{"id":19210,"date":"2020-01-13T11:47:47","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T16:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=19210"},"modified":"2020-01-22T11:54:19","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T16:54:19","slug":"150-years-of-independence-the-anglican-church-since-1870","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/150-years-of-independence-the-anglican-church-since-1870\/","title":{"rendered":"150 Years of \u2018Independence\u2019 \u2013 the Anglican Church Since 1870"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands\nwill begin in 2020 a year of activities to commemorate the 150th anniversary of\nits independence from state control in 1870 when it was disestablished.&nbsp; The Church did not ask to be disestablished;\nthis decision was imposed by the Government.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why Are We\nCelebrating?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By separating the Church from the State, and\nplacing responsibility for its administration in the hands of its members, the\nChurch was able to grow and expand in ways which were not possible before. We\ntake for granted today, the annual Synod and, indeed, the entire Diocesan\nstructure, but these are the results of Disestablishment. &nbsp;The extensive religious, educational and\nsocial welfare services and programmes now operated by the Church are among the\nmany positive developments since 1870.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For us today, the act of disestablishment\nsuggests liberation and freedom from the fetters of the Government. In fact, the\nChurch, as the body of Christ, is a liberating force with the obligation to\nfree people in body, mind and spirit.&nbsp; Disestablishment,\ntherefore, allowed the Church to fulfill its mission to a wider number of persons,\nespecially the majority black population who were recently freed from slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is reflected in the theme chosen for the\nyear\u2019s activities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<strong>\u2018The Anglican Church 1870 &#8211; 2020: Liberated\nto Liberate: Assessing the past, Contemplating the present, Strategising for\nthe future&#8217;.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What Led to Disestablishment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Government removed its funding for the clergy (gradually at\nfirst) and gave up responsibility for the governance of the Church as it could\nno longer afford to finance the Church\u2019s operation due to the country\u2019s\ndeteriorating economic conditions. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In addition, the Government was coming under increased\npressure for its financial support for the Anglican Church which represented a\nminority of the church-going population.&nbsp;\nIn 1865, the island\u2019s population was estimated at 400,000. Of this\nnumber, 162,374 claimed some church affiliation, and <strong>only 48,824 identified themselves as Anglicans.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>On June 15, 1870<strong> \u2018A\nLaw to regulate the gradual disendowment of the Church of England in Jamaica\nand for other purposes\u2019<\/strong> was passed by the Legislature.&nbsp; (Law 30 of 1870). <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The first Synod under this law was held from September 29 \u2013\n10 October 1870; and it drew up Canons and Regulations for the Church.&nbsp;&nbsp; An Incorporated Lay Body was established to\nwhich all church property was later transferred.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aims of Commemorative\nActivities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Evaluate the democratization of the Church through Synod over\nthe years; <\/li><li>Examine the sources of funding for the Church\u2019s activities\nafter 1870;<\/li><li>Assess the Church\u2019s work in education and social welfare; <\/li><li>Explore the role of government, civil society and religious\nbodies in the disestablishment process;<\/li><li>Evaluate the success of the Church in incorporating marginalized\nmembers of society within its operation; (Was it inclusive?)<\/li><li>Discuss the Church\u2019s response to the social, cultural and\nreligious developments within the changing society since 1870; and plan for the\nfuture.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Planned\nActivities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>&nbsp;Diocesan Service of\nCelebration at the National Arena on June 14, 2020 (the Sunday closest to June\n15 when the Law to disestablish the Church was passed in 1870) This launch\nevent will involve members of congregations across the Diocese.<\/li><li>A Diocesan Mission will be conducted on a regional basis with\nactivities mounted at Cure\/Deanery levels.<\/li><li>A Symposium.&nbsp; <\/li><li>A Pageant depicting the history of the Diocese<\/li><li>A Musical Event featuring Diocesan choirs and schools<\/li><li>An Exhibition<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Further details of the activities will be provided in the next issue of The Anglican.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>First Published in THE ANGLICAN December, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands will begin in 2020 a year of activities to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its independence from state control in 1870 when it was disestablished.&nbsp; The Church did not ask to be disestablished; this decision was imposed by the Government.&nbsp; Why Are We Celebrating? By separating the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":11956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19211,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19210\/revisions\/19211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}