MONTEGO BAY, St James - The Montego Bay Region of the Anglican Church which encompasses the parishes of St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, St Ann and sections of Trelawny, will have a new Bishop next month.

He is Venerable Leon Paul Golding, Archdeacon for the Montego Bay Region, who is now the Bishop-elect, having been chosen by the vote of clergy and lay representatives of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands at a special Synod held at St Luke's Church, in Kingston, last Thursday.

He will succeed the Rt Rev Dr Howard Gregory, who was the Bishop of Montego Bay until he was elected to be the Lord Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands earlier this year.

Archdeacon Golding was admitted as a Deacon of the Church in 1984 and became a priest in 1985.

In his 28-year career, he has served as Assistant Curate at the St Andrew Parish Church; Rector of the Port Maria Cure; the St Jude's Cure, Stony Hill and the Kingston Parish Church.

He is currently rector at Holy Trinity in Westgate.

He served as Archdeacon of Kingston in 2004 and in 2008 was appointed to a similar responsibility for Montego Bay.

The Bishop-elect holds the Bachelor of Arts in Theology from the University of the West Indies; the Diploma in Ministerial Studies from the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) and the Masters Degree in Philosophy from the University of Birmingham, England.

He is the fourth Anglican clergyman to be elected Bishop of Montego Bay. The first was the Rt Rev Neville deSouza (1973-1979), followed by the Rt Rev Alfred Reid (1980-2000) and then Rt Rev Howard Gregory (2002-2012). Bishops deSouza and Reid are now retired.

It is being planned to enthrone Archdeacon Golding in a service at the St James Parish Church at the close of the 38th Triennial Provincial Synod of the Church in the Province of the West Indies (CPWI), which will be meeting in Montego Bay November 9-17.

Delegates from across the Caribbean will include Bishops and priests from the eight Dioceses of the Province. On Sunday November 11, they will be guests at morning service in churches in St James, Hanover, Trelawny, St Ann and Westmoreland.