17 - The Image of the Church

Summary

This chapter explores the changing images of the Church in Wales since disestablishment in 1920. Drawing on themes developed in the book, it focuses on three areas: the concept of image in Christian theology; the image of the Church in Wales inherited at disestablishment and as developed since; and the modern approach of the Church to communicating its image to the wider world. In 1920, the Anglican Church in Wales received a new identity and a changed relationship to Wales, the Church of England, and the global Anglican Communion. This had a lasting impact upon how the church has developed images of itself and how it has been seen by others. The Church in Wales has increasingly developed awareness of its own image and the communication of its ministry, message and values to the wider world. The chapter traces such binary images of the church as catholic but increasingly evangelical, adaptable to social change yet autonomous, hierarchical and clerical yet increasingly less so. The chapter also deals with how the church engages with the media in its communications officers and bodies.