About the Author
Padre Will, in real life, is the Rev'd Dr. William Ingle-Gillis , the Leader (Rector) of the Beechwood Ministry Area in Newport, Wales, and the parish priest for the Church of St. John the Evangelist in particular. A Texan, with Georgia roots as well, Father Will moved to the U.K. in 1996, and was ordained nearly 20 years ago. All of his parish ministry has happened in South Wales.
As a priest in the liberal catholic tradition of the Anglican church, he believes in the seven sacraments, the apostolic succession, the liturgy, equal marriage, generosity and goodness towards all who cross our thresholds, regardless of whether they themselves believe in God, regardless of their sexuality, their gender, their past life ... regardless of anything. All are welcome.
In a past life, Padre Will studied German, and then Religion, at Baylor University in Waco, Texas; then, theology at King's College, London; and specifically for the priesthood at Westcott House, Cambridge. During the early years of his ministry, he also taught ethics and theology to the ordinands at St. Michael's College (now St. Padarn's Institute), Llandaff.
Married to the Rev'd Sally Ingle-Gillis, parish priest in Usk, the couple have a large family of two daughters and four sons ... and, of course, the two cats ... even two turtles (one a land-dweller, the other aquatic).
Personal interests include science fiction; languages in general (and Spanish in particular); Texas and Georgia barbecue (brisket and pulled pork, respectively); computers, phones, and similar gizmos; animated shows like "Futurama" and "Rick & Morty"; music in general and, in particular, Texas country music, Norteño, and Tejano. And, once more, cats ... any cat ... all the cats!
About this Site (and Why)
This site is actually a work in ongoing progress, which I created for several reasons; but the short version is that ...
I learnt Spanish during the covid lockdowns – and certainly I still have a lot to learn. But, notwithstanding that, I wanted to use these new skills in real life, to connect up with real people, and – without many opportunities to do that here in Wales, for lack of speakers – I hope that the internet will suffice for the moment. (I did try to start up a Spanish mass, but without much success.)
Meanwhile, as a parish priest, I was wanting to encourage my English-speaking people (and, honestly, myself) to pray more. A few months later, I discovered the Anglican rosary – more information here – in a YouTube video of some latino Anglicans praying it. For reasons I don't completely understand, I found myself very moved, and decided to try it for myself during Lent. The experience was transformative, and when I wrote a little about it in the parish magazine, a few of my people asked me to teach them how it works. We now have a small but faithful group.
And so we arrive at this site, a combination of both passions. We have versions in English and Spanish with prayers for use with the Anglican rosary ; hopefully, they'll be useful for those who are seeking new methods of prayer in whichever language. We also have links to videos of the rosary (in both languages), to a weekly mass in Speanish (in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Newport), and to the Sunday services in my church (St. John the Evangelist in Newport). Hopefully, we can connect through prayer and the electronic network.