Presiding over the rededication of a church originally built out of limestone by liberated African slaves, Anglican Archbishop Drexel W. Gomez on Sunday said that true Christianity must be reflected in individuals’ lifestyles.
At the new St. Ambrose Church formerly known as the Trinity Church, built between 1832 and 1835 in Carmichael Village, the archbishop told parishioners, “You have to help members understand that you can’t serve God with your lips and serve the devil with your lives.”
The church, that now brings the total number of local Anglican parishes to 18, also provided a venue for the newly-liberated slaves’ education, and also as a place of moral instruction.
Remains of the old church walls were integrated into the new modernized structure – an initiative spearheaded by its founding priest, Father Colin Saunders.
Worship must have an impact on the quality of our living, Archbishop Gomez said, noting that in the church there was still a lot of infidelity and sexual immorality, which many appeared to condone.
If people don’t have a sense of God in their lives, then they are only breathing “hot air” when they go to church, he said.
“The worshipper cannot be the centre. God is the subject and the object of our worship. We go to church to make an offering unto God οΎ– God deepens our fellowship, but don’t approach worship to get anything,” he ehhorted.
True worship comes in the form of submitting all of one’s nature to God in the purifying of our imaginations to His love, the church leader went on. “God draws us and takes the initiative to draw us into Himself.”
On church attendance, Archbishop Gomez said that people’s encounter with God should not be an accident, but intentional.
“Look at the way you worship. Is God real for you? Do you follow His will and His wish?” he asked, before advising, “He waits for us to respond to Him in spirit and in truth.”
Vanessa Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
