The Church in the Province of the West Indies became a self-governing Province of the worldwide Anglican Communion in 1883. It is made up of two mainland dioceses and six island dioceses, including Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Nassau and the Bahamas, Tobago, Trinidad, and the Windward Islands.
The primate post is vacant, and this province will be represented by Bishop Errol Brooks, a native of Anguilla. He has been a priest for 33 years, and ten of those 33 years he has served as Bishop of the Diocese of the Northeastern Caribbean and Aruba.
Excerpts from an interview with David Virtue:
VOL: Do you think a Covenant will save the Anglican Communion?
BROOKS: I firmly believe that the Covenant is necessary. Those who would adhere to the tenets and can sign on and those who can’t, they go their separate ways.
VOL: Where do you stand on the homosexual issues that are tearing the Anglican Communion apart?
BROOKS: I firmly believe that all persons are children of God. Because of sin in God’s creation, sin it seems to me that there are some people who have their own agenda. They have been marred by sin and have developed errant ways. For some reason, people are pushed in certain directions and so the jury is still out. But Lambeth 1:10 was clear about marriage, but we must still have the listening process. Church has always had homosexuals. There has been a long history of it in Jamaica. It was very discrete. They (homosexuals) had a personal faith, but did not push themselves and say the whole church must go their way. We do not want to be homophobic, but we cannot endorse the behavior.
It seems to me (that homosexuality) is unnatural. From the Garden of Eden, it was always male and female for procreation. The marriage service cannot be changed for men to marry men.
VOL: What do you think about Bishop Gene Robinson’s pushing of his homosexuality on the Anglican Communion?
BROOKS: Gene used to come here with his wife and children. Then he appeared one day without wife and kids and came with a male partner. After that we heard that my predecessor wrote to Gene and told him he was not welcome any more to preach and give communion on St. Barts Island. Gene was very annoyed. He and his friends threatened us with a letter stepping on his human rights. We wrote back saying we were not stopping Robinson from coming to St. Barts, but he could not function ecclesiastically. We were not inhospitable. We wrote saying please have respect for our faith and values. The bishops must always be a symbol of unity. He is not at all such a symbol. His being a bishop is very divisive.
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. John 4:35
O God,
We praise Your Holy Name! You are Creator of heaven and earth, of the crystalline water, the coral reefs and sand banks of the Caribbean archipelago. The starry skies and the warm seas declare Your glory.
Your Name is above every name in Anguilla and Aruba, the Windwards and the Leewards, Eleuthera and Exuma, Tobago and Trinidad, Grand Bahama, Grand Caicos, Grand Turk, St. George’s, St. Vincent, St. John’s, and St. Lucia. We proclaim Your Holy Name over the Anglican Province of the West Indies and over Bishop Errol Brooks.
We pray for the lost souls in these islands. Prepare their hearts to receive the Good News. Open their hearts to Your saving work.
Be with Bishop Brooks in his ministry at home in the Caribbean and abroad on the Mediterranean. Open his eyes to see the harvest. Grant him wisdom to know when to speak and when to remain silent, what to tear down and what to build up. Guide him to know when and where to let down the nets that a great harvest of souls may be brought into the kingdom of God.
Lord, we cry out for a spiritual awakening in the Anglican Communion. Protect Bishop Brooks in this work. Amen.
Posted by anglicanprayer 
