“It has been quite a journey for you in the Ministry of the Anglican Church,” the Right Reverend L. Errol Brooks, OBE, was told by The Anguillian newspaper several days ago.
“Forty-three years in the Ordained Ministry,” he pointed out in his distinctive baritone voice. “From the time you were baptized, you are called to ministry. So even in the years leading up to then, one would have been involved in the life of the Church. I was involved in Serving, Sunday School teaching – and all the rest of it – before going on to Codrington College in Barbados, and then on the 2nd of December, 1975, I was ordained a Priest. Before becoming a Priest I was ordained a Deacon at St. John’s Cathedral on the 29th of June, 1975.
“In terms of what led me to become a Priest, I suppose being around the Altar and seeing Priests carrying out their services. They were like mentors to me and from time to time one would hear the clarion call, being put out, that there is a need for persons to come into the Vineyard to assist in the ordained ministry of the Church. That, as I said, coupled with encouragement from others in the congregation, parents, etc., would have motivated me to go forward.”
The top Anguillian Clergyman is the Priest-in-Charge of St. Mary’s Parish with St. Augustine’s and St. Andrew’s. In the widest context, he is the Bishop of the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba comprising twelve islands. He is also the Senior Bishop and a member of the House of Bishops in the Providence of the West Indies. In those positions he played a key role in the recent impasse involving the election and appointment of the Bishop of Barbados.
Bishop Brooks’ long tenure in the ordained ministry was highlighted on Advent Sunday, December 2, 2018, when all three Anglican congregations assembled together for a joint service at St. Mary’s. There, as if in an act of further consecration, was the “laying on hands and blessing on him by the preacher, Archdeacon Franklin Reid, an Anguillian national visiting from St. John’s Cathedral, Antigua.
As Bishop Brooks observed forty-three years of ordained ministry, his story was captured in this interactive interview with the Editor of The Anguillian.
You were a very young man when you decided to become a Priest. You could have easily entered the secular world and take advantage of a more lucrative lifestyle. Why didn’t you?
You are right. I had the opportunity because at one point I worked at the Treasury. At that time the Treasury, Customs and Excise, as they were called, were one. Some of my contemporaries, like Ralph Hodge, stuck with it but I moved on to Seminary. I will always remember the time when, in our struggle, Rev. Carty came from Belize having taken a break from the regular ministry to come to the Treasury here. Bernard Hazell was at the Customs then and very often he would bring his takings from the port etc. to the Treasury. When he heard that I was leaving to go to Codrington, he told me: ‘Man, you are like Matthew. You are leaving the seat of Customs to follow Jesus but (pointing to Rev. Carty) you are not like this one. He left following Jesus to come to the seat of Customs.’ It was a big joke. Rev. Carty just smiled, saying: ‘that’s Bernard.’”.
I was probably 19. But it was a decision I had made. Having gone through the process and accepted by the Diocese, the College and the University, I decided I will go and that was it.
If you were to relive your life, would you still become a Priest?
I would do it again. I don’t have any regrets whatsoever. I think I need to say to people that following Jesus, and working for Jesus and his people, is very rewarding. You don’t get all the perks but there is satisfaction and the joy to know that you are helping people in their walk in life.
How do you cope with all the problems of the Church and, internalizing so to speak, the troubles of the people?
Well, you have to be careful about that. The moment you try to internalize things you can destroy your own health. But the point is that God gives the grace and you have to rely on Him, a whole lot, in order to deal with all the challenges that may come your way. Somebody might say you are not Teflon. Of course you are not, and therefore you will have concerns and struggle with certain issues – but you don’t rely on your own strength. You rely on God’s strength. There are cases where, as an individual, you may not be able to find ways of dealing with those issues so you will have to look at other disciplines to help…
Did you ever consider pursuing the hierarchy of the Church?
Certainly not! My main aim was service. For example, when I was asked to submit my name for Bishop in 1997, I wasn’t keen about it. I just wanted to enjoy parish work and maybe that’s why I am still in a parish. A strange Bishop, you may say. I could have been at Head Office (the Bishop’s House, St. John’s Cathedral) working and having people do this and that, but I firmly believe that the parish is the centre of activity and you have to keep close to your people. I have given up that to be here, and I will say it loud and clear that there is no place in this world I love more than Anguilla. I really benefitted as a youngster from this rock. People were always magnanimous in their way of dealing with me and I felt in good time to come back and offer something to the community – however small it is.
In these times of many distractions and influences, how do you keep the young people together in the Church?
