Service supports people of the Caribbean

A service of solidarity and support for the people of the Caribbean is being held after hurricanes devastated parts of the region this fall.

The service will be held on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. at St. Andrew, Scarborough, 2333 Victoria Park Ave. The guest preacher will be Bishop Peter Fenty, the area bishop of York-Simcoe and a native of Barbados.

“It’s a visible sign that we care,” says the Rev. Jacqueline Daley, one of the organizers. “For some of us, we have very close connections to the Caribbean. This is to gather together and support each other and say we’re in this together.”

Ms. Daley says many people in the diocese have family and friends in the Caribbean who were affected by the hurricanes. “Although it happened far away, it felt very near. Everyone has a story to tell.”

The service is being organized by a group of clergy and laity in partnership with the Canadian Friends to West Indian Christians, a group in the diocese that has supported the work of the Church in the Province of the West Indies for many years.

“The service is important because when our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean region hurt, we hurt because we are from there,” says Elsa Jones, chair of the Canadian Friends to West Indian Christians. “We are in a position to help, and I think it is important that we as Christians do what Christ would have called us to do.”

Ms. Daley hopes the service will be a first step toward ongoing support for relief efforts for the region. “We hope to have an offering at the service but also to find ways that people can commit to long-term support,” she says.

All are invited to the service. “We are God’s family and God’s people, and all are welcome,” she says.