Bishop of St Asaph announces decision to retire

Jun 4 2008 by Andrew Davies, Rhyl Visitor

THE popular Bishop of St Asaph John Davies has announced his intention to retire later this year.

The Rt Rev Davies is to retire from his position as the 75th Bishop of St Asaph in December this year.

The decision was unveiled on Sunday, and the bishop will complete his public duties by the end of November.

After ordination as deacon and then priest, John Davies then served in a wide variety of parishes in the diocese. He has been widely recognised as a well-loved parish priest with a reputation for wise counsel, scholarly teaching and as a man of prayerful integrity.

He took on a number of diocesan posts during his early ministry and served as a Canon of St Asaph Cathedral and an archdeacon before being ordained as bishop in 1999.

In a letter read in every parish church in the Diocese on Sunday, Bishop John said: “I would at this stage like to express my deep appreciation of the support you have given me over the years and of the generous hospitality I have received everywhere I have visited.

“It has been a privilege and a joy to serve the diocese and I thank God for the devotion, commitment and sacrificial living and service of so many people in our parishes.”

In his role as diocesan bishop, for most of the last decade, Bishop John has undertaken substantial work in the areas of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, communication, the environment, Fairtrade and education.

He has been involved with speaking, writing and broadcasting on behalf of the diocese and the province, as well as offering a shepherd leadership to the clergy and people in his care. As bishop he has steered the diocese through a testing period of change and restructuring.

He is said to have “inspired great loyalty amongst ordained and lay people alike and he has always emphasised the importance of facing the future with honesty and courage”.

Bishop John and his wife Joan are both looking forward to the opportunity to travel more widely and to spending more time with their family in retirement. They have two sons and three grand-daughters and will be moving to live near Llanrhaeadr.

An electoral college to choose a new bishop for the diocese is likely to be held in January, 2009.