A perusal of the statute book might suggest that there was little change to weddings law during the 1920s and 1930s. There were, however, numerous Church of England Measures that altered the rules governing its weddings and caused them to diverge from those applicable to the newly disestablished Church in Wales. And there were even more orders validating marriages that had not taken place in accordance with the law, illustrating how often mistakes were made. There were also changes in how couples married, with the balance between Anglican and civil weddings shifting in the light of the church’s growing reluctance to conduct the remarriages of the divorced and the changing implications of marrying in a register office. While the Marriage Act 1949 finally brought all of the laws regulating marriage and weddings together into a single statute, it did very little by way of recasting the terms in which the law was stated, even less by way of removing anomalies, and absolutely nothing by way of reconsidering the way in which different types of marriages were regulated in different ways. All it achieved was to consolidate the complexity of the existing law.

This chapter examines continuity and change within the role of the laity of the Church in Wales since disestablishment. From 1920 lay persons played a significant role in the life of the church, as donors, fund-raisers, churchwardens, and in other leading roles and offices in governance and administration, not least in the work of the Governing Body and the Representative Body. The chapter argues that their contribution to church life has been considerably more than paying, praying, and obeying. The work of bodies such as the mothers union and youth movements are used as case studies to illustrate these realities. The former culture of lay deference to the clergy seems to be waning, and a church-wide review of 2012 proposed a far greater role for the laity in the running of churches at the most localised level - the chapter looks critically at how this is being played out. All in all, there is clear evidence that, whilst church membership declines, lay people are making a claim to a wider ministry in the church which arises not by birth but by baptism. The chapter suggests that it is time, therefore, for the Church in Wales to reflect more fully on the role of the laity as this is set out in the principles of canon law common to the churches of the Anglican Communion to equip them more effectively for the mission of the church.

This chapter explores relations between the Church in Wales and other faith communities. 1920 saw the formation of the Church in Wales as a new province of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The following decades witnessed numerous Welsh contributions to global Anglicanism, including its leadership by a former Welsh bishop, proposals for an Anglican Communion Covenant, and recognition of principles of canon law common to the churches of the Anglican Communion. After 1920, ecumenical relations with other churches in Wales improved gradually, and in the 1970s the church entered a covenant for the union of churches in Wales and today it is an active in Churches Together in Wales. However, from the 1930s, the church entered international ecumenical agreements with churches of other traditions, such as the Old Catholics, the united churches of South India and North India, and, in the 1990s, Lutheran churches of Nordic and Baltic lands. The chapter explores critically the value and challenges posed by these agreements and the role played by leaders within the Church in Wales in their formation. The past twenty or so years have also seen the development of dialogue between the Church in Wales and other major world religions, driven in part by the increasingly pluralistic nature of Welsh society.

This chapter deals with the bishops and archbishops of the Church in Wales within the framework of the thirteen archiepiscopates across the century. It seeks to blend biographical sketches with landmark developments in episcopal and archiepiscopal ministry. Following the enthronement of Edwards as Archbishop of Wales in 1920, the archiepiscopates of Green, Prosser and Morgan saw the readjustment of the Church in Wales to its new status after disestablishment. Those of Morris, Simon and Williams represent what some see as the golden age of episcopal leadership. Those of Childs, Noakes and Rice Jones followed, facing the first serious signs of the decline in church membership and debate on the ordination of women. Those of Williams, Morgan and Davies bring us to the present, over a period of enormous change. The chapter also deals with episcopal polity, the styles of episcopal leadership, the theological positions of the bishops, and changes in their election and ministry over the century.

The liturgical history of the Church in Wales since 1920 has been characterised by a movement from uniformity towards diversity in worship. In 1920 the church continued to use the inherited 1662 Book of Common Prayer. After World War Two, liturgical revision was largely conservative - to maintain a single usage. 1984 saw the introduction of a new but again single-use Book of Common Prayer. Today, however, variety is positively encouraged, and technology enables each worshipping community to have its own tailor-made liturgy. As a result, the Prayer Book of the Church in Wales offers at least two different liturgies – a traditional and a contemporary - for each of the major acts of worship of the church; and those acts are supplemented by a multiplicity of further optional texts and ceremonies. This caters for those in both the catholic and evangelical traditions. This can lead to a pick-and-mix approach to liturgy - but this reflects the times, where context is privileged, and worshippers’ needs prioritised. Variety represents a growing realisation that worship does not consist in the words of the text, but in the vibrant interplay of text and action. The congregation is increasingly invited to take part in liturgy, which reflects a shift from passivity to participation in liturgy, as well as from formality to informality in worship.

This chapter traces the development of clerical ministry in the Church in Wales since disestablishment in 1920. Ordained ministry has undergone profound changes across the century with many landmarks in relation to all aspects of it, from training through ordination to functions, deployment and pay and conditions of service. These include the ordination of women as priests and the introduction of terms of service (both driven in large measure by developments in secular society). There have also been key changes with regard to the training of clergy and the demise of classical residential theological formation, as well as provision for the personal and professional development of clerics as well as in the area of clerical discipline. Today the church faces a dramatic decline in the number of vocations to ordained ministry, responding in part with the evolution of the parish system into ministry areas, and with the advent of non-stipendiary ordained ministry. Overall, whilst the Church in Wales, in its structures, discipline and organisation, is radically different from the church in 1920, it is today more inclusive and more willing to experiment in its ever-evolving approaches to ordained ministry.

