Church in the Province of the West Indies

The Church in the Province of the West Indies is one of 40 member provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.^[1] The church comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West Indies area.^[2] The primate of the province is the Archbishop of the West Indies. The church has approximately 770,000 members.^[3]

Church in the Province of the West Indies
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Anglican
Scripture	Holy Bible
Theology	Anglican doctrine
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Philip S. Wright (acting)
Territory	Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands
Members	770,000
Official website	https://cpwianglicans.org/

History

The West Indies became a self-governing province in 1883 because of the Church of England missions in territories that became British colonies.^{[clarification needed]} It is made up of two mainland dioceses and six island dioceses, including Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands. Great emphasis is being placed on training personnel for an indigenous ministry. The island locations and scattered settlements make pastoral care difficult and costly.

Ordination of Women

The Church in the Province of the West Indies has ordained women as deacons since 1994 and as priests since 1996.^[4] In 2019, the Synod of the church approved the ordination of women as bishops.^[5]

Mission organisations

The Jamaica Church Missionary Society is the recognised missionary agency of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in the Province of the West Indies. The society focuses on evangelisation with special relevance to daily human needs.

The society was established in 1861 as a subsidiary of the church, intended to target those sections of Jamaica's "hard to reach" population. For many years the mission stations established and maintained by the society provided the only means of reaching the masses of the population with Christianity and basic education.

Theological college

Codrington College, an Anglican preparatory in Saint John, Barbados, opened in 1745.

Dioceses

• The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
• Barbados
• Belize
• Guyana
• Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
• North East Caribbean and Aruba
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Windward Islands

See also

• Christianity portal
• Caribbean portal

• Anglican churches in the Americas
• Archbishop of the West Indies
• Caribbean Conference of Churches