Father Andrew Holmes has been our parish priest since March 2003. He grew up in London and High Wycombe. Leaving school to take up an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering, he became a draughtsman in a mining engineering company.

After a brief spell with an aircraft interior design company he took a degree course in mechanical engineering at Swansea University. It was during that time that he was encouraged to consider his vocation to the priesthood. After graduating in engineering he was accepted for ordination by the Church in Wales, and spent three years at St Michael’s Theological College, Llandaff, Cardiff. He was ordained deacon at Brecon Cathedral in 1996, priest in 1997, and served his title in the parish of Clydach in the Swansea Valley. A further curacy followed in the parish of Swansea St Thomas & Kilvey, before being appointed Priest-in-Charge of the New Radnor Group of Parishes in rural Mid-Wales in April 2000. From there he moved to Penrhiwceiber, accompanied by his two dogs who are as well-known in the parish as he is.

He is a member of Credo Cymru (Forward in Faith Wales) and the Society of the Holy Cross (SSC).