The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

Under the theme “2020 Vision: Perceiving Through the Lens of Faith”, the Church of the Nazarene will celebrate 45 years of ministry in the Bahamas, beginning Tuesday, February 25, at 7pm.

“Nazarenes from around the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands will convene here in our nation’s capital to celebrate a great milestone. This year’s theme beautifully encapsulates the church’s journey from a place of near obscurity to a force to be reckoned with here in The Bahamas and beyond,” said Daphne McKinney, representative of the Bahamas District Church of the Nazarene.

The Church of the Nazarene, she said, is the largest denomination in the classical Wesleyan-Holiness tradition and boasts of over 2.6 million members worldwide, operates 64 medical hospitals and clinics, 52 institutions of higher learning in 35 countries, and over 31,000 churches. And as a mission-oriented people, the church has commissioned over 800 missionaries to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to all corners of the world.

The local district here in the Bahamas, she added, has witnessed its ministry reflected vividly in the over 40 years of struggles, failures and successes.

Rev John C Wildgoose III, District Superintendent of the Bahamas, said: “Five years ago we commemorated our 40 anniversary, which was to us the end of our wilderness wandering as a church. Then, having left the desert sands behind, we crossed over our Jordan and took down the stronghold of Jericho. This year, however, the God of impossibilities wants to reveal to us His will to accomplish the miraculous in and through us when we perceive our world through the lens of faith.”

Rev Wildgoose is especially excited by the diverse lineup of ministers of song, dance, and the preached word to take place at the upcoming two-day event. Services begin at 7pm on both nights at the Victory Chapel Church of the Nazarene, Minnie Street.

Speakers include: Methodist Bishop Theophilus Rolle on Wednesday, February 26; First Baptist Church Pastor Diana Francis on Thursday, February 27; New Life Christian Centre Pastor Audley Peters on Friday, February 28, and Dr R Alphonso Porter, a Nazarene Caribbean field coordinator who hails from Guyana, to speak on Sunday, March 1 at the Church of God Auditorium, Joe Farrington Road, beginning 11am.

“While we are delighted to welcome Nazarene delegates from around the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and beyond, we are especially honoured to stand poised and positioned alongside our brothers and sisters from all assemblies,” said Rev Wildgoose.