Anglican Diocese holds Synod in Tobago

During the Synod Councils, Commissions, Committees, Boards and other agencies of the Church report to the membership and discuss the mission and operation of the Church. As the Annual Meeting of the Church, the Synod has authority to make rules for the regulation and discipline of the Church subject to confirmation by the Provincial Synod.

In accordance with the Diocesan Regulations, the members of the Synod are the Bishop, the Coadjutor (there is none at this time), the Chancellor, the Registrar, the Diocesan Secretary, the Trustees, the Chairman of the Diocesan Board of Finance, the Diocesan Property Advisor, all licensed or instituted clergymen and Lay Evangelists, the parish lay representatives, eight youth representatives, the lay members of (Diocesan) Council, two representatives of the Mothers’ Union and two representatives of the Anglican Church Men’s Society.

Representatives who are also called “delegates” must be communicants ‘in good standing’. The delegates’ work does not begin and end with Synod. They are expected to participate at pre-Synod meetings held by the Regional Councils, where matters to be raised at the Synod are discussed, as well as post-Synod meetings which deal with implementation of decisions.

Delegates are also expected to attend all sessions of Synod and to report promptly to their respective congregations or youth groups the outcome of the Synod.

The Bishop is the Chief Administrator and Spiritual Leader of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago. He is the Chief Pastor and Father in God of all within the Diocese. He is the Senior Trustee in the Diocese. The incumbent Bishop, His Lordship Calvin Bess, who was consecrated in December 2000, will be President of the Synod and has the right of veto to any measure with which he is not in agreement. When Synod is not in session, the Diocesan Council which is responsible for the general administration of the Diocese under the direction of its chairman, the Bishop, exercises the rights and powers vested in Synod. The Bishop is also ex-officio member of all Diocesan Committees.

There are two Assistant Bishops who are retired Bishops, in the Diocese. Clive Abdulah and Rawle Douglin retired in 1992 and 2000 respectively.