What is the Evangelical Movement of Wales?
The Movement is a fellowship of churches and individuals who accept the Holy Scriptures, as originally given, as the infallible Word of God and of divine inspiration, and who recognise them as their sole authority in all matters of faith and practice.
What are the Movement’s aims?
The Movement was raised up by God in the 1940s in order to serve both English and Welsh speakers. In both languages the EMW serves to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ through outreach, publications, camps, conference, courses, and bookshops, and offers support to individuals, ministers, churches and organisations who share this aim. (Read more about our aims…)
What does the Movement do?
The EMWs ministry and mission extends right across Wales and beyond. There is a Pastoral Director who travels extensively to offer support, encouragement and advice to individual Christians and churches.
Camps: Every year around 700 young people (aged between 10 and 21), benefit from a mix of Bible-teaching, activities and fellowship. Over the years, hundreds of young people have professed faith or recommitted their lives to Christ during these camps.
Publications: We produce audio cassettes, CDs, videos, tracts, the bi-monthly Evangelical Magazine, and quarterly Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd. The Movement also publishes books through our publishing arm, Bryntirion Press, and is the only wholly evangelical publisher in the Welsh language.
Bookshops: Nine bookshops in south, mid and north Wales maintain a daily witness to the gospel and supply much-needed resources such as books and Sunday School materials.
Theological Training: For over 30 years a steady stream of men have enjoyed the Movement’s part-time theological training course (in English or Welsh) which is designed for men in full-time employment who feel called to the ministry.
Ministers’ fellowships: Each month twelve fellowships across Wales bring together evangelical ministers for prayer, Bible-study, and mutual encouragement. This work is complemented by two day-conferences in February, and two residential conferences (an English conference in June, and a Welsh Conference in November), both held at Bala.
Conference facilities: Bryn-y-groes provides a comfortable residential centre for Christian groups in the beautiful North Wales town of Bala. Each year the facilities at Bryn-y-groes are enjoyed by families, mature Christians, and young people for conferences, camps and retreats.
Evangelism: Undertaken in conjunction with local churches and other bodies, this vital work includes providing literature stands and witness teams at the National Eisteddfodau and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show.Supporting Mission: The EMW aims to promote a world-wide vision of Christianity, and to increase awareness of opportunities for Christian service. Two key areas where this is done is through articles and reports in our two magazines, and the Missionary Exhibition at the annual conference in Aberystwyth. We also work with other organisations to send good Christian literature to needy church leaders overseas.
Co-operating with other evangelicals: Thankfully, the Movement is not working alone, and we can therefore pool resources and work together with the churches and Christian organisations that share our convictions and aims. These include the Associating Evangelical Churches of Wales, the Association of Christian Teachers in Wales, the Christian Council for Schools in Wales, and the Wales Evangelical School of Theology (with whom we share the Bryntirion site). We are also working with other evangelical organisations in the production of the first ever Welsh Study Bible.
Holidays and Conferences: Bringing God’s people together for fellowship, worship and Bible-teaching is one of the most well-known areas of our work. There are several conferences and other meetings throughout the year, but for many people the highlight remains the two annual conferences held in Aberystwyth each August.
How is the Movement funded?
We manage all our finances on the basis that God will provide the resources necessary to complete the work we undertake at His bidding and His way. Our aim is to make as many of our activities as possible self-financing. But a vital part of our work and mission is only made possible by the generous giving of individual Christians and churches. Such gifts – many of which are given on a regular basis – ensure that evangelistic outreach and other projects are made possible. Those who pay income tax can increase their giving substantially through the Gift Aid scheme. We are grateful to so many people who respond to the need by giving of their time and their money in order to promote the mission and ministry of the EMW.