Bishop Alfred C. Reid of Montego Bay conducted the ordination of nine individuals as deacons and priests within the Anglican Church. In his address, Bishop Reid emphasised the importance of recognising God's glory amid life's distractions, terming it a "negative miracle". The deacons were charged with serving the Church and aiding the less fortunate, while the priests were entrusted with guiding and instructing the congregation along their spiritual journey.

Published August 9, 1999

Anglicans ordain eight women

Eight women were among nine persons ordained deacons and priests of the Anglican Church yesterday in a consecration and ordination service at St James Cathedral, Spanish Town.

“This ordination is unique in many ways,” noted the Right Reverend Dr Alfred C. Reid, bishop of Montego Bay, who conducted the service.

“Who would have thought two years ago that we would have had the ordination of nine ordinants in which there is only one male and eight females?” asked Bishop Reid. The only male was ordained a deacon.

Bishop Reid also recalled that the seven deacons ordained yesterday coincided with the seven deacons of the Acts of the Apostles and that the first supplementary ministers ordained were also seven in number and had been ordained in the St James Cathedral.

In his homily, Bishop Reid urged the congregation to reflect upon true glory, which he said was the glory and splendour of God. He described as a ’negative miracle’ the fact that many persons lived in God’s splendour and were unable to see the glory which was being revealed to them daily.

Worldly occupations

He said worldly occupations, blindness of heart and dullness of mind have made many persons incapable of seeing the glory of God.

“As Babylonish as our country might be ... God’s rays still shine through the wickedness and hard-heartedness we see around us,” he said.

During the rites of ordination, the deacons, Annette Brown, Everton Cunningham, Beverley Donald, Margaret Forbes, Doreen Hall, Joy Parker and Adina Roach, were charged to ‘serve the Church of God and work with its members in caring for the poor, the needy, the sick and all who are in trouble … to strengthen the faithful, search out the careless and indifferent, and to preach the Word of God.’

The priests, Claudette Johnson and Cynthia McMillan, were charged to be ‘messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord ... to teach and admonish, to feed and to provide for the Lord’s family, to search for his children in the wilderness of the world’s temptations and to guide them through its confusions, so that they may be saved through Christ forever.’

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