A pastor’s daughter who once walked away from her faith is now preparing to lead a new chapter in Llanelli’s spiritual story — and hopes to see her hometown transformed again.
Heulwen Davies will be ordained as Pastor of Furnace’s Century Church on Sunday (October 12).
Speaking ahead of her ordination service, she reflected on the challenges facing the town she loves.
“Llanelli is a town of two halves — wealthy and broken in seemingly equal measure,” she said. “You can see the prosperity in the coastline, the tourism outlets, and the award-winning Machynys Golf Course.
But stroll through the town centre or down Station Road, and you’ll see an area whose crime, poverty, and drug statistics are bleak on a national scale. Both halves are in desperate need of the Gospel.”
Heulwen, who has three sons with her husband Dr Joshua Davies of Prince Philip Hospital, said her passion for the town’s renewal is deeply personal.
After having children, she founded Heirs, a charity that supports children entering care throughout Carmarthenshire and the wider Dyfed-Powys Police area — recently expanding into Swansea.
“Drug use is rampant; people are bound by addiction and broken by neglect and hurt,” she said. “Our care system is over-stretched, food banks are growing — people are hurting.”
Yet her hopes and prayers for revival are not without evidence. She sees signs of renewed faith both nationally and locally, and wants to see once-full chapels filled again.
“We’ve raised close to £1 million to restore a derelict chapel — Siloah Chapel — in an area of town rife with suffering,” she said. “We look at Siloah and say: yes, these bones can live. “A faith lost — and found again
Heulwen’s father, Geraint Jones, founded Century Church, and she says she “grew up loving church.” But her journey to becoming a pastor was not straightforward.
After leaving home to study in Cardiff, she experienced a crisis of faith.
“I thought I knew better than God,” she said. “I gave him a kind of goodbye speech and decided, ‘I’ll do it my way.’
The songs of the club became my liturgy, the pursuit of pleasure my prayer. Boys and booze were my priorities — my life on the altar of the party.”
But the freedom she chased soon felt hollow.
“I spiralled downward. I became lonelier and lonelier and felt lower than ever before. I was totally lost.”
Then, unexpectedly, a hymn from her childhood got stuck in her head — Gwahoddiad.
“It felt like a divine invitation,” she said. “I phoned home — and soon after decided to go to Bible College in Bradford. That was definitely shocking. But I fell back in love with the Church.”
Restoring faith — and buildings
Today, Heulwen plays a leading role in the restoration of Siloah Chapel in Seaside, a dilapidated building at the heart of an ambitious £2 million plan to reopen as both a church and a community hub.
She has long been part of Century Church (formerly 21st Century Church), leading popular community events such as the Furnace Fireworks show and the Easter Egg
Hunt in Parc Howard.Heulwen holds a First-Class Honours degree in English Literature and a Distinction in her Master’s in Theology.
“Christianity isn’t dead,” she said. “Though we see many tired, closed, or crumbling chapels, the reality is that post-COVID, and in the current social, economic, and political climate, people are searching. Answers that used to satisfy don’t anymore — I know that in my own life.
“We’re seeing people from all backgrounds, ages, and walks of life coming to church for the first time — or returning after many years. The silent revival led by
Gen Z shows we need churches, we need the Gospel, and we need Jesus. We’re passionate about being here for whoever would come.”
Her ordination service will include prayers and encouragement from Ed Kaneen and Rosa Hunt (Cardiff Baptist College, Cardiff University), Patrick Mansel-Lewis, Rich Martin, Geraint Jones (Century Church founder), and Gerwyn Thomas.
The service begins at 11am, with doors open and coffees served from 10:40am.
“We’re not trying to recreate the past,” said Heulwen. “We’re asking God to do something new — right here in Llanelli.
Our name captures what we’re about: we’re a church for this century, holding fast to the truth of the first century. He’s the same God, and we’re believing for a new thing.
These chapels were once full. They could be again.”
For more information see centurychurch.wales, heirs.wales or heulwendavies.co.uk, or on social media century.wales
