New vicar for the Kington Parishes has been welcomed and licensed

The new vicar for the Kington Parishes has been welcomed and licensed in a special service.

Reverend Canon Doctor Sally Welch was appointed as the new Vicar of the Benefice of Kington St Mary with Huntington, Old Radnor, Kinnerton and Titley in the Diocese of Hereford.

The institution of Dr Sally took place at St Mary’s Church in Kington and it was led by the Bishop of Hereford, the Right Reverend Richard Jackson.

The Induction and Installation was undertaken by The Venerable Derek Chedzey, Archdeacon of Hereford.

The service included the singing of hymns, prayers, readings and the taking of the oath of allegiance and the oath of Canonical Obedience

As part of the service Dr Sally was presented with a bible, a large jug of water and bread and wine as tokens of Christ’s ministry in his church.

Sally spent two years as a Canon at Oxford’s Christ Church Cathedral, while also serving as one of the Bishop's Advisers for Women's Ministry.

Before that Reverend Sally had been a parish priest within the Diocese of Oxford for over 20 years.

She is the author of a number of books and her particular interest is the spirituality and practice of pilgrimage.

Sally said: “We have been in Kington for a month and we are loving it here. We love the weather, we have already enjoyed snow and rain and the countryside is amazing and the people have been so friendly and welcoming.

“We feel very settled and very glad to be here. The service on Monday was lovely, I was really moved because so many people turned out. I have met all the churchwardens and I have just want to spend time getting to know the area and the people.

“I am always either preparing for a pilgrimage or on a pilgrimage and that involves lots of walking which is ideal here. With Christmas coming up, I hope to be at everything I can physically be at.”

 Sally and her husband Jeremy, who works in administration at Oxford University, have four children and seven grandchildren

Kington’s last vicar Reverend Benedict Griffiths and his wife, Jean, moved to North Wales in March 2023 and he was formally installed as Vicar and Ministry Area Leader of Bro Ardudwy, an area between Barmouth to Harlech on March 22.

Benedict became the vicar of Kington in January 2016 and had previously served between Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells for five years before moving to Aberedw and Painscastle for about 15 months.