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Diocese of St Davids Esgobaeth Tyddewi | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Flag | |
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Wales |
| Archdeaconries | St Davids, Cardigan, Carmarthen |
| Headquarters | Diocesan Office, Abergwili, Carmarthen |
| Information | |
| Cathedral | St Davids Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Dorrien Davies, Bishop of St Davids |
| Dean | Sarah Rowland Jones |
| Archdeacons | Paul Mackness, Archdeacon of St Davids Mones Farah, Archdeacon for New Church Communities Eileen Davies, Archdeacon of Cardigan Matthew Hill, Archdeacon-designate of Carmarthen |
| Map | |
 Map of the dioceses in the Church in Wales | |
| Website | |
| stdavids | |
The Diocese of St Davids is a diocese of the Church in Wales, a church of the Anglican Communion. The diocese covers the historic extent of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, together with a small part of western Glamorgan. The episcopal see is the Cathedral Church of St David in the City of St Davids, Pembrokeshire. The present cathedral, which was begun in 1181, stands on the site of a monastery founded in the 6th century by Saint David.
The diocese is divided into the three archdeaconries of St Davids, Carmarthen and Cardigan (additionally, Mones Farah was collated on 12 August 2018[1] as Archdeacon for New Church Communities[2]). The bishop's residence is Llys Esgob in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire.
History
The history of the diocese of St Davids is traditionally traced to that saint (Dewi) in the latter half of the 6th century. Records of the history of the diocese before Norman times are very fragmentary, however, consisting of a few chance references in old chronicles, such as Annales Cambriae and Brut y Tywysogion (Rolls Series).
Originally corresponding with the boundaries of Dyfed (Demetia), St Davids eventually comprised all the country south of the River Dyfi and west of the English border, with the exception of the greater part of Glamorganshire, in all some 3,500 square miles (9,100 km2). Until 1852 the diocese also included some parishes in Herefordshire.
The diocese assumed its current extent in 1923, when the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon was created from the eastern part of the diocese.[3]
The office of Bishop of St Davids has existed since the founding of the cathedral. The See is currently vacant, since the retirement of Joanna Penberthy, who was the first woman ordained a bishop in the Church in Wales.[4] On 17 October 2023, Dorrien Davies, Archdeacon of Carmarthen, was elected to become the next Bishop; the confirmation of his election (by which he legally became Bishop) was on 29 November and his episcopal consecration is scheduled for 27 January 2024 at Bangor Cathedral.[5]
In 2019 the diocese began to reorganise its churches into 23 Ministry Areas, plus the Cathedral. This process was completed in 2021 and the ministry areas are now coterminous with the deaneries.[6]
Archdeaconries and deaneries
| Diocese | Archdeaconry | Deanery | Paid clergy | Churches | Population | People/clergy | People/church | Churches/clergy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diocese of St Davids | Archdeaconry of Cardigan | Deanery of Aberystwyth | 4 | 5 | 14,581 | 3,645 | 2,916 | 1.25 |
| Deanery of Bro Aeron Mydr | 2 | 12 | 5,379 | 2,690 | 448 | 6 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Padarn | 2 | 14 | 17,003 | 8,502 | 1,215 | 7 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Teifi | 3 | 18 | 16,698 | 5,566 | 928 | 6 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Wyre | 2 | 8 | 4,403 | 2,202 | 550 | 4 | ||
| Deanery of Dyffryn Teifi | 3 | 17 | 13,695 | 4,565 | 806 | 5.67 | ||
| Deanery of Glyn Aeron Coastal | 3 | 10 | 8,181 | 2,727 | 818 | 3.33 | ||
| Deanery of Lampeter | 3 | 22 | 14,120 | 4,707 | 642 | 7.33 | ||
| Archdeaconry of Carmarthen | Deanery of Bro Aman | 3 | 11 | 28,464 | 9,488 | 2,588 | 3.67 | |
| Deanery of Bro Caerfyrddin | 4 | 11 | 20,755 | 5,189 | 1,887 | 2.75 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Cydweli | 4 | 10 | 11,262 | 2,816 | 1,126 | 2.5 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Dinefwr | 2 | 11 | 4,863 | 2,432 | 442 | 5.5 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Dyfri | 3 | 18 | 9,119 | 3,040 | 507 | 6 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Gwendraeth | 4 | 14 | 35,641 | 8,910 | 2,546 | 3.5 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Lliedi | 3 | 6 | 50,258 | 16,753 | 8,376 | 2 | ||
| Deanery of Bro Sancler | 3 | 11 | 8,400 | 2,800 | 764 | 3.67 | ||
| Deanery of Carmarthen | 0 | 3 | 1,981 | - | 660 | - |