The Tribune

Anglicans throughout Grand Bahama have come together to welcome a member of the clergy who was recently ordained to the office of deacon.

Deacon Dave Dimitri Thomas hails from the island of Eleuthera by way of New Providence, but has strong familial ties to McClean's Town in East Grand Bahama, where his father, Dave Thomas, has roots. He was born in New Providence but grew up with his mother, Sharan Bethel, in Governor's Harbour, where he received his primary and secondary education as well as his religious foundation.

As a child, he spent his time equally between the Baptist and Anglican churches. Through the Sunday School and the Christian Youth Movement in the parish of St Patrick, he was given the opportunity to both develop his leadership skills and participate in youth ministry through the Guild of St Ambrose (Altar Servers) and several other areas within the parish. He fondly recalls the support, encouragement and love that he received from the parishioners and the role this played in motivating him to test his vocation to the sacred priesthood. He also credits Fr Jonathan Archer with guiding and influencing him in his quest to select a career path.

Deacon Thomas graduated from Central Eleuthera High School in 2008 and pursued tertiary studies at the College of the Bahamas with a concentration in Secondary Education. He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the West Indies in 2016 and completed his studies in Theology at Codrington College in Barbados in 2017. For the 2017/18 academic year he worked as a Religious Studies teacher at the Jordan Prince William High School. While attending college in New Providence, he worshipped at the parish of St Agnes where he was mentored by Archbishop Drexel Gomez and the Rector I Ranfurly Brown.

On September 13, 2018, on the Feast of St Cyprian, he was ordained to the office of deacon in his home parish of St Patrick in Governor's Harbour where he reflected on his formative years and pondered what it was that others saw in him but he himself did not even know existed. Since October 1, 2018, he has been assigned to the Bishop Michael Eldon School as assistant chaplain and Religion teacher in the primary school. He will also serve as the assistant curate at the Parish Church of the Ascension where many opportunities for priestly formation will be made available to him under the watchful eye of Fr Earl Hepburn who currently serves as the priest-in-charge.

The 27-year-old deacon is an avid reader and feels that his pastoral strengths lie in the areas of youth ministry and social outreach. He is also a sports enthusiast, having played baseball as a child. He has previously worked as a youth ambassador for the Ministry of Tourism where he frequently interacted with tourists and cruise passengers who visited the country. For his part, he is quite impressed with the students in Grand Bahama whom he describes as polite and well-mannered, still possessing the Family Island principles of respect that seem to have been lost by students in the nation's capital. According to him BMES has an excellent balance of character and academics.

He sees the Parish Church of the Ascension as a very hospitable church and he is loving his time with this congregation. As for his ministry, his goals are quite simple: to excel as a teacher, to be a good priest, a loving husband to his fiancée after they are wed, and if it is God's will, a faithful father to his children.