Concerns over a province adrift, to be raised at Belize meeting

The 40th meeting of synod of the Church of the Province of the West Indies kicked off last Friday in Belize. Topics under discussion at the seven day meeting held at St John’s Cathedral in Belize City include perennial concerns over the church’s outreach to young people, crime and economic under development. The church’s doctrine commission and house of bishops also are meeting this week, and are exploring ways to strengthen the witness and work of the church — which in recent years has lost ground to Pentecostal and charismatic fellowships. Sources in the CPWI tell Anglican Ink the church has also been hamstrung by factional divisions between the largest diocese, Jamaica, and the other, more conservative, dioceses. Disquiet has also been voiced over the leadership of the current archbishop, the Most Rev. John Holder, Bishop of Barbados, who has followed a different course in inter-Anglican affairs than his predecessor, Archbishop Drexel Gomez. The synod concludes on Friday, 24 March 2017.