in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands

(Presbyterian, Congregational, Disciples of Christ)

• Church to establish new Counselling Centre - click here for further details

• Rev. Dr. Lewin Williams passes away - click here for further details

• Moderator's Communion in Cayman scheduled for Sunday 3rd December 2006
• Synod 2007 scheduled for May 6th – 10th, 2007 at Starfish Resort, Trelawney, Jamaica - plan to attend!  

• Savannah United Church

Special Service of Dedication for our Newly Completed Church Building was held on Sunday October 1st , 2006

Guest speaker : Rev Collin Cowan - General Secretary

• Cayman Girls Brigade Officers honoured as International Patron and International Vice President - photo from GBI -click here for full article.

• Well Done, Cayman Prep! - Schools Inspectorate issues Report - click here for details and other news from the School

• Rt. Rev. Dr. P J Lawrence, Regional Director of ITLD Cayman for the last 5 years, has been elected a Bishop of his home church ... click here for pictures from his colourful consecration in India, and article.
• Council for World Mission (CWM) Trustees met in Cayman June 13 - 16 2006, followed by the Assembly in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, with local member United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands helping to host; Moderator the Rt. Rev. Dr. Roderick Hewitt, who is also Moderator of the UCJCI, was re-elected Moderator for another three year term. Click here for further details ... See also "Sermons on the Web" for extracts from the Moderator's sermon as reported by CWM. The Assembly, as is customary, also issued a Statement outlining the commitment of CWM and its member churches over the next 3 years.
• Abuse in any form is unacceptable! The Witness Committee has been trying to get our congregations to make that message loud and clear, and, until it's stamped out, to increase our ministry of care for those who are battered, physically or emotionally. As part of this drive, the Director of the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre addressed Council on 4th July. Click here for full details and to see how individuals and congregations can help.
• Elmslie Mission Team's Successful Trip to Mt. Olivet - read report from The Family News

• The Da Vinci Code is making headlines ... Click here to read more and for a link that helps to put this fiction in its true perspective.
• 6,500 worshippers flock to Synod Convocation 2006. The entire United Church met in Convocation on Sunday 26th April 2006. While the Synod Convocation was being held in Jamaica, the Cayman Council also met in Convocation on Grand Cayman, using the same theme, Holy Spirit Renew and Transform Your Church. In that way  the members in Cayman were also able to join in the spirit of the Convocation notwithstanding the realities of One Church in Two Nations. In her sermon, the Rev. Dr. Yvette Noble Bloomfield emphasised the "Your" in the theme, God's Church. She also vividly used corn and butterflies, respectively, to demonstrate the kind of fundamental renewal and transformation we must always be seeking, in order to carry out God's will in a changing world. Corn and butterflies were also highlighted in the decor, which beautifully transformed the Prep School Hall for the occasion, thanks to the Savannah United Church, whose members took charge of the decorating this year. The Women's Fellowship in Cayman also highlighted  the theme - with various kinds of corn cakes! Mr. John Macmillan, Secretary of the Cayman Islands Council, officially represented the Council at the Synod Convocation and filed this report.
• The United Church, the Cayman Council and our George Town charge in particular have all been supporting missions in and to Haiti for many years, though painfully conscious of how much more we could be doing to share the love of Christ there. For an uplifting report from a misisonary there, in which the George Town charge has played a small part, click here.
• Computer based (and other) distance learning is a primary goal of the Church's new International University of the Caribbean, with its Hyacinth Conolly Distance Learning Centre, named after Cayman's own educator and faithful United Church servant, the late Mrs. Hyacinth Conolly. And so the first internet tutorial conducted by the Cayman campus is an exciting development for us! To learn more of what took place and some comments by those involved, read Acting Dean Dr. Mark Minott's report here.

• The United Church in Cayman had a very interesting day on Ash Wednesday, with our Moderator, and a dynamic workshop the previous weekend with Rev. Oliver Daley - click here for further details and questions for personal consideration.

• Discrimination is wrong, whatever the form it takes - letter on a topical local issue

• Historical sanctuary destroyed by fire - North Street United Church in Jamaica was established in 1837 and, as Freeman's Chapel, holds major historical significance in Jamaica and the Emancipation. Click here for a link to their web site, for further details and pictures of the fire destruction.

• Discovering the Mastic Trail - The John Gray Memorial Young Adults Action Movement hiked the Mastic Trail with Silver Thatch Tours on Saturday, 28th January. Click here for full story and pictures. And click here for details of other activities in 2005 - including a trip to Stingray City!

  The Mastic Trail:  

  

  Photo courtesy of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands

• National Parenting Programme launched - The National Parenting Programme (NPP) of the Cayman Islands was officially launched on Saturday 10th December 2005. Hon. Anthony Eden, OBE, JP, Minister of Health and Human Services gave the welcome address and commended Mrs. Deanna Lookloy, Director of the Department of Children and Family Services and Ms. Deborah Webb who has been spearheading the NPP for the Department. and is its first Chairperson. Guest Speaker was Dr. Peter Weller, Clinical Psychologist, who gave a very insightful and practical talk on "Responsible Parenting." The Cayman Council of the United Church had agreed to become involved in the NPP as its main parenting training outreach and has encouraged its members to get involved in helping to shape and support the programme, and we are pleased that we now have members active in each of the District Support Teams on Grand Cayman.  A number of them participated in the official launch, with Bryan Bothwell, Deputy General Secretary of the Church, offering the prayer. One of the children from our congregation in West Bay, Rashaad Powery, on behalf of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, gave a child's view of what it takes to be a good parent. Click here for the text of Rashaad's message ... and some useful insight!
• Wheelchair van purchased to enhance ministry to members and entire community - click here for photos and article.
• Mrs. Joan Page Bain, the United Church's Missionary nurse in Haiti, visited Cayman 4th - 9th January. During her visit, she met with Mrs. Olive Miller, Chair of the Mission, Witness and Service Committee of the George Town Charge and Mrs. Janilee Clifford, Chair of its Mission Sub-Committee, and others, to discuss her work in Haiti, which is facilitated financially by the George Town Charge and the Cayman Council jointly. She also spoke at the Elmslie and Savannah worship services on Sunday 8th. In addition to pictures of the work at her clinic, midwives she is currently training there, etc., Nurse Joan also shared pictures and stories of the Feeding Programme she runs in Haiti for children from 0 - 5 years. You may "Contact Us" if you wish further information on these two mission opportunities.
• Cayman Islands Crisis Centre - deserves (and needs) our support! Extracts from their 2005 newsletter: Helped over 50 women and children through direct shelter service in the year; received over 200 crisis calls; confidential crisis line, 24 hours per day, or to seek safe shelter, phone 943-2422; "if you would like to arrange a presentation ... on topics surrounding domestic abuse, teen dating, healthy relationships and various forms of sexual assault, please call [them] on 949 0366."