THE Anglican Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Tuesday elected Rev Canon Garth Minott as the next suffragan bishop of Kingston.

Minott replaces Robert Thompson, who retired in August 2020 after 15 years in the post.

Canon Garth has served as deputy president, Anglican warden, and lecturer in Christian ethics and pastoral studies at United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) for a number of years. He is also known for his work in human rights causes and among his many publications is Living by Faith in Challenging Times: A Caribbean view of what it means to say ‘God will take care of us’ (2016).

The elective assembly which resulted in his selection was part of day one activities at the 151st annual synod of the church in Jamaica.

Such an assembly allows the bishop of Jamaica to make a nomination which is presented to the bicameral synod — the house of laity and the house of clergy.

A successful candidate must gain two-thirds majority in both houses.

Minott was the only candidate offered by Lord Bishop Howard Gregory to the synod, which elected the candidate after a single round of voting.

This is the second go-around for Minott. Gregory had presented him as the single candidate at the 150th synod of the church last year, but he failed to secure the required two-thirds majority among his clergy peers after two rounds of voting.

Among those rising in support of the bishop-elect were Rev Olando Gayle and Mike Fennell, chairman of the church’s Diocesan Financial Board.

The 151st synod is being held under the theme ‘God’s Church for God’s World: Breaking the Silence, Reimagining a Fractured Nation’.

For his part, retired bishop of Kingston Robert Thompson said that Minott is eminently qualified to lead the people. “Canon Garth is pastorally sensitive; theologically sound with an understanding of the nuances of a vision for the church; and he has been a strong social advocate. He has quietly walked alongside the people and we need a bishop who will engage the people.” He added that the bishop-elect understands the social need at various levels. “He brings hope for the church and the synod’s election puts the church in a good place,” said Thompson.

In part one of his charge to the church delivered at the opening service on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, Gregory referenced Isaiah 62:1-5, and said: “I invite the engagement of your imagination as we enter the experience and context of a people who have gone through the demise of their once-proud nation status and have been taken into exile by the invading Babylonians.”

He posited that the country was yearning a kind of rebirth that would include a greater belonging and pride in all citizens and a platform for all views earning a place in the national psyche.

Gregory discussed the varied causes for the level of crime and violence in Jamaica and lamented the absence of a comprehensive approach to combat the scourge. “Often, the issue of crime and violence is addressed in terms of anger and violence as a historical legacy, and, while there is some legitimacy to this perspective, it misses the point as to the fracturing impact it has had on people’s sense of selfhood and the consequent value which the perpetrators of violence place on their own lives and those of others.”

He continued: “When a 20-year-old can begin to reflect on how many of his peers are already dead, while expressing the view that he does not expect to live through his 20s, what is it saying about the value of the human person and the culture of death and nihilism in which our youngsters… And let us not be distracted by the bashment funerals as they are not Christian celebration of life, death, and resurrection, but only give legitimacy to this culture of death and nihilism.”

This year’s guest to the synod is the Most Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the worldwide Anglican Communion. He heads the secretariat, which is based at St Andrew’s House in London, UK. He previously served the Anglican Church of Nigeria as Bishop of Kaduna and Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna.

The synod continues today in a virtual format, rather than face-to-face; the second such in the history of the synod consequent to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.