A number of churches, holding membership in the Anguilla Christian Council, and the Anguilla Evangelical Association, held special services on Good Friday regarded as the “most solemn day” in the Christian calendar.
The most visible of the services was the Anguilla Christian Council’s annual Ecumenical Service at St Augustine’s Anglican Church, East End, under the theme “Pilate Washed His Hands”. The service was most visible in that members of the mixed congregations of the Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic congregations participated in a brisk parade witnessed by a number of bystanders along the route.
The march, to the beat of the Boys’ Brigade Band, was along the stretch of main road from the grounds of the Old East End School to St Augustine’s Church, where many persons were waiting for the commencement of the service.
The preacher was the Rev Dr Wycherley Gumbs, Superintendent of the Anguilla Methodist Circuit, with the Liturgist and Conductor being Mr Sanford Richardson, a Senior Lay Preacher of the Methodist Church. Also in attendance were Anglican Clergy Bishop Errol Brooks, whose participation was the delivery of the benediction; and the Revds Samuel Knight and Menes Hodge.
Rev Dr Gumbs, who once served as a teacher at East End, returned to the area for the first time in over forty years, to deliver the Good Friday sermon. He likened Pilate’s washing of his hands of the crucifixion of Christ to present day persons and others (including church leaders), down through the corridors of time who, for one reason or the other, failed to take responsibility for situations in which they could have taken a decisive stand, thus making a difference. As part of his reflections he took the opportunity to touch on crime, broken homes and broken lives in the Caribbean area, including Anguilla, and the need for persons and organisations in positions of influence, responsibility and accountability, to do something about those situations.
The solemnity of the service, centred on the passion of Christ, was further emphasised by the inclusion in the booklet of a number of favourite and traditional hymns focussing on the crucifixion.
