Methodists investing in youth

Heavy investments in the future are being made by the Methodist churches in this part of the region. This was confirmed by Bishop Reverend Derick A. Richards as he delivered the President’s Address from James Street Methodist Church during the 197th South Caribbean District Conference, which was held virtually across seven territories in the region this past Sunday.

With thousands around the world taking in the conference service via Zoom, the evening’s proceedings were conducted from seven churches across the district in Kingstown – St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. George’s – Grenada, Castries – St. Lucia, Tunapuna and St. Madeleine in Trinidad, and Scarborough in Tobago. Getting started on January 12th, the conference, which is purposed to look at the work done over the past three years and to strategise towards the next three years, reached some new landmarks, with this year being the first time a virtual approach was taken.

In addition to meeting almost exclusively online, this year saw the first-ever youth conference being held, a development touted by Rev. Richards as one of their most ground-breaking to date.

“We gave the young people of the district a seat at the table and meaningfully engaged in serious and honest discussion about the church and our society. I have been amazed at the depth of reflections and transformative resolutions which have come as a result of our discussions. It is quite clear that our young people are ready to get more involved. As a church, therefore, we cannot ignore the voice of the youth because to do so is to perform a life-threatening amputation. Therefore, as President of the South Caribbean District, I am declaring this decade a decade for youth empowerment in the South Caribbean District,” he said.

With the conference set to come to an end on January 20th under the theme ‘Committed to a New Caribbean’ Rev. Richards, who was recently re-elected for another three-year term as President, also spoke to the work being done in education within the district.

“The South Caribbean District took a bold step when we launched the Methodist Schools Development Project which is geared at transforming our Methodist schools and the image of our Methodist schools to realising their fullest potential. We have initiated a professional development programme that ensures that all our teachers and schools’ administrators are on the cutting edge of teaching methodologies and that we prepare our students for jobs that are not yet,” he said. (MP)