Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
The newly-appointed Minister of Education and Social Development in the Anguilla Progressive Movement Government, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, was officially welcomed at the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, at George Hill, on Sunday, August 23.
The Church, attended by congregational members from various parts of the island, is located in her Valley South Constituency.
She was called to the altar for prayer by Pastor John Gumbs, a long-time friend of the Lake and Kentish families, and was surrounded by a number of other ordained Church leaders.
“I would ask the young Minister to come and we will lay our hands on her,” Pastor Gumbs said. “She is not the Minister of the Anguilla United Front or the Anguilla Progressive Movement. She is the Minister of Anguilla. She is a young lady whom we have seen grow up and whom I know. I have been a good friend of her grandmother, her mother and other family members.”
During his prayer, he said: “This Church has always believed that no matter who we support politically – at the end of the counting of the votes, the Government is the Government of the country and we are responsible to pray for them.” He further stated that Ms. Kentish-Rogers was the youngest Minister to be appointed in Anguilla, and prayed that she would “be given understanding and knowledge to face the challenges that stand before her – because they are not political but real.”
After praying, Pastor Gumbs added: “No matter who we support, when it is all over, the Church’s responsibility is to pray and seek God’s face for the nation. That is what the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church believes in. We have all kinds of parties -and support all kinds of people in here. As people would say, I have never been ashamed of my party. I am a Front ‘and going back to come forward’ but, when it is all over, I am an Anguillian – and I have always believed in putting country above party; and we are here this morning to support our country and our Government.”
