On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, Reverend Ernest Alroy Flemming of Nevis replaced Bishop Leroy Errol Brooks of Anguilla as head of the Anglican Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba.
Reverend Flemming’s humble beginnings started in his hometown in Nevis. He is one of nine surviving children born to an Anguillian father, William Flemming, and a Nevisian mother, Enid Fleming.
He said that he was called to the ministry just before his teenage years, and began his formal education in theology at Codrington College in Barbados. He later pursued a bachelor’s degree in Theology at the University of the West Indies.
His ordination and consecration at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, in St John’s, Antigua, makes him the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, succeeding his predecessor, the Right Reverend Bishop Leroy Errol Brooks who retired in October 2021.
The consecration rites were administered to Bishop Flemming by the Most Reverend Dr Howard Gregory, Archbishop of the West Indies and Primate and Metropolitan Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
During the solemn occasion, the Archbishop addressed Reverend Flemming: “Encourage the faithful, restore the loss, [and] build up the Body of Christ, [so] that when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you may receive your unfading crown of glory.”
Turning to the congregants, he said: “I present Ernest Bishop in the church of God.”
The congregation applauded the presentation and the Right Reverend Bishop Ernest Flemming pronounced a blessing on them: “Jesus said, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so, I send you. The peace of the Lord be always with you,” he said. Bishop Flemming’s ‘Enthronement’ will take place today, Friday, May 6, 2022 at the Cathedral of St John the Divine.
As head of the Diocese, Bishop Flemming will be in charge of twelve islands: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, Anguilla, Aruba, Nevis, Saba, St Barths, Saint Eustatias, St Kitts, St Martin and St Maarten.
