Completion of the 42nd Triennial Provincial Synod

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The 42nd Triennial Meeting of the Provincial Synod of the Church in the Province of the West Indies (CPWI) is now completed.

Among the Synod’s business accomplishments was the election of a new Archbishop in the person of The Rt. Rev. Philip Wright, Bishop of Belize. We welcome and applaud The Most Rev. Philip Wright and pray for him and his wife, Carla, as he begins his new ministry. We now join in praying for “Philip Wright, our Archbishop…”

We are thankful for smooth and effective proceedings and for the fact that the delegates had a wonderful time together. We were able to treat our visitors to a wonderful Bahamian experience.

All delegates have gotten back home safely, praise the Lord!

I wish to thank Archdeacon Dwight Rolle, Planning Committee Chair, Fr. DeAngelo Bowe, Co-Chair, committee members, The Rev’d. Anatol Ferguson, Adrian Archer, Yvette Barr, Lisa Bastian, Donavon Curtis, Creselle Dean, Cathy Deveaux, and Michelle Fox, for all of their hard work in planning, preparation, and execution.

We are also grateful to our people who served as Diocese Liaison Officers for the eight Diocesan delegations.

Lisa Bastian — Holy Trinity, N.P. — Belize
Creselle Dean — Holy Spirit, N.P. — Bahamas/Turks & Caicos Islands
Deacon Jamal Turnquest — St. Barnabas, N.P. — Jamaica & Cayman Islands
Lynette Taylor — Christ the King, N.P. — Barbados
Sidney Sawyer — St. Matthew’s, N.P. — Guyana
Carlyne McKenzie — St. Matthew’s, N.P. — Northeastern Caribbean & Aruba
Waldon Whyms — Holy Trinity, N.P. — Trinidad & Tobago
Robert Thompson — Christ the King, N.P. — Windward Islands

One innovative feature of this Synod was that instead of having one speaker give a keynote address on the theme, we had a keynote panel. At synod normally delegates are divided into seven clustered groups to discuss and brainstorm on seven areas of ministry. The keynote panel presented on only four areas of ministry in an effort to set the tone and galvanize the cluster group discussion. We were happy that a group of local Anglicans led these keynote presentations as follows:

Stewardship
Michael Dean — Holy Trinity Parish, N.P.

Evangelism and Discipleship
Lon Minns — Holy Trinity Parish, N.P.

Family Life
Linda and Tyrone Gibson — Holy Trinity Parish, N.P.

Youth
Aymara Albury — Holy Trinity Parish, N.P.
Durante Charlow — St. Agnes Parish, N.P.
Jessica Darville — Christ the King, N.P.
(Prepared a presentation which was delivered by Jessica Darville)

We are grateful to the management and staff of Breezes Super Clubs, who facilitated and hosted us tremendously.

Finally, we thank parishes that hosted delegates for worship on the Sunday morning, and that contributed to and facilitated the smooth running of the event.

As we move forward we are happy that all of our delegates left the Provincial Synod with assignments to provincial boards and commissions, namely:

Diocesan Youth Officer, D’Ondré Miller, attended the Synod as a representative of the Provincial Youth Commission. As Youth Officer she will continue to serve on that body.

Fr. DeAngelo Bowe — Holy Trinity, N.P. — Codrington College Board
Fr. Ruel Strachan — St. Paul’s, Long Island — Provincial Standing Committee
Patrice Antonio — St. George’s, N.P. — The Codrington Trust
Ethan Adderley — St. Ambrose, N.P. — Commission on Mission, Renewal, Ecumenism & Interfaith
Lamar Ferguson — Holy Cross, N.P. — Commission on Social Justice & Human Rights

Other persons in the diocese serving on provincial bodies are:

Fr. Roderick Bain — St. Barnabas, N.P. — Commission on Family Life
Fr. Kirkland Russell — Christ the King, G.B. — Commission on Ministry
Adrian Archer — St. George, N.P. — Commission on Liturgy & Music

God-willing, the next Provincial Synod will be held in The Diocese of Belize in 2028.

The next Provincial Synod will be held in The Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2049.

Yours in Christ,

Laish Boyd
The Rt. Rev’d. Laish Boyd
BISHOP OF THE BAHAMAS AND
THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

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