The Tribune

Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd is calling on Anglicans to be more intentional about their discipleship in Christ, to always let their behaviour reflect their faith, and to not repel others from the Church by displaying unchristian attitudes.

Giving the opening remarks at the 116th Synod of the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos on Monday night, Bishop Boyd praised the success of the inaugural healing conference, which concluded last Sunday.

“We want the healing ministry of the Church to grow and flourish because the Church has always been an agent of healing and restoration in the world, from New Testament times right on down to today, the Anglican Church in these islands has certainly been a leader in this area,” he said during his speech at Christ Church Cathedral.

“I want to see the Anglican Church continue to grow and for Anglicans to be more intentional about their discipleship in Christ. After all, our Diocesan theme these past two years has been ‘Intentional Discipleship’. Let’s get more serious about our worship and our living. Many of us already are, but more of us need to be. Some of us are not as committed as we ought to be. We need more commitment, more visible evidence of a personal relationship with Jesus, people need to see Christ in us, imperfect as we are. Often our lives, our behaviour, our attitudes turn people off. But, my friends, Jesus calls us and depends on us to be what we ought to be.”

Bishop Boyd called encouraged Anglicans to show those around them that they are serious about God and their faith.

“It starts by the way that we live and treat people, and by the way we express our faith,” he said. “The reputation of the whole Church rests on how we act as individuals. I wish to encourage the people of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands to hear the writer of the Book of Proverbs. In the living of our lives and in the conduct of national affairs, we must not allow loyalty and faithfulness to forsake us. We must bind them about our necks. We must write them on the table of our hearts.”