Anglican Church meeting for 34th triennial Synod

Sixty delegates comprising clergy and lay people from Grenada, Carriacou, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are this week meeting for the 34th triennial Synod of the Diocese of the Windward Islands.{{more}}

The Synod, which is being chaired by Bishop of the Windward Islands, the Right Reverend C. Leopold Friday, began with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the St. George’s Cathedral in Kingstown on Sunday, October 17 at 5:00 p.m.

The Synod is being held under the theme “Equipping the Saints for Mission and Ministry in a Changing Caribbean”.

Sunday afternoon’s mass was preceded by a short procession from the former Kingstown Anglican School grounds on Higginson Street, to the Cathedral.

Basing his sermon on John 21: 15-17, the Bishop reminded the congregation of the call to care for God’s sheep. “It is Jesus who calls us, and it is others who are to benefit,” he said, emphasizing that the sheep remain God’s.

Bishop Friday said the nurturing of the sheep is important so that the flock can deepen their relationship with Jesus and grow in their knowledge, understanding, commitment and service of Him in their daily lives.

He encouraged the faithful not to be preoccupied by numbers, as they participate in God’s ministry.

“Jesus never asked us to count sheep, He asked us to feed the sheep” Friday said, quoting the first female Bishop in the Anglican Communion, the Right Reverend Barbara Harris.

The church should therefore be faithful to what it has been called to do, he said.

The Bishop reminded the congregation that as they seek to equip the saints for ministry in a changing Caribbean, there are several forces including the drug culture, the sex culture, the dot com culture, the e-culture and the me culture which work against the Christian culture.

“There is a constant fight and struggle for the minds, hearts, souls of our people, and we are commanded to fight the good fight of faith with all our might,” he said, quoting Anglican professor the Reverend Dr. Kortright Davis.

To better equip the saints for the fight for the minds, hearts, souls of the people of the Caribbean, Bishop Friday mentioned the need for pastoral care to be extended beyond the traditional family.

“While we endeavour to uphold the ideals of marriage, let us extend pastoral care to those in other relationships,” he said.

He also spoke of the importance of using the idioms, metaphors and dialect of our Caribbean people to enhance communication.

Today, Tuesday, October 19 is the second day of the business session, which is being held at the Girl Guides Headquarters, Level Garden, Kingstown.

The Synod, which comes to an end on Thursday, October 21, 2010, is the highest decision making body of the Diocese of the Windward Islands.