For the first time in its history, the Seventh-day Church in Anguilla comprises two districts and two pastors – signalling the growth of its ministry and the need for adequate coverage and administrative responsibility.
Saturday, August 31, was the day when the two ministers – Pastor Howard Simon – who previously served in the British Virgin Islands, and Pastor Lester Jules who was stationed in St. Maarten – were both installed in Anguilla. They succeeded Pastor Trent Berg, a native of St. Thomas, who has been transferred to the British Virgin Islands.
Their appointments were formally announced at an Installation Service, conducted on the above date, by the President of the North Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Desmond James. In his comments, he stressed that the SDA Church in Anguilla was one church but with different administrative arrangements.
Pastor Simon, a native of Antigua, will be in charge of Mount Fortune and New Life – comprising District 1 at the eastern end of Anguilla – and will also serve as Coordinator of the overall work of the church in Anguilla. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theology; a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and is presently pursuing doctoral studies in Biblical Counseling.
He is a poet, a family-life educator, a professional counsellor, a motivational speaker and the author of five books. He has been a Seventh-day Adventist Pastor for more than two-and-a-half decades.
He is married to his college mate, Mrs Michelle Simon, a teacher by profession. They have two daughters – Yael and Yazel – 16 and 11.
Pastor Lester Jules, a St. Lucia national, is the Pastor of District 2 comprising Jireh, Shimei and the Spanish Group in the west of Anguilla. He speaks English, French and Spanish. He migrated to St. Maarten in 2005, and in 2013 he began attending the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad where he graduated, in 2017, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology.
He and his wife, Mrs Ana Jules, have an infant son, Lester Samuel Jules.
Their first child, Ana Esther Jules, passed away shortly after birth.
Pastor Simon was installed at the Mount Fortune Church and Pastor Jules at Jireh Tabernacle.
