President – Jill-Hailey Harries
A native of Pembrokeshire, Jill was raised to the ministry by the church at Pisga, Llandysilio. Educated at Coleg yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg (The Welsh Independent College), Aberystwyth, she worked as a Youth Worker for the Union of Welsh Independents from 1986 to 1991. Jill was ordained in a pastorate in the Llandovery area in 1991, and in 2002 she moved to Whitland, Carmarthenshire. In 2011 she was ordained as minister of Bethel and Triniti in Sketty, Swansea, and Tabernacl, Morriston was added to the pastorate in 2016. Jill is a trustee on the board of Carmarthen Domestic Abuse Services and is a school governor at Ysgol Gymraeg Tan y Lan, Morriston.
Immediate Past President: Mr Glyn Williams
A native of Nantglyn, Debighshire, Glyn enjoyed a successful career in agriculture, working for the Milk Marketing Board and ‘Genus’. He spent two brief periods in England before returning to Montgomeryshire in the 1980s. He retired from the post of Regional Business Director at the end of the 1990s. He became Union President in 2016. Having completed a ministerial course, he now visits various churches to lead worship. He is a member of the National Eisteddfod’s Council, and was Vice Chair of the Eisteddfod Maldwyn Executive in 2003. He is Treasurer of Cymrodoriaeth Eisteddfod Talaith a Chadair Powys, and of the Welsh devotional magazine, ‘Gair y Dydd’.
President Elect – Beti-Wyn James
Beti-Wyn James comes from the Swansea Valley and was a staff member with the Union before she graduated from the Welsh Independents College in Aberystwyth. She was ordained as a minister of Tabernacle Church, Barry, before moving to Carmarthen to pastor Y Priordy Church, Cana and Bancyfelin where she remains a minister.
