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History and Ministry
From the Archdiocese’s website:
“In the early 1950’s Cecil Garnet Springer, at the age of twenty-six, travelled to Ethiopia to request the establishment of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Trinidad and Tobago. He was part of the Garvey movement, a black-consciousness movement that was seeking spiritual enlightenment. […] When he arrived in Ethiopia in August 1952, he managed by his wits and determination to meet the Patriarch Abuna Basilios and was able to make an appointment to see His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie. He presented his case to the Emperor, explaining that we (the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and by extension the Caribbean) were children of slaves, living under colonialism and was seeking from Ethiopia spiritual freedom. We wish to worship our God through the spectacles of Ethiopia, he said, we do not wish to continue under the spiritual slavery of our colonial masters. […]
Finally, he was able to secure two Missionaries: one from the Church, Memher GebreYesus Meshesha and one a government functionary, Ato Abera Jembere. They left Ethiopia in October 1952 and arrived in Trinidad on December 16th 1952. […] After six months, Memher Gebre Yesus Meshesha received permission to begin baptisms and the first members were baptized in June 1953 and services began being held.
After seven years, in 1959, Acting Patriarch His Holiness Abuna Theophilos came to visit the young church in the West. […] On arriving in Trinidad and Tobago, Abuna Theophilos ordained the first local clergymen, two (2) priests and nine (9) deacons, to serve the young and growing church. Kes Gebre Yesus Turner, a native of Jamaica, was ordained priest for Trinidad and Kes Henry Blake for Tobago. Cecil Garnet Springer was ordained at this time as a deacon. […]
With regard to membership, our condition is like running water. In Trinidad every three months we baptize twenty