CONGRESS REVIVED

 THE 2nd Provincial Congress of the Anglican Church began on Monday with an expectation that there will be a recommitment in the province to take the mission to new levels.

Over 140 local and regional delegates have been participating in the five-day congress, which officially started at the Roy Marshall Complex of the UWI Cave Hill Campus in Barbados on Monday morning.

Archbishop the Most Reverend and Dr. the Honourable John Holder.

A section of the delegates attending the 2nd Anglican Church
in the Province of the West Indies Congress 2013, which began
at the Roy Marshall Complex in Barbados on Monday morning.

Archbishop the Most Reverend and Dr. the Honourable John Holder noted that the first congress was held 13 years ago in the Diocese of Jamaica, and inspired participants to levels of commitment in the province. He lamented that because of a number of setbacks, a second Congress had to be put on hold.

The Archbishop said that the ongoing Congress, which is being held under the theme, “Challenges Facing Caribbean Families: The Church’s Response”, would be engaging in discussion on what ought to be done in the province as the group seeks to strengthen their mission and ministry in this region.

“We will do it all in the context of the Anglican faith. We will be working as Christians with an understanding of faith that will allow us to engage the world in creative ways. As Anglicans we engage the world, not as the enemy, but the place where the love of God should be shared and the hope of the kingdom proclaimed. I think the primary role of the Church in this region is to have the type of conversation with wider society that keeps the focus on the moral and spiritual challenges that are threatening the well-being of the region.”

He said Anglicans possess the theology, the history, the tradition, as well as other resources that can help to engage in the conversation with the wider society.

The delegates hail from the Dioceses of Barbados, the Bahamas & the Turks and Caicos Islands, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands and North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba.

The youth have been well represented at the conference, which has featured daily workshops and presentations from a number of experts in various fields. (JH)