May 10

Today was an amazing day! We all went out to parishes in different parts of the Island, some so far away that folks left here yesterday afternoon! I went to All Saints Church, West Street. It is an inner city church that has gone from being called the “Cathedral of the west side", through gang warfare that gutted several buildings to a current stage of renewal and rebuilding. The rector has been there for more than 30 years and is clearly much loved and well known in the community. The liturgy began at 8:15 and ended about 11:15am! In between we had the regular lessons, a sermon, the prayers of the people, prayers for healing for about 2/3 of the congregation and Eucharist. Then everyone stayed for breakfast of wonderful Jamaican food. Then we gathered for a discussion about the mission of God in this place, the challenges they face. Would you believe, keeping youth in the church, supporting the Sunday School and supporting the provision of affordable housing in the community? They do have a large number of active teens which was lovely to see. The teens accompanied us on the walkabout the neighbourhood and were very articulate about the problems and some solutions as they saw them. The walk about took us through the market where we stopped several times to pray with people who requested prayer from Father and the Bishop! We visited three of the housing developments and the women took us in to see their houses of which they were very proud. People who move into the housing have to participate in a preparation course to help them understand some of the responsibilities of trying to buy a house, and to help them learn how to live as community sharing the care of the complex among them. We returned to the church about 3:30pm in time to help prepare and serve the “Sunday Supper”. So I helped by scooping vegetables! People bring their own containers, some with lids so they can take the food home, others come with a plate and a fork, and they sit down together in the church yard and share the meal and the news.

I hope that you had as good a Sunday as I did!

+Sue