Dear Editor,
Over the past decade I have been watching the steady proliferation of churches throughout The Bahamas. This is particularly evident in the capital of Nassau, the island suffering most from social unrest, violence, poverty and poor educational development.
While I find no issues with the increases made within the religious community, I must, however, admonish them to do more within their immediate communities. After all, The Bahamas was founded on Christian principles.
Based on my current observation, churches nowadays seem to be larger-than-life edifices used solely for Sunday worship and closed throughout the week, as if the Sabbath was the only day for worship.
These days, you can't seem to travel two blocks within an inner city and not observe a massive church or the groundbreaking of one in the making. Think about this for a second: All churches contain a cross section of the community with a plethora of qualifications and skillsets inter alia (teachers, nurses, doctors, tradesman, business owners and accountants). Why not use this massive resource pool to assist in providing a much-needed assistance throughout the immediate communities, a few days of the week?
Consider this: An afterschool program for three hours a day (one member per hour) could provide an invaluable resource to help already struggling communities battling the grips of crime, poverty and poor education levels. Churches can, need and must do more to assist. After all, was it not Jesus who entered the temple of sinners to teach the gospel? Why not the church? A perfect example of how a church could assist a community would be the Great Commission Ministries lead by Bishop Walter Hanchell. This church, in my view, epitomizes community assistance, based on its ongoing commitment and service to helping those in need. Every opportunity I get, I do my best to assist this organization, because they truly make a difference not only in Christian ministry, but in the development of the community as well.
Imagine if 50 percent of the churches within The Bahamas dedicated their time, efforts and bountiful resources (i.e., the congregations) to mirror the efforts of Great Commission Ministries, the country would see immediate changes overnight. Regardless of affiliation, both political and religious, we all can agree that the country must take immediate steps to deviate from its current trajectory, and who better to lead the charge than the church?
With this, I send a clarion call to all churches and their many members to initiate much-needed afterschool and adult development seminars using their knowledgeable and skilled congregants to aid in the development of our struggling but resilient Bahamaland.
This, I believe, would create a dual benefit by allowing churches the opportunity to assist more in nation building while helping fulfill their primary goal of advancing the word of God to all they encounter.

- Clifford Williams

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