A meeting of the Council was held on 18 November at the Baptist College, Cardiff. During the morning, our new President, The Reverend Dyfrig Rees, was inducted into office after the outgoing President, The Reverend Jill-Hailey Harries, requested to be relieved of her duties.

The meeting began with a short service led by the Treasurer, The Reverend Martin Spain, with Rheinallt Thomas presiding over the induction and commissioning of The Reverend Dyfrig Rees as President of the Free Church Council of Wales. Following the prayer of commissioning, he was presented with the official robe, scarf and medallion of office. In his response, he thanked Rheinallt Thomas for his generous words of introduction and the members for placing their trust in him as President of the Council. He reflected that very few people today are willing to volunteer and accept formal responsibility, describing this as one of the challenges of our age. He also stressed the importance of treating one another with respect and listening to God’s message of witness, affirming that God’s grace is at work in our churches.

The newly appointed President, Dyfrig, then chaired the remainder of the morning’s meeting. He reported that he had represented the Council at several events, including the enthronement of the Archbishop of Wales, The Most Reverend Cherry Vann. He had also been invited to attend the Porvoo Theological Conference, held in Cardiff at the end of October on behalf of the Church in Wales.

Dr Eryl Wynn Davies was welcomed to his first Council meeting. He gave an update on ministerial training and the developments taking place within both the Interdenominational Training Sub-Committee and the Candidates and Training Department of the Presbyterian Church of Wales.

Dr Cynan Llwyd reported on the work of CYTÛN, explaining that the organisation is currently engaged in a period of listening, visiting churches and discerning where God is leading its work. He noted that CYTÛN is an ecumenical body and identified three key priorities for ecumenism in Wales today:

* Ecumenical cooperation among national church leaders.
* Ecumenical engagement in the public life of Wales.
* Ecumenical cooperation at the local, grassroots level.

Cynan agreed to pursue the suggestion of issuing a joint Christmas statement from the Roman Catholic Church, the Church in Wales, and the Free Church Council of Wales, demonstrating the growing cooperation between the denominations.

The Treasurer’s report was received. No education report was presented, but reports were received from all the member denominations, each highlighting matters arising from their respective annual meetings.

The meeting concluded with the President pronouncing the Grace. The next meeting of the Council will be held on 13 May 2026 at the Baptist College, Cardiff, with a hybrid Zoom option also being available.