Editing William Williams Pantycelyn (section)

==Religious figure==
[[File:William William Gravestone.jpg|thumb|Gravestone of William Williams]]
William Williams felt called to the [[priesthood]]; and in 1740, despite his family's links with the Nonconformist branch of Christianity, he took [[deacon]]'s orders in the [[state religion|Established]] [[Anglican Church]]. (Since [[disestablishmentarianism|disestablishment]] in 1920, the Anglican church in Wales has been known as the [[Church in Wales]].)

His first appointment was as [[curate]] to [[Theophilus Evans]] (1693–1767) in the parishes of [[Llanwrtyd]], [[Abergwesyn|Llanfihangel Abergwesyn and Llanddewi Abergwesyn]]. Around this time he became involved in the [[Methodist]] movement and in June 1742 his disapproving parishioners reported his activities to the Archdeacon's Court in [[Brecon]]. Methodism was originally a reformist faction within the [[Church of England]] and was not intended to be a separatist movement or church. It was nevertheless seen as a threat to the Anglican establishment, and in 1743, when Williams duly applied for [[ordination]] as a priest, his application was refused because of his Methodist [[connexionalism|connection]]. Rather than a comfortable, conformist career in the Anglican Church, he chose a financially precarious, but perhaps spiritually richer life as a Methodist preacher.

The key years in the foundation of English Methodism were between 1739, when the brothers [[Charles Wesley|Charles]] and [[John Wesley]], both Anglican priests, broke with the [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] church and set up their own first chapel in [[Bristol]], and 1743, when they drew up their ''General Rules''. This was, unfortunately, the very time that Williams was beginning his own career in the Church and partly explains the hostility he experienced from his congregation and from the hierarchy. Williams paid a higher price for his beliefs than did the Wesleys. Williams was shut out of the Establishment at the start of his career, whilst the Wesleys had already been ordained.

Welsh Methodism predates 1739 and can be traced back to the conversions of the two main leaders of the Welsh Methodists, Howell Harris and [[Daniel Rowland (preacher)|Daniel Rowland]], in 1735. It was an indigenous, parallel movement to its sister movement in England, and the Welsh Methodists were mainly Calvinists, who worked much more closely with [[George Whitefield]] than they did with John Wesley.

Charles Wesley declared that his own Methodism was not incompatible with his Anglicanism and he was buried as an Anglican. John Wesley's doctrine was more favourable to [[Arminianism]] than to [[Calvinism]]. In Wales, however, most Methodists followed Calvinist teaching, and this led to great tensions between the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists and the [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodists]], especially after the Wesleyan Methodists began actively evangelising in Welsh-speaking Wales from 1800 onwards. In 1811, the Welsh Calvinist Methodists, now usually called the [[Presbyterian Church of Wales]], seceded from the Anglican Church and ordained their own ministers. Had he lived a little longer, Williams Pantycelyn would no doubt have approved of these moves, because as a Methodist, he himself became a firm advocate of Calvinist Reformation doctrine and frequently invoked stern warnings against [[Arminianism]], [[Arianism]], [[Socinianism]], [[Sandemanianism]] and other teachings. [''See:'' G. T. Hughes: p.&nbsp;7].

Williams Pantycelyn travelled throughout Wales (he is said to have partly supported his ministry by selling tea)<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/religion/religion_hymnwriters_preachers.shtml BBC Wales]</ref> preaching the doctrine of Calvinistic Methodism. He needed to be not only a theologian and an advocate for the new Connexion, but also an organiser and administrator. His converts gathered in {{Lang|cy|seiadau}} (fellowship meetings). Williams had to organise, and then maintain, these {{Lang|cy|seiadau}} as he went around the country. Each successful visit to a new locality in turn required a new {{Lang|cy|seiat}}. Although he was not alone in his mission, the workload and mental burden must have been considerable. By the same token, it must have been deeply rewarding to see the community grow and thrive over the years and to reflect on the alternative life he had forsaken, as the priest of some obscure rural Anglican parish in mid-Wales.

Together with Harris and Rowland, William Williams "Pantycelyn" is acknowledged as a leader of the [[Methodist Revival]] in Wales in the 18th century and as the "literary voice" ''par excellence'' of that movement.