This chapter provides a history of Church in Wales schools since disestablishment in 1920, using as its starting point the impact of landmark parliamentary statutes on education in Wales in general and on the church and its schools in particular. What emerges is the church's longstanding commitment to the value of education and its desire for education in its schools to be freely available. These themes have persisted across the century amid the changing social and economic conditions of Wales. The century is also characterised by partnership between Church and State in the field of education. Yet the Christian distinctiveness of a church school has throughout been predicated on a foundation of Christian values. Across the century, the Church in Wales invested, at provincial and diocesan levels, in education, in the training of teachers, in physical buildings, and in the infrastructure of the syllabus and standards. As an active stakeholder in education and a strong partner with civil government, before and after devolution, the Church in Wales has collaborated in making seminal legislation, policy and practice. Church Schools are not simply for worshipping Anglicans, nor do they seek to proselytise. Rather, they offer an education to all, of the highest standards based on Christian values at the heart of Welsh communities.

The so-called rites of passage - baptism, confirmation, Holy Communion, marriage, and burial - are rarely addressed in the Constitution of the Church in Wales. Norms are found in liturgical rubrics and other regulatory forms in the service books, in soft-law, and in pre-1920 ecclesiastical law which continues to apply to the Church in Wales unless and until altered by it. Baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion are not governed by State law. But the civil law on marriage and burial continues to apply to the church as vestiges of the old establishment. Over the century, there have been several key changes in ritual norms. In some respects, the church is progressive when compared with other Anglican churches. Changes to burial norms in the 1970s removed the traditional prohibitions on those who die unbaptised, excommunicate or who commit suicide. The Church in Wales is only the fourth Anglican church to admit to Holy Communion all those who have been baptised. Moreover, there are proposed changes afoot in relation to solemnising same-sex marriages. However, the way in which these changes have been implemented has, in some respects, led to a degree of uncertainty - and it remains to be seen what impact some of the changes (such as in the case of confirmation) will have on the rites in the future.

The Constitution of the Church in Wales was made to facilitate and order its public life. Drafted on the eve of disestablishment, the Constitution has been changed piecemeal over the past 100 years. While today its fundamentals remain much the same, there have been numerous landmark changes. This chapter studies the Constitution, from the perspective of the role of key figures in its development, in relation to: the sources and foundations of the Constitution in civil law; the formation and drafting of the Constitution (and the role of John Sankey in this); the structure and revision of the Constitution; its purposes and enforceable nature; and the institutional organisation of the Church in Wales. These are critically explored, where appropriate, in the context of principles of canon law common to the churches of the Anglican Communion.

This chapter provides an outline of developments in the Church in Wales since 1920. It seeks to place the specialised chapters which follow in their broader ecclesial context. The study uses the tried and tested technique of periodisation as a convenient way of approaching the subjects treated. The landmark developments in the first period (1920-1945) include the creation of the administration of the Church, forming new dioceses, and establishing sound ecclesiastical finances. The second period (1946-1970) is one of greater self-confidence in the Church, with modest liturgical development and ecumenical cooperation. The third period (1971-1995) is characterised by liturgical innovation and greater ecumenical progress, the ordination of female deacons, but also an increasing reduction in clergy numbers. The final period (1996-2020) is one of rapid change, including the ordination of female priests and bishops, a reorganisation of parochial structures, and a severe decline in Church membership.

While the Church in Wales still adheres to the pre-disestablishment historic formularies, its doctrine has changed much since 1920. During the first half of the century, it was catholic and conservative. However, when a Doctrinal Commission was established in 1969 there were enough Welsh Anglican theologians to staff it. This impacted on doctrinal development, as did the resurgence of evangelicalism in the 1960s, a decade which also saw the rise of modern theology, new patterns of behaviour, and new attitudes to gender. By the end of the century, new attitudes to sexuality were also evident. These changes were a challenge to the conservative, catholic inheritance of the Church in Wales, and to the evangelical tradition. While controversies about ordaining women are now largely in the past, doctrinal controversy about sexuality shows no sign of abating. The work of the Doctrinal Commission has been welcomed for its comments on ecumenical texts, though in other areas its work has had a mixed history, particularly its relationship with the Bench of Bishops.

On the basis of scriptural themes, the Archbishop of Wales reflects on a century of activity in the life of the Church in Wales. He argues for a balanced and objective understanding of the history of the church since 1920. He finds much to celebrate in a wide range of areas of church life. It has been a century of both continuity and change. At the same time there have been painful episodes in the life of the church. The church faces in a secular world serious challenges in its ministry and mission, not least with the significant decline in church membership. Yet, there is hope for the future on the basis of its 2012 review and 2020 vision in the form of genuine renewal.