Minister of the Third Sector Colin Jordan has encouraged religious leaders to access the government’s Faith-Based Organisation Special Fund Grant Facility, saying churches are well placed to address growing challenges in communities.
As the Mount of Praise Wesleyan Holiness Church held its 100th anniversary service at Tudor Bridge, Jordan said the facility was established to provide faith-based organisations with resources as they continue their work in communities.
The audience at the Mount of Praise Wesleyan Holiness Church. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla)
“Recognising the importance of faith-based organisations, recognising your reach, their reach, recognising that we ought to be partners, government has decided that it would be a facilitator in more than just words or encouragement, but that we would facilitate with actual resources.”
The decision also came against the backdrop of declining church attendance and membership, he said.
“We recognise that you are able to reach into areas, into pockets, into hearts that a government or government functionaries will not be able to reach.
“You have a unique responsibility. Leaders in the faith community are still, to a significant degree, respected, confided in.”
He urged leaders at Mount of Praise and throughout the Wesleyan movement to take advantage of the opportunity to partner with the State.
He also pushed back against concerns that the government’s outreach to faith-based organisations was intended to influence or control them.
“There have been some strange discussions from leaders of faith who ought to have known better that government’s outreach in the area that I just indicated was in some way designed to control faith-based organisations. That is not the case. We’re not getting involved.”
Ten organisations have so far been funded by the facility, with programmes targeted towards young people, the minister for the third sector said.
Government has nothing to do with determining how those programmes targeted towards young people are designed, Jordan said.
Jordan also urged churches to intensify their work “because the challenges in our communities are greater.
“The challenges are across families, across young people, and not just young men, but across the entire society. There are needs that are to be addressed. Faith-based organisations are particularly well-placed to address those needs.”
His comments came as Mount of Praise marked a century of ministry and reflected on the church’s history, including its struggles, conflicts and changes in leadership.
Jordan said: “Mount of Praise has survived challenges over 100 years. You’ve survived changes in leadership in the church, changes in how the country operates, even changes in governments, but you have survived,” he said.
He noted that the church’s centenary coincided with another significant development in Barbados 100 years ago, when National Hero the Right Excellent Charles Duncan O’Neal established the Working Men’s Association.
For the minister, both developments reflected efforts to support ordinary people, with the church focused on encouraging people to live according to God’s will and the association advancing the cause of decent work.
Jordan urged the Mount of Praise church to continue serving the community: “As you move forward from a century, remember that organisations of faith have not just a special place in the country’s development, but you have a responsibility to continue to be a lighthouse in your community.”
He also reminded the congregation that the church, while imperfect, should help people strive towards a better way of life.
“A church, like I said it earlier, is not a perfect place, but a church is established to help people to move toward perfection, to become like Christ in the case of Christian churches.”
Jordan congratulated Mount of Praise on its milestone and urged its leaders to prepare for the church’s next century.
“My prayer is that He will continue to guide you, continue to strengthen you, and continue to give your leaders the vision that will allow them to run their leg of the relay faithfully and hand over to those who will take the church forward into the next century.”
(LE)
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