History
Coleg Trefeca, is the lay training, conference centre and retreat house of the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Located in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park, Trefeca is an historic and sacred place. Trefeca, often called ‘The Cradle of the Connexion’, was the home of Howell Harris (1714-1773), influential leader of the Methodist Revival in Wales and contemporary of other great Methodists such as Daniel Rowland, William Williams Pantycelyn, George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley.
An itinerant preacher, Harris was converted and began preaching all over Wales in 1735 but withdrew to Trefeca in 1750 and, in 1752, established his ‘Teulu Trefeca’, the Trefeca Family. To William Williams, Trefeca was “Harris’s castellated monastery”, but to John Wesley, it was “a little paradise”. At its height, over 120 people lived, worshipped and worked in Trefeca, practising more than 70 types of crafts and trades as a self-sufficient community with a monastic ethos inspired by the Moravians. Howell Harris died in 1773 and over 20,000 people attended his funeral. The Methodist societies he established across the country eventually became the Presbyterian Church of Wales. He has been called one of the most influential Welshmen of all time.
After his death the ‘Teulu Trefeca’ struggled on but, without Harris’s inspired leadership and enthusiasm, it was eventually dissolved in the 19th Century. It was re-established in the 20th Century as a network of individuals from all over the country who support Coleg Trefeca through prayer and the practical skills of individual members and continue doing so today. In 1811, the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists (later the Presbyterian Church of Wales) were born with the first ordination of the denomination. Trefeca became a theological college in 1842. With opening of the United Theological College in Aberystwyth in 1906, Trefeca became a preparatory college, training young men of little education but with a great desire to serve the Lord, for entry to the theological college. This continued until 1964. In 1966, Coleg Trefeca re-opened with a new vision of service to God as the lay training, conference centre and retreat house of the Presbyterian Church of Wales.
Today many people from various Christian traditions come to Trefeca for training, conferences, spiritual renewal and retreat. Some simply come to experience the atmosphere or to pray in this sacred space, whilst others come to explore and deepen their faith. These past few years, we have greeted people of all ages – Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Catholics and others – to Trefeca to attend courses on preaching, worship, church training, conferences, retreats and quiet days. For many people, Trefeca is a little bit of heaven with its beautiful surroundings, timeless quality, sense of peace and true family atmosphere. People of many traditions can gather together to witness and to worship in this serene place. Today, the sense of family is still strong and the long tradition of Christian learning continues with the support of today’s ‘Teulu Trefeca’.
