The St Vincent and the Grenadines Mission of Seventh-Day Adventists will host a “Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Convention” this weekend.{{more}}

The convention, sponsored by the Caribbean Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, will see 80 delegates from sister Caribbean islands join with 50 local delegates in “reviewing, promoting and maintaining matters of conscience,” as they relate to one’s right to adopt, practice and teach the religion of one’s choice and to change religious beliefs according to conscience, while respecting the equivalent rights and freedoms of others.

The convention begins at the Kingstown SDA church on Thursday, February 20th at 6:30 p.m. and will feature a welcoming address by the Prime Minister, Dr the Hon Ralph Gonsalves, in which he will highlight matters of liberty and conscience in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

On Friday, February 21st, there will be a workshop at the Questelles church, commencing at 8:30 a.m. and a consecration service at the Mt Moriah Church at 6:30 p.m.

The convention concludes on Saturday with a thanksgiving and reaffirmation service at the Richland Park church at 9 a.m., followed in the afternoon by a march from Murray’s Village road at 3 p.m. to the Kingstown church, where a special feature will be done by Attorney- General Judith Jones-Morgan, followed by the concluding exercises. The religious bodies in St Vincent and the Grenadines have been invited to attend.

Seventh-Day Adventists believe in the complete separation of Church and State, as taught by Jesus, the head of the Church, in which citizens are required to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God, the things that are God’s. (Matt 22: 21).” The department of Religious Liberty of the Church seeks to promote liberty of conscience and guards against any intrusions to such God-given rights.