Revd Dr Trystan Owain Hughes

A bit about me

I was born in Bangor in North Wales and grew up in Penmaenmawr, schooled through the medium of Welsh language. Having completed a degree in theology and a PhD in the history of the church in the twentieth century, I taught at Bangor University before becoming head of Theology at Trinity University College, Carmarthen, Wales. During this time I also taught part time at the Open University and presented papers at a range of conferences including at universities in Dublin, Edinburgh, Stirling, Philadelphia, Sydney, Northumbria, and Chicago.

My ministerial training was at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford and, during that time, I attained an MTh from Oxford University. My theological training also included extended placements in an asylum seekers deportation centre, an Oxford University college, and a large episcopal church in Washington DC. After serving curacies in Llantwit Major and Whitchurch (Cardiff), I became coordinating chaplain of an inter-faith

team of chaplains at Cardiff University and taught theology part-time at Cardiff University. I was then appointed director of ordinands for the diocese of Llandaff and priest-in-charge at the parish of Christ Church, Roath Park. When I took up my present position of tutor of applied theology at St Padarn’s, I stepped down as DDO, but I still continue as vicar of Christ Church, Roath Park.

In the past, I served for over 10 years on the Doctrinal Commission of the Church in Wales and regularly contributed to BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought and BBC Radio 4’s Prayer for the Day, as well as to programmes on BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio Wales. I am presently a member of the Church in Wales Evangelism Fund Committee, appointed as a cleric who has seen considerable growth in his parish in the past five years.

In my free time, you’ll find me watching films or football on TV, reading non-fiction books, listening to singer-songwriters, or wandering the countryside searching for prehistoric monuments with my long-suffering wife, Sandra, and our three kids, Lukas, Lena, and Macsen.

My research interests

I have a real desire to make theology accessible. My early academic publications were in the field of history, and I continue to research twentieth-century church history. Many of my more recent books for publishers such as SPCK and BRF, though, have been on applied theology and spirituality. In these I have attempted to make theology and theological concepts accessible, so they can connect with those with faith, those on the edges of the Church, and even those who are unchurched. I am also keenly aware of the importance of creativity in all spheres of ministry and life, and so my books interweave biblical truths with challenges from culture and the creative world, especially from film and music. Amongst a number of ongoing projects, I am currently completing a Lent Book, which will be the official BRF Lent Book for 2020.

Some highlights of my work

2017 Living the Prayer: The Everyday Challenge of the Lord's Prayer (BRF, Abingdon)

2014 The Religious History of Wales: A survey of religious life and practice from the seventeenth century to the present day [Co-edited with Richard C. Allen and David Jones] (Welsh Academic Press, Cardiff)

2013 Real God in the Real World: Advent and Christmas Readings on the Coming of Christ (BRF, Abingdon)

2013 The Compassion Quest (SPCK, London)

2010 Finding Hope and Meaning in Suffering (SPCK, London)

2005 ‘Pop Music and the Church’s Mission’ (Anvil: Journal for Theology and Mission, 22/1)

2005 ‘When Was Anti-Catholicism?: A Repose’ (Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 56/2)

2002 ‘An Uneasy Alliance? Welsh Nationalism and Roman Catholicism’ (North American Journal of Welsh Studies, 2/2)

2001 ‘Anti-Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Wales’ (Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 53/2)

2000 ‘“No longer will we call ourselves Catholics in Wales, but Welsh Catholics”: Roman Catholicism, the Welsh Language, and Welsh National Identity in the Twentieth Century’ (Welsh History Review)

1999 Winds of Change: The Roman Catholic Church and Society in Wales 1916-62 (University of Wales Press, Cardiff)