As Barbadians said goodbye to 2017 and looked forward to welcoming 2018, many people headed to church for New Year’s Eve services across the island yesterday. One such location was St. Mary’s Church, where members of the congregation were urged by Rector Reverend Jilian Crawford to be a “beacon of light”.
‘Be a beacon of Christ’
“Bring the light of Christ into the World.”
This was Rector Reverend Jilian Crawford’s message during her New Year’s Eve morning service at St. Mary’s Church on Sunday. Members of the congregation were also reminded the reason why Christ came. She added that many people believe that after December 26 that Christmas is over, but there are 12 days of Christmas.
“Christmas comes to an end on the sixth of the Epiphany and we still have time to celebrate, sing carols and so on. And (I also affirmed) to the congregational family that as a Christian people, as the light Christ child came into our hearts on that most blessed day, that we are called to be the beacons of light. To take the light into the community and the world…,” said Rev. Crawford.
Under the theme of “Being a beacon of Christ in the Community”, the reverend also said that there are children who need to see the light and the light comes in looking out for the poor the hungry, lonely and the destitute which is around the community. She emphasised that this outreach is not only needed at Christmas time but it should be done throughout the year.
After the sermon, the Barbados Advocate spoke to the Reverend about her time at St. Mary’s Church. She said that she has been with church from March 1, 2017 and it has been “quite good”. Looking to 2018, her goals are to have a more active role in the community around St. Mary’s and getting Barbadians to be more spiritually aware of themselves.