Swansea church launches 15-minute services to attract more church-goers

Watch the video report from ITV Wales' Dean Thomas-Welch.

A vicar has become one of the first in the UK to launch a 15-minute church service in a bid to help busy people fit prayer into their day-to-day lives.

St David's Church in Penllergaer, Swansea, is thought to be the first church in Wales to offer the speedy services.

The Revd Dr John Gillibrand said the so-called "microservice" is being introduced in response to the increasing time pressures churchgoers are facing.

He said he hopes the services can help more people "find peace in a troubled world".

The idea came to the Revd Gillibrand when he began thinking about the challenges people in the local community were facing after Covid.

He said: "One of the things that is most striking to me as the parish priest is how much pressure individuals and families are under, and so that's why we came up with this idea of a short church service.

"It will be no longer, no shorter than 15 minutes. It's so that people on the way home from work can call into church, find a space for peace and quiet and prayer and reflection, and then go home to whatever challenges they're facing."

It comes as the number of Church in Wales members has dropped by 50,000 in the past 25 years, with a £1million drop in revenue reported due to the dwindling attendances.

The Revd Gillbrand said he hopes the services prove how the Church in Wales is prepared to innovate and "to face the tricky problems".

He added that the services aren't intended to be a replacement for Sunday morning services, but "a way of being in the church otherwise" within the busy working week.

He continued: "We're doing something differently, we're doing something new."

The Revd Gillbrand said churches need to find ways to serve the needs of their communities.

He said: "Churches always need to be alive to their context, to be thinking about the context in which we are working. If we don't, that's when we start getting problems, because there's this disconnect that comes between church and wider society."

The 15-minute services will take place every Monday at 4.45pm, starting on April 22, 2024.

The Revd Gillbrand added that "everyone is unconditionally welcome" to attend.

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