It is not an easy task. There are a lot of secular influences out there, but we keep on plodding at it and trying to help them to understand that life is more than all the glitz and glamour; that you need to have a centre in life; and that centre is found in Christ. If you don’t have that you can be like a rudderless ship going here and there and everywhere. Our young people, in particular, need to understand that sometimes they will have failures but they are not failures. Where they don’t succeed in certain areas, they should not see themselves as being devalued, but having an opportunity to start all over again.
I would like our young people to understand that without God life isn’t what it ought to be, and they need to keep that balance in life. You live in the world, but you are not of the world. You must have certain principles and standards by which to govern your life.
Bishop, what are your thoughts about unity in the Church in the widest sense?
As Christians, not just in the Anglican Church, but all Churches, we need to highlight the things that unite us rather than those thigs that ‘divide us’. We need to understand that we are working for the one Master, and if we can pool our resources in helping to build up people’s lives, that would be grand – rather than saying because we are of this denomination we are going to do this or that. We need to come together because, as someone put it, ‘a divided Church can’t heal the wounds of a divided world’. We have lots of resources at our disposal.
I had the wonderful opportunity of going to India and during that visit I came across a bank that was started by Christians. The General Manager told me that when the bank started people in the commercial world, there, felt that it would not survive because people were saying that they would not be able to raise the capital and so on. To their surprise the poor people gave their two pence and the bank has grown into an institution that they can be proud of. Not only that. When the poor people borrowed money, they paid it back. They have a record of 99% repayment for whatsoever loans they had. That bank was started by Christians of different denominations. Could you imagine, with all that is going on with the banks in Anguilla if we, as Christians, were to pool our resources – not necessarily to open a bank – but in social services and other areas to help people, what a big difference that would make?
Bishop Brooks, there appears to be a disinterest among persons to enter the ordained ministry in many of our Churches. How do you think this situation can be addressed?
I think we have to start with our young people in the home where parents should encourage the youngsters to identify with the Church and not just by sending them there, but going with them. Children learn from what they see so if my parents aren’t going to Church, and they are forcing me to go, why should I go? But if this becomes an important plank in the life of the home where dad and mum are attending Church, and bringing their children, they would soon develop a notion that it is important. This is not only by attending worship, but prayers at home are important. The home has to be saturated with that sort of spiritual environment. When that happens we will then see the fruits of that type of activity.
Of course there are a lot of outside influences. When we were growing up we didn’t have television, internet and so on. Parents need to monitor their children to see what they are looking at. Pressure from peers is also there but if children have a solid foundation, and that centre is in their lives, they won’t be so easily swayed; and they would come to an understanding that God needs them. They may not probably be in the ordained ministry but there are so many other ministries in which they could be involved to build up God’s Kingdom on earth.
Bishop, with the retirement of Fr. Menes Hodge, you are currently the only ordained Anglican Priest in Anguilla. Any hope for an assistant anytime soon?
Oh yes, early in the New Year we are hoping to have somebody else to assist from another part of the diocese. We will just move him from one parish to the next. That is definitely on the cards.
Bishop Brooks, where will you be in a couple of years?
I will be retired but I will assist if somebody wants me to help somewhere. I am open to that. Let’s say, for example, that I am retired and I am in Anguilla – and whoever is in charge asks me to assist, I will do so once there is health and strength.
You became the Bishop of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba on March 25, 1998. Any thoughts in relation to some areas of your work?
In seven of our eight dioceses in the Province of the West Indies, the retirement age is 70. I think it is 72 in Jamaica but in this diocese, in particular, it is 70. You will always be a Bishop but you become a retired Bishop whose services can be solicited from time to time.
By the way, you will be glad to know that the impasse which existed in Barbados has been addressed. We have taken the decision, in the House of Bishops of the Province, to invite the Rev. Fr. Michael Maxwell, Rector of Holy Trinity in Barbados, to be the new Bishop there. His consecration is scheduled for the 26th of January, 2019. After the consecration there will be an Enthronement Service when he takes up his seat in his Cathedral Church. We pray for him and his family as they are about to take on this new venture in this ministry.
What role did you play?
I am the Senior Bishop of the Province of the West Indies and, in the absence of an Archbishop, I had to chair the meetings of the Province of the House of Bishops and the Standing Committee etc.
As we climax this interview, what message do you have for the people of Anguilla as the Anglican Church observes the beginning of its Advent Church Year with the approaching Christmas Season?
I want our people to live closer to God. Don’t get side-tracked with all the hype that is going around. I know people are very concerned about their economic of financial state etc and they have the right to be. But don’t let that be the end of all their existence. Seek God first and everything will find its place. And don’t try to do things on your own steam – but always seek God’s guidance. People always say see you tomorrow but how about adding ‘God willing’ because we don’t know. Our time is in God’s hands. God has put us here for a purpose, and we have to use every opportunity given to us to advance His Kingdom.
