On Sunday, May 31, 2015, the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas inducted the first Connexional Bishop, the Reverend Otto Ogden Wade.
This ends 255 years of history during which the head of the Church was referred to as either Chairman or President. The induction followed the decision of the 38th Connexional Conference meeting in Georgetown, Guyana, on Friday, May 29, 2015.
The head of the Connexion and each of the eight Districts (Bahamas/Turks and Caicos Islands, Belize/Honduras, Guyana, Leeward Islands, Panama/Costa Rica, Southern Caribbean, Haiti and Jamaica), will be referred to as ‘Bishop’.
The use of the title ‘Bishop’ brings the Methodist Church in line with the biblical naming of the three-old ministry of deacon, presbyter and bishop.
In a moving ceremony at the Bedford Methodist Church, Reverend Wade was inducted by Bishop Carter of the South-eastern jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, USA. The eight District Bishops participated in the induction which was witnessed by a large congregation of Methodists of all ages across the Guyana District, as well as delegates and visitors from sixteen countries in the Caribbean, the Americas and the United Kingdom.
Reverend Wade was in Anguilla earlier this month for the funeral of the late Reverend Cecil Weekes.
