Vicar in the East Vale Ministry in the Vale of Glamorgan. Consequently, I have a great passion for fostering vocation and encouraging people to realise their God-given potential, enabling them to become the people they are truly called to be in God’s service.
“I hail from the Rhondda Valley where my mother lives, along with my sister, brother and their families. My partner, Marc, is Director of Improvement and Innovation for Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB; and I mustn’t forget a key member of the family, Gordon the cat!
“I enjoy going to the gym, and I fully intend to seize this opportunity to develop my learner’s Welsh – looking forward already to some intensive weeks at Nant Gwrtheyrn! In a voluntary capacity I serve as a trustee of St John Ambulance Cymru and I was also appointed Dean of the Priory for Wales of the Order of St John in 2019, so I’m very much looking forward to developing stronger ties with our St John volunteers and staff in North Wales.
“I’m generally a warm and gregarious character who enjoys cultivating relationships, so I’m very much looking forward to getting to know the Bangor diocesan family.”
David will be installed and licensed at a service of Choral Evensong at Saint Deiniol’s Cathedral on Sunday 8 May at 6.30pm.
