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Jamaica Baptist Union Youth Department |

Conversations With the President

Part 2

Contributed by Aneika White

Rev. Norva Rodney is the pastor for

the Kitson Town Circuit of Baptist Churches. He has been elected and installed as the president of the Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU). The IMPACT team caught up with him for a discussion. In part 2, we spoke to him about his plans for the JBU, and how can we the youth be a part of it.. Read it below.

What are your plans for the Union?

The plans I have for the Union are consistent with the shared vision which we as God’s people have been discerning and working through together. As per convention, we sought to unpack aspects of this plan during our recently concluded Assembly.

Our intentions are captured in the decadal theme, 2020-2030, “Keeping Faith with the Word in an Ever-changing World”. You will agree with me that several things are implied in this theme, inclusive of a repositioning of the Word of God to the centre of our missional understanding and spiritual commitments. Also, the recovenanting among ourselves to lives of confidence in and obedience to the Word in these

rapidly changing times.

During the first two years of this decade, we intend as a denomination, to give expression to the decadal theme by reaffirming our identity in Christ. We are doing so as a part of our thrust to lead the way in rediscovering the difference that Christ’s claims upon our lives make in an era of individualism, identity confusion and moral relativism.

How can the Youth be a part of the plans and are there ways in which the youth can become more involved in reaching the wider congregation?

We value the role and function of

the youth department in the life and witness of our beloved Union and celebrate your interest in this regard. Having said that though, we see signs which communicate a need for members of the youth department to have a proper understanding of how the JBU organizes in pursuit of God’s mission and in the process, faithfully carries out the mandate of Jesus Christ.

Provision is made for youth involvement from the very outset. The JBU Steering Committee is the committee tasked with the responsibility of visioning, discerning, interpreting and chartering the mission of God through the church. They do so in ways which are consistent with the real and perceived needs of the times. The Youth Department, just like the Women’s Federation and the Brotherhood, has a seat on the Steering Committee. Neither the Department nor the Union is helped when the youth representative’s chair is consistently unoccupied when the discussions and deliberations are carried out, with no input by the department at scheduled

meetings. That is something which must be corrected and so I am using this opportunity to urge the youth leadership to ensure effective representation at the Steering Committee meetings.

There are many ways in which youth can continue to be involved in reaching the wider