To: Clergy and People
From: The Bishop
12th May,2017

Greetings,

Alleluia! The Lord is risen indeed. Come, let us adore Him. Alleluia!

The Hurricane Season is Here- Have A Plan!

The Hurricane Season begins 1st June, 2017.
Let us pray that God will protect us from the ravages of hurricanes and other disasters this year. Nevertheless “Let Us Prepare To Survive.”

1. Familiarize ourselves with our surroundings: The type of house whether wood, concrete blocks, galvanized sheets. Living conditions is it in good condition, what about the roof, where is the house located- next to a river,stream, the sea, slopes, hillside, a cliff or valley. Are there big trees or trees in bad condition. Is it next to electrical poles or cables? Have a family discussion about how a hurricane may affect your family. Consider the following and how they may affect your home: storm surge, flooding and accompanying winds.

2. Know our community – What is there in the community that could be useful in case of a hurricane? What hazards exist in our community and where are they located? Are there emergency institutions and where are they located? Which are the safest places to be in case of emergency? How prepared are we in case a hurricane comes?

3. After doing one and two above what can we do to make our home and community a safer place? Window shutters, reinforce galvanize (roof), clear drains, cut branches overhanging trees etc. Don’t seek to repair or reinforce your roof during a hurricane.

4. Make a Family Plan- Identify a safe room in our home or that of a neighbor. Remember the safest place may not be in our home but in the community. Make sure to discuss this with all members of your family/household. Know our nearest hurricane shelter. If our home is not in good condition or near to a river, slope, stream, cliff, sea, big trees we should plan to go to a hurricane shelter, know how to get there and by what means with our emergency supplies.

5. Plan escape routes from our home and places to meet.

6. Have a family contact in another country, so all your family members have a single point of contact. Make sure that each family member has this contact information. (this is just in case you are separated during the hurricane). Give contact telephone numbers to family overseas, include numbers of persons who live outside your village. Keep important numbers handy. Ensure that your cell phone is charged if or when a hurricane is approaching.

7. Have a plan for your animals.

8. Check your insurance coverage- make sure you understand what coverage you have.

9. Stock non-perishable emergency supplies: A three day supply of food and water, a change of clothing, a blanket or sleeping bag and a first aid kit that include medication. Battery powered Radio, flashlight and extra batteries, work gloves and fire extinguisher, hammer, saw, pickaxe. Ensure that important family documents are in a fire and water proof container, have an extra set of keys, cash and credit card.

10. Seek information from your National Emergency Organisation, and read.

Prayer

O Heavenly Father as the hurricane season is here we are frightened by our knowledge of the possible devastation of storms, hurricanes and other natural disasters and by our helplessness in the face of them. We pray O Father that you may keep us safe and all who stand in harms way.

Loving Father help us to know and to be confident that if disaster comes our way that you are ever present with us, and teach us to cope and afterwards to respond with love and care for others. And if we are spared and others are affected we pray that help may be given to them speedily and this may be turned into an opportunity to strengthen the bonds of love and service which bind men and nations together through Jesus Christ our lord. Amen.

Archbishop Woodroffe Memorial Lecture

The fourth annual Archbishop Woodroffe Memorial lecture is scheduled for 7:00pm on Thursday 18th May, 2017 at Frenches House, Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The lecturer will be the Rt. Rev’d Dr. Robert Thompson, Suffragan Bishop of Kingston, Diocese of Jamaica.

Provincial Youth Commission Meeting

Mrs. Sheree Ann Auld-Mark will be representing the Diocese of the Windward Islands at the Annual Provincial Youth Commission meeting scheduled for 28th May to 3rd June, 2017 in the Diocese of Barbados.

Mothers’ Union ‘Finance & Central Services Committee’ Meeting

Mrs. Lois Friday will be attending the annual residential meeting of the Worldwide Mothers’ Union “Finance & Central Services Committee at High Leigh Conference Centre, lord Street, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK. The meeting is scheduled for 22nd to 24th May, 2017.

GATA Convention 2017

The Grenada Anglican Teachers Association Annual Convention is scheduled for Ascension Day 25th May, 2017. It will begin with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the St. Patrick’s Anglican Church, Sauteurs, followed by the business session, cultural programme and social, at the St. Patrick’s Anglican Primary School. The Theme is: “Improving the spirit of Anglicanism in Anglican schools through a holistic approach”.

Rogationtide

Rogation (from the latin rogare, ‘to ask’) are the three weekdays before Ascension Day. It is observed on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. Traditionally the Prayer Book Gospel included the words of Jesus, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask for in my Name, he will give it you’ – words associated with the heavenly intercession of the ascended Christ. Originally, the Christian observance of Rogation was taken over from Graeco-Roman religion, where an annual procession invoked divine favour to protect crops against mildew. The tradition grew of using processional litanies, often around the parish boundaries, for the blessing of the land. These processions concluded with a mass. The Rogation procession was suppressed at the Reformation, but it was restored in 1559. The poet George Herbert interpreted the procession as a means of asking for God’s blessing on the land, of preserving boundaries, of encouraging fellowship between neighbours with the reconciling of differences,and of charitable giving to the poor.

The tradition of ‘beating the bounds’ has been preserved in some communities, while others maintain the traditional use of the Litany within worship. In medieval England the Rogation Days were observed with processions that began in the local church and proceeded to outline the boundaries of the parish occasionally for the recitation of prayers.
In more recent times, the scope of Rogation has been widened to include petition for the world of work and for accountable stewardship, and prayer for local communities, whether rural or urban. In the Book of Common Prayer CPWI page 170 there is a rubic after the collect for the sixth Sunday of Easter which states: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week are the traditional Rogation Days. The collects for Rogation Days are found on page 202:
1. For fruitful seasons
2. For commerce and industry
3. For Stewardship of Creation.

Traditionally the Sixth Sunday of Easter which is Sunday 21st May, 2017 would have been
Rogation Sunday and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as Rogation Days with Thursday
25th May, 2017 being Ascension Day. I invite you to attend Mass on these days

Family Day 2017

The Archdeaconry Family Day in Grenada will be held on Thursday 15th June, 2017 at the Parish of St. George. In the Archdeaconry of St. Vincent and the Grenadines it is scheduled for Sunday 25th June, 2017 in the Parish of St. Patrick. The date for the Family Day in the Archdeaconry of St. Lucia is still to be arranged.

With every good wish and God’s blessings!

Yours sincerely,

The Rt. Rev’d C. Leopold Friday
Bishop of the Windward Islands