Church in the Province of the West Indies

Church in the Province of the West Indies
Primate	John Walder Dunlop Holder
Territory	Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands

The Church in the Province of the West Indies is one of 38 member provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West Indies area. The present position of Archbishop and Primate of the West Indies is held by The Most Rev. John Holder. The Most Rev. Drexel Wellington Gomez was the previous primate until 2009, and has retired. The church is also part of the Global South.

History

The West Indies became a self-governing province in 1883 because of the Church of England missions in territories that became British colonies. It is made up of two mainland dioceses and six island dioceses, including Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands. Great emphasis is being placed on training personnel for an indigenous ministry. The island locations and scattered settlements make pastoral care difficult and costly.

Mission Organisations

The Jamaica Church Missionary Society is the recognised missionary agency of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in the Province of the West Indies. The society focuses on evangelisation with special relevance to daily human needs.

The society was established in 1861 as a subsidiary of the church, intended to target those sections of Jamaica's "hard to reach" population. For many years the mission stations established and maintained by the society provided the only means of reaching the masses of the population with Christianity and basic education.

Theological college

The Codrington College, an Anglican preparatory in Saint John, Barbados, opened in 1745.

Dioceses

• Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
• Barbados
• Belize
• Guyana
• Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
• Diocese of the North East Caribbean and Aruba
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Windward Islands

See also

• Archbishop of the West Indies
• Anglican Churches in the Americas
• Caribbean Conference of Churches

External links

• Anglican Communion provincial Web site
• Church of England history in the West Indies
• Anglicanism in the West Indies and Caribbean from Project Canterbury
• Anglican Diocese of Belize Web site
• About St. Kitts Anglican Church — part of the Diocese of North East Caribbean and Aruba