The Diocese is hosting a Symposium as one of the events to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Disestablishment of the Anglican Church in 1870. The Symposium was due to have been held in 2020 but had to be cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
It will be online and accessible by zoon and will be held in two parts. The first one will be held on Thursday, July 1 2021 at 7 pm and the second one on July 8 at the same 7 pm.
This Symposium has been organized to help answer some basic questions about the role of the Church over the past 150 years, to reflect on the Church’s mission and ministry, and its engagement with the population at large. It is hoped that the Symposium will enable us to reflect on our past, examine our current activities and provide ideas on where we go from here.
The first part this Thursday will reflect on the past, such as the state of the Church in 1870, the reasons for its Disestablishment and the ways in which the Bishop and clergy responded to its new independent status. Panelists will include church historians Professor Emeritus Patrick Bryan and Professor the Rev Veront Satchell and they will bring their perspectives on Disestablishment and the reasons why it was so important for the Church. The Most Rev Howard Gregory, Archbishop of the West Indies and Bishop of Jamaica will also be a member of this panel.
The second part on July 8 will look at the present and the way forward to ensure that the Church remains relevant to the society. The Rt Rev Robert Thompson, the retired Bishop of Kingston and author of the recent publication, Redemption Song will be one of the panelists and he will be joined by some of the younger clergy and lay persons to look at the future of the Anglican Church in Jamaica.
Both parts of the Symposium will be moderated by Dr. Las Newman, retired president of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology and the chair of the Symposium Committee.
