…at opening of 37th Provincial Synod of Anglican Church
QUOTE“Rather than bringing people closer together to work out their problems, celebrate their joys, share their hopes and fortify their common aspirations, we’re being enveloped by a creeping individualism within our societies. In families, churches, workplaces and within communities throughout the region, increased material welfare has acted as a firewall insulating people from one another and increasing the private space between individuals rather than fostering greater human ties.” – President Bharrat Jagdeo
ONE of the unfortunate developments which has accompanied increased social and economic progress within the Region has been the rise of impersonality within many social institutions, according to President Bharrat Jagdeo.

He said rather than bringing people closer together to work out their problems, celebrate their joys, share their hopes and fortify their common aspirations, “we’re being enveloped by a creeping individualism within our societies.”

President Bharrat Jagdeo is welcomed by members of the Anglican Church to the 37th Provincial Synod of the Church in the Province of the West Indies, held at the Guyana International Conference Centre yesterday.

In families, churches, workplaces and within communities throughout the region, increased material welfare has acted as a firewall insulating people from one another and increasing the private space between individuals rather than fostering greater human ties,” the President said.

He was at the time delivering brief remarks at the opening of the 37th Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church in the Province of the West Indies, which is being held at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) from December 9 -12, where he urged the bishops gathered from across the region and further afield to fight the rise of impersonality that is threatening the closeness and interaction that are shared by people.

“I am sure that the Anglican Church has not been immune from this development in which many are virtually strangers to each other thereby denying the fellowship and sense of community that would help strengthen the Church within the region,” Mr. Jagdeo posited.

He urged his audience to focus on the underlying causes of this problem and to find solutions that can bring people closer together.

“I urge careful consideration of this problem by first seeking to identify its roots rather than its symptoms so that practicable and workable initiatives can emerge which can rebuild an important component of life in the Caribbean; that sense of community and closeness which has allowed us to support and embrace each other through thick and thin.”

President Jagdeo also urged the leaders of the Anglican Church to embrace their role as representatives of their congregations and to engage with policymakers to pursue the development of mankind.

“You, as leaders of the Church within the province, are in an enviable position. You enjoy the confidence of the people. You are attuned to their needs, their trials and travails. Thus, when the Church speaks on behalf of the people, they often speak with a credibility that emerges from the closeness between the pastors and their flocks,” he said.

“You are therefore an important vehicle transmitting and representing the interests of your members. In advocating the interest of your membership, I urge the Church to seek the road of dialogue rather than the road of confrontation.”

“I urge you to use your condition of trust to bring to the attention of policymakers the realities on the ground and to join hands in working towards authentic human development. The ethical requirements demanded for authentic human development cannot be measured in material terms but rather through genuine human solidarity as expressed in greater concern for the elderly, support for the poor and protection of our children and all those vulnerable to abuse and exploitation,” he concluded.