It was exactly 33 years on Tuesday this week, December 2, since Leroy Errol Brooks, a most respected and beloved Anguillian was ordained to the Priesthood in the Ministry of the Anglican Church at St. John’s Cathedral in Antigua. A Thanksgiving Service to mark the anniversary occasion was held at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on that evening, following the end of the Patronal Festival there.

The Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks outside St. Andrew’s Church

In ten of those 33 years he has been serving in the high office of Bishop of the Diocese of the Northeastern Caribbean and Aruba. Rather than residing at St. John’s Cathedral, as is customary for the Primate in that position, he chose to remain in his native Anguilla serving his people as a Priest while traveling ever so often to the various islands in the Diocese, and in the international Anglican community, in his capacity as Bishop.

And now, according to a recent announcement made by the Right Reverend Errol Brooks, as Senior Bishop in the Province of the West Indies, one of 39 provinces in the world Anglican community, he is to become in charge of the Province of the West Indies at the end of the year pending the election of a new Archbishop. He and another Bishop, to be named, will be the candidates for election. Bishop Brooks repeated the announcement on Sunday, November 30, at a joint Parish Family Eucharist at St. Andrew’s, Island Harbour. The service involved the three Anglican Churches and was a climax of a week of activities in celebration of the St. Andrew’s Patronal Festival.

Members of the three Anglican Churches at St. Andrews

Prolonged applause from the Parishioners greeted his announcement especially because among them, and to some extent in the wider community, there have been strong rumours that he was in fact slated to become the next Archbishop of the West Indies. The rumours stemmed from the coming retirement of the well-known, long-serving and outspoken Archbishop Drexel Gomez, on December 31, and the long absence from Anguilla of Bishop Brooks at conferences abroad. He was at a House of Bishops’ Conference in Nassau, Bahamas, and a meeting of the Provincial Standing Committee there. He then flew to London for a Consultation with the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

Archbishop Gomez will also be retiring as Bishop of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. He will be succeeded as Bishop of that Northern Caribbean Diocese by the Rt. Rev. Laish Boyd, the current Co-adjutor Bishop there. On the same date, the Rt. Rev. Randolph George, Bishop of Guyana, will also be retiring. With the coming retirement of Archbishop Gomez, there will be a need to find a successor as quickly as possible in the New Year, but in the interim Bishop Brooks will have responsibility for the Province.

Members of the three Anglican Churches at St. Andrews

“At the end of the year, as Senior Bishop, I will be in charge of the Province until a new Archbishop is elected,” Bishop Brooks said to the applause of the large congregation at St. Andrew’s. “The election for the new Archbishop post will take place sometime in 2009, but it cannot happen until all the Diocesan positions are filled. The Bishop of Guyana, Randolph George, is retiring at the end of December, and the Diocese of Guyana will be electing a new Bishop. After that position would have been filled, I will have the responsibility to call an Elected Assembly of the Province to elect the new Archbishop.”

The top Anguillian Clergyman went on: “The way the process works is that the House of Bishops will choose two Bishops of our number and present those names to the Synod. The Synod will then vote for the person who will be the next Archbishop. It is a simple majority whether one person gets one or two [votes] more…The other person [getting that majority] will become the next Primate of the Province. Before this time, there used to be an automatic situation where the person who is senior automatically became Archbishop but that is no more. There is an election which has to take place. It doesn’t mean I am going to be one of those nominated.” He stressed that the House of Bishops would nominate whoever they thought were the two eligible persons, submit their names to the Synod and that body would elect one of them as Archbishop.

Other congregational members

“Now, no rumours,” Bishop Brooks laughed. “I hear a lot of stuff going around the place and somebody said to me, just a while ago, ‘so you will soon leave us?’ I don’t know about that. Taking on that responsibility of the Providence [being-in-charge in the interim], means that I will have to travel a bit more. For example, in January I will be meeting with a group of Primates in the United States because the Province of the West Indies, Canada and the United States, have responsibility for the churches in Cuba so we have to meet from time to time to work out that mission. At the end of January, I am expected to fly to Egypt for a Primate meeting and the visits go on and on like that, all the time.

“Father [Menes] Hodge will carry the Parish for the time I will be out. I thank him for keeping the flames burning during these times,” the Bishop said. “Maybe he wants me to consecrate him a Bishop,” he added lightheartedly.
Bishop Brooks was speaking after delivering one of his most inspiring sermons in which he preached on the coming Kingdom of God, on the occasion of what is called ‘Advent Sunday’ in the Anglican Ministry.

Winston Duncan and his singing group

The Bishop took the opportunity afterwards to thank the many persons who, in one way or another, had contributed to the success of St. Andrew’s Patronal Festival. The week of activities, in observance of the occasion, included panel discussions on the global economic situation and its impact on Anguilla, and the incidence of crime on the island. Among the other events was the blessing of the sea at Island Harbour which, in terms of being the island’s biggest fishing village, is an important contributor to the Anguillian food-basket both for local consumption and the tourism industry.

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