The Anguilla Day Thanksgiving Service was held at Bethel Methodist Church, South Hill, on Sunday afternoon, May 27, under the theme “Anguilla at 45: Time to Rejoice, Rebuild and Reconcile”.
It was a topic on which Superintendent of the Anguilla Methodist Circuit, Rev. Dunstan Richardson, focused his brief welcome remarks. It also formed the basis of the sermon – “Challenge & Call To Action” – delivered by Pastor Philip Gumbs of theChurchofGod(Holiness).
In welcoming the mixed congregation, Rev. Richardson said that the event was a most meaningful service aimed at fostering a closer understanding, introspection and commitment among Anguillians to strive towards the building of a better and more productiveAnguilla. He thought there was much to rejoice about and to be thankful to God for bringing the island thus far to the 45th Anniversary of its Revolution, and he stressed that there was a need for much building, rebuilding and reconciliation.
In his sermon, Philip Gumbs said there was a need inAnguillafor a commitment to what he termed trans-generational living. He defined this as the passing on by parents of noble values to children and their children through purposeful teaching and lifestyle. “As Anguillians, we have abandoned en masse our duty to teach our children, and so we are reaping a bitter harvest,” he told his listeners at the Church and those hearing the live Radio Anguilla broadcast.
“If we are going to rejoice and rebuild, and if there is going to be true reconciliation, there must be a commitment to trans-generational living,” he continued. “Our purpose should be to teach and mould our childreninto men and women of character so that we can sleep at night with our doors unlocked; so that we will never hear the Police knocking on our doors and our lives are changed in that moment.” He emphasised that if Anguillianswere to rejoice, rebuild and reconcile, they must have a strong sense of values.
He also lamented the lack of unity on the island. “I have seen that this past election has changedAnguilla’s social landscape in a way I never thought possible,” he stated. “Long after elections there are still deep tensions among our people…Politics has poisoned us… and it is important for Pastors to understand that we have a job to do. A Pastor has a right to align himself/herself with a party he or she so chooses, but he or she has a greater obligation to speak the truth. So if a party does well, you support it; and when it does wrong you, speak out against it. We have become crippled as a nation because…Ministers of the Gospel have become silent…”
Pastor Philip also called for integrity to be part of the system of values inAnguilla,noting that many countries had been crippled over the years because good persons in leadership eventually lost their integrity.
He stressed that unity was another important factor in rebuilding and reconciliation inAnguilla. He recalled the days of 1967 when the people of the island were united in their quest for self-determination, which he indicated was one of the underlying reasons for the success of the Revolution.
Earlier in the service, the Scripture Readings were delivered by Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes; Deputy Speaker, Leroy Rogers; and Opposition Member in the House of Assembly, OthlynVanterpool. Others who attended the service were Governor Alistair Harrison; former Chief Minister, Sir Emile Gumbs and Lady Gumbs; and Senior Magistrate, Ivenia Benjamin.
The service was organised by the Anguilla Christian Council comprisingthe Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches in cooperation with the Ministry of Home Affairs. In addition to Reverend Dunstan Richardson and Pastor Philip Gumbs (a member of the Evangelical Association),BishopErrolBrooksand Reverend Menes Hodge of the Anglican Church, and Sister Almin Bryan of St. Gerard’s Roman Catholic Church, participated in the service.
