Gleaner, The (Newspaper) - September 19, 1976, Kingston, Kingston ft The Sunday Gleaner. Section A. September 19. 1976.
C. Evans Bailey sees Social implications to the Gospel
Hundreds packed the Coke Methodist Church in on Wednesday September 19,1976.While many others stood outside every available space in sanctuary was taken at the induction of the Rev. C. Evans Bailey as Chairman of the Methodist Church. It was the climax of a process which in the Methodist -Synod of last year when he was first nominated. 1 Following the traditional ceremonies during which the .induction act was performed .by the Revd Claude Cadogan,(Now, 104 years old and still sharp as a whistle!). President of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas. Rev. Mr. Bailey who replaces Rev. Mr. Caleb Cousins to serve initially for five years delivered a stirring address which indicated the direction in which he would be leading the Church. Among his listeners in the vast congregation was Mr. Ephraim Alphonso came from Panama to '..attend the service. It was under the Ministry of Rev. Mr. Alphonse that the new chairman was gloriously convened. At the outset Rev. Bailey recognized the of the many well- wishers who had traveled far distances to be in attendance at the historic occasion. I am haunted by the Demons of those days when in the early 40s I mounted this very rostrum to receive I Sunday School examination and Wesley Guild Shields at the annual young people's demonstration..-.. From this very pulpit in 1957 the Rev. Mr. Hugh B. Sherlock made a prophetic utterance that one day that I would be called to follow him as Chairman. It is all very fascinating and very frightening. I feel like a frail canoe being carried irresistibly down the streams of time and blown by the wind of God to where ever he wants me ,in spite of myself.," The Revd Mr Bailey confessed.He said he was willing to serve in the Spirit of his illustrious predecessors from Thomas Coke in 1789 to Caleb Cousins in 1976.
And now we have entered into their labours.
Ours is properly described as a time of crisis marked as it is by the events of violence and the violence of events,by speed of change and the change of speed,when there is a patent confusion between the love of power and the power of love!
Going on to explain goals for the new administration. Bailey laid he hoped the day would when there.would be a of security mutually enjoyed by ministers and people related to the length of term in office.
It is confidently expected that a more realistic system will be worked out given the fact of our exodus culture and the need for stable leadership. Our Methodist people are encouraged to take' full advantage of the courses now open to effect such changes in our system as will liberate us to fullest advantage
He- said part of the Methodist heritage has been that sensitivity co social issues as reflected in its involvement in the movement for the emancipation of the slave, for. his rehabilitation and for his education. In more recent times we have witnessed the coming into being of a social program like Operation Friendship a legacy of the initiative of the Rev. Mr. Hugh Sherlock and peers. These are the positive response of our Church to the Evangelistic Imperative which we share with the rest of the Church Catholic. They remind us that there arc clear social implications to the which we are called to offer to the world. This kind of sensitivity is causing the Church to make an almost complete mental somersault as we re-think our social responsibility.....We begin to realize that the the deprived the the diseased, the criminal...all are part of of the half sub-merged continent of humanity of which we are a part. For the Church and Methodism this meant action at three levels the Synod, the personal and the congregational. Even the political Arena must be entered because we need to help cultivate a political ethos that a consistent with our Christian way of life. "It won't do Christians to say we must stand up and be counted on the matter of pornography or abortion,because that a moral and not on housing or schools because that is political "declared Rev. Mr. Bailey. He added that this could be risky but there were times when there is no alternative but to take risks.
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