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Somerset’s Senior Church Leaders meet at Wells
Each January during The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Somerset’s senior church leaders gather for prayer and fellowship. They also visit a local church community in the County. In January 2026 this was Bridgwater and in 2025 Yeovil. The 2027 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place from 18-25 January 2027 on the theme of Luke 12:32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’.
Left to right in this picture are Rev Nigel Manges (Baptist Regional Minister), Rt Rev Dr Michael Beasley (Anglican Bishop of Bath & Wells), Rev David Downing (URC Moderator), Rev Dr Marcus Torchon (Methodist District Chair) and Rev Lindsay Caplen (Baptist Regional Minister).
The other members of the senior leaders’ group (who also serve as the co-presidents of Churches Together in Somerset) are Rt Rev Dr Fiona Gibson (Anglican Bishop of Taunton), Rev Dr Dan Haylett (Methodist District Chair), Major Paul Billard and Major Gillian Billard (Salvation Army), and Rt Rev Bosco MacDonald (Catholic Bishop of Clifton Diocese).
Our County Ecumenical Officer for Somerset is Jonathan LLoyd
Jonathan is an Anglican priest and retired archdeacon living in the City of Wells. He was born in Somerset and has served in church ministry in England, South Africa, Denmark and Canada. He is a Canon Emeritus of the Diocese in Europe of The Church of England.
His ecumenical experience includes being a member of the Porvoo Contact Group for five years - helping to develop the partnerships of the Anglican/Lutheran communion across the Nordics, Baltics and Ireland/UK. Jonathan was a World Council of Churches monitor in KwaZulu/Natal in 1993 in the period leading to the first democratic elections in South Africa.
He works for CTS for 8 hours a week on a flexible basis. Jonathan is also currently serving as acting Archdeacon of Wells (Diocese of Bath and Wells) until December 2026.
