THE HISTORY OF THE ALLIANCE IN WALES
PART 1: THE ALLIANCE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The Evangelical Alliance was established in 1846. As Britain's first ecumenical body it was commissioned to build relationship between the established church and non-conformist churches and chapels. Its advent can be seen through the 1846 edition of Y Traethodydd.
PRAYING IN THE NEW YEAR
During the 19th century one of the main ways in which the Alliance made its presence felt was through sponsoring New Year's Eve prayer meetings for church unity. These became commonplace, although it must be admitted that they often lost sight of the Alliance's original vision!
‘One of the most ambitious organizations founded to promote ecumenism was the Evangelical Alliance, which was established during a conference in London in August 1846 attended by 800 representatives from fifty-two countries. The Alliance’s proposal, to hold prayer meetings for Christian unity during the first week of the year, became common practice in Welsh chapels.’
R Tudur Jones, Faith and the Crisis of a Nation: Wales 1890-1914, ed. Robert Pope, Translated by Sylvia Prys Jones, Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 2004, p. 48.
PART 2: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY UNTIL TODAY
The Alliance remained a unitary UK body right up until the late 1980s when it embraced organizational devolution. In Wales this resulted in the formation of Evangelical Alliance Wales - Cynghrair Efengylaidd whose first General Secretary Arfon Jones served with great distinction until 1999 when he was succeeded by the current National Director, Rev. Elfed Godding.
From the outset the Alliance was established as a bilingual organisation with an executive of between five and eight officers and a Council of Christian leaders from across the denominations of between thirty and forty people. It has the dual 'umbrella body role' of promoting inter-denominational church unity and church life and also representing evangelical churches to government and the media.
National Assembly Liaison Office
Given its role with respect to political representation, the Alliance has engaged closely with the devolution process since the 1997 referendum campaign. In 1998 it appointed an Assembly Research Assistant, Daniel Boucher, who subsequently became the Evangelical Alliance Churches' National Assembly Liaison Officer, with responsibility for the newly formed 'Evangelical Alliance Churches' National Assembly Liaison Office'. In 2005 Daniel moved on and was replaced by the current Churches Assembly Liaison Officer, Jim Stewart.
AN ALLIANCE WITH A MISSION: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Today Evangelical Alliance Wales undertakes its two ecumenical 'umbrella body functions' for a growing constituency, embracing Christians and congregations from over twenty denominations in Wales.
"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17: 22-23
Our staff and volunteers May 2006;
Christine Spillards, Jim Stewart, Cynthia Williams, Elfed Godding, Tony Ford, Margaret Haines and John Martin Evans
