The entire administrative team of the St Croix-based North Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was in Anguilla at the beginning of this week as part of a working visit to the ten regional islands under its jurisdiction, comprising over 14,000 members.
The delegation of directors was led by the President of the Conference, Pastor Silton Browne, who, along with the others, was welcomed to Anguilla on Sunday evening, February 9, by the recently-appointed District Minister, Pastor Trent Berg, a native of St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Leaders of the Pathfinders, from the three established SDA Churches in Anguilla, were also on hand to welcome the Youth Director, Dr Vincent David, who was on his first visit to the island since his recent appointment.
The same evening the SDA Conference officials held a joint meeting at East End with the congregations of the Mount Fortune Church; Jireh Tabernacle, South Hill; Shemei Tabernacle, Long Bay; the New Life Company and the Spanish Group. “In a real sense, this is the first time that the Church, as a constituency, has seen all of the directors at one time. It is in that sense that it is historic to be in Anguilla,” Pastor Browne, the President of the Conference, said while commenting on the visit.
The purpose of the meeting was outlined by Pastor Ammaran Williams, Secretary of the Conference. “We want you to understand where we are seeking to go and to enlist your cooperation and your involvement,” he explained to the local congregations. “The emphasis that the world Church has taken for the past three-plus years is a theme of revival and reformation. Here, in the North Caribbean Conference, we are thinking globally but at the same time we are acting locally. In keeping with the theme of revival and reformation, we here are seeking, for 2014 and beyond, a specific emphasis – and it is important that our members understand and appreciate where God is leading His Church.”
He stressed that, going forward, the emphasis of the North Caribbean Conference “is to visibly improve the spiritual health and vitality of the local congregation.” He told his listeners: “We are interested in what is happening in the congregations at Mount Fortune, South Hill, Long Bay, New Life and the Spanish congregations.”
He continued: “We have sought to highlight some areas of the Conference that we want to emphasise. We are saying that, as a Conference, we want our churches involved and engaged in this transformation process, positively affecting the spiritual life of the congregation into getting us moving in the right direction. When that happens all the other things that we do would contribute to our ultimate goal which is to evangelise and to finish the work in spreading the Gospel in Anguilla and throughout our Conference.”
During the appropriate section of the meeting each of the Conference officials gave a summary of the functioning of the various departments under their leadership. Following that they sat as a panel and answered questions from the members of the congregations.
The meeting was held under the mission statement of the Conference: “Making Disciples for Christ”.
