With King Charles III greeted by cheering crowds in Wales on his first official tour of the country as the monarch last Friday, one Baptist Pastor from Pembrokeshire was invited to Llandaff Cathedral along with other faith leaders from across Wales, for a Service of Reflection.

The King and Queen Consort attended the service of prayer and reflection for the life of Queen Elizabeth II at the Cathedral, before heading to the Senedd to receive a Motion of Condolence from Members of the Senedd, as part of a day of Royal engagements in the Capital, which also included a reception at Cardiff Castle.

In his column for the Observer this week, Rob James Baptist Pastor and moderator of Deer Park Baptist Church in Tenby, gives his reflections on the day.

“You never know what a new day will bring especially when you are committed to serving the God who is ‘gloriously predictably unpredictable’. Having said that I certainly didn’t expect to receive a personal invitation to attend the service in Llandaff Cathedral last week in the presence of the new King and his Consort.

“I accepted it of course, and I am glad I did because it proved to be an extremely uplifting service. Then, to my amazement however the first invitation was followed by a second - to attend a reception in Cardiff Castle. There were no details other than timings and security arrangements, but once again, sensing the privilege, I affirmed I would attend.

“I didn’t know what to expect but when I arrived much to my surprise discovered that a small group of us had been selected to meet the Royal couple personally,” he continued.

“Now that certainly proved a ‘memory making moment’, not least because I found them both warm and very personable.

“As I have said more than once since then they spoke with their eyes as much as their voices, and it left me feeling very glad as well as honoured to have met them.

“I had been chosen of course because of my wider Christian connections and I was introduced as Executive Chair of Evangelical Alliance Wales.

“It came as no surprise then, to be asked some questions that related to faith. But it was thrilling to see their genuine interest in the state of the church in Wales, as well as importance they attach to prayer.

“The King had obviously enjoyed the singing in the cathedral, especially the splendid rendering of ‘Bread of Heaven’, but he was also keen to know what church life was like at the moment in a nation that has become known as the ‘land of revival’.

“Interestingly I am currently writing a chapter for a book on this very subject and in the short time we had together I was able to share a few insights with him.

“Church attendance has certainly dropped. ‘The number of people describing themselves as “Christian” in Wales in the 2001 and 2011 censuses fell from 72% to 57.6% of the population and the most recent study I have read has concluded that while Christianity is declining in the UK as a whole ‘The Welsh denominations are doing particularly poorly’

“But it is not all ‘doom and gloom’ because there is much to celebrate too. It is is not difficult to find vibrant churches that are impacting their communities in all sorts of ways for example.

“In ‘Stories of Hope’ published in the spring the Evangelical Alliance listed ‘a snapshot of the work of the Alliance in Wales and a selection of stories from some of our incredible member churches and individuals who are seeking to serve and love their communities’

“Even more remarkably one of my good friends told me recently that he knows of more than a few churches that are growing and that he is witnessing a remarkable recovery of spiritual awareness, and that more and more people are looking for spiritual answers. He’s also noticed that the churches they find attractive do more than hold regular services: they also offer a genuine sense of community.

“Last week I had the privilege of sharing that with the King. This week I have the honour of sharing it with you. Thank you for taking the time to read this,” added Rob.