The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court held the opening of its Law Year for 2022 with a virtual special sitting on Tuesday, January 11th. In respect of the new Law Year, a church service to bless government officials was held on Sunday, January 17, at the Hilltop Baptist Church, where longstanding minister, Gareth Hodge, is Pastor.
The Honourable Premier, Dr. Ellis L. Webster, along with several members of the House of Assembly, attended the service. Also in attendance was Senior Magistrate, Mr. Keithly Benjamin, OBE. They were cordially welcomed by Pastor Gareth and the Moderator, Ms. Laureen Bryan.
The worship segment of the service was vibrant and uplifting. All the songs were quite inspiring, but most notable was the outstanding fervour and spirit associated with the singing of Jenn Johnson’s popular song, “The Goodness of God”.
In the opening prayer, Dr. Timothy Hodge prayed that God would bless the members of Government, the Opposition and the judiciary as they perform their tasks for the goodwill of the people of Anguilla. Prior to the sermon, Pastor Gareth also prayed for the work of the judicial sector, the police and the Government. He prayed that truth and justice would prevail in court system, and that wisdom would rule in the discerning of truth. He further prayed for the safety of the police, thanked God for their past successes, and asked that all hidden criminal elements be revealed.
The Honourable Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, was given the opportunity to greet the congregation: “Good morning church,” she began. “It is wonderful to be here in the House of the Lord, and it is even more wonderful to be here at Hilltop Baptist Church. For me, this is like coming home. I thank Pastor Gary Hodge for the invitation to worship here today. The invitation stipulated that Covid 19 restrictions shall apply. We all know how difficult it has been [with the pandemic] since March of 2020. Those difficulties have not gone away, and so it is important to be here to give the Almighty God thanks for keeping us safe, so far. It is also important that we continue to pray for God’s guidance and protection over us, as a people, in these times. Thanks, again, Pastor Gary, for the invitation to be here.”
The Honourable Premier, Dr. Ellis L. Webster, who is also Minister of Finance and Health, then gave a few remarks. Quoting from Frederick Lehman’s sobering hymn, he began: ‘“O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong…’”
“We are here today because of the love of God,” he said. “I thank God for giving us this beautiful day, so that we can be here in my hometown, Island Harbour.
“As the Leader of the Opposition said, I too feel like it is coming home today, because I spent many Sundays here with my aunt, Marila Martin, aka ‘Auntie B’…I want to thank Pastor Garry for being persistent in the face of the pandemic to invite us here, today, because we do need blessings and the prayers. We need to trust in the Lord as the source of our strength. We don’t have all the answers to the challenges before us, but we must advance, anyway, acting with faith in God.
“I was here last year when young Pastor Gumbs preached about bringing back the preacher. But I want to say, it is time for us to bring back the church. The church is the moral compass which has an obligation to address the moral needs of society. With all these ills in society, it is time for the church to take charge like it used to. We grew up with the church as the centre of our lives, not only for spiritual blessings and growth, but for moral guidance and leadership. So Pastor, I am asking you — on behalf of the Government and people of Anguilla — use your influence with the Anguilla Evangelical Association and the Anguilla Christian Council to bring back the church.”
Pastor Gary’s sermon took the trend of distinguishing the roles of spiritual government and civil government in the society, and how the spiritual government should support the political government through prayers and supplications.
He drew his message from 1Timothy 2:1-2, in which the scripture states: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
He stressed the fact that the church and the pastor, which form the spiritual government, have an obligation to pray for our leaders who comprise the civil government. He proclaimed, “Whether we want to or not, our responsibility is to pray for those who are in authority. In making supplications, we must pray that the will of God be done for Anguilla. In our prayers we must make intercession on behalf of our government officials.”
Pastor Gareth went on:“The role of the priest, as defined in the Old Testament, was to intercede or go between God and the nation. Today, as pastors and spiritual leaders, we still have that responsibility to intercede between God and the nation and on our government’s behalf.
“Then, we are to give thanks for our government. There may be some people who say, ‘I can neither give thanks for this government nor the last government.’ Well if you don’t want to give thanks, then try living in Afghanistan, in Yemen, in Sudan, Ethiopia, or in Nigeria — where government regimes are so oppressive. Try living in a place like China where you can’t freely worship God. So, when we consider it all, we may as well be grateful, and give God thanks for those whom he has set in authority over us.
“Whether one likes the gove rnment or not, thanks must be given for them. We have an obligation to God to do so. We must thank God in every situation because it could be a lot worse. Our Government has the authority to make laws for our benefit. But the laws that they make could be also offensive to the church [and God’s Kingdom]. So that is why we must intercede for them and cover them with the blood of Jesus.”
As he concluded his sermon, the Pastor gave examples of nations that were blessed by God-given ideas that served for their development and advancement. He observed that our island can be blessed too, when we practise righteousness and hold up our Government’s hand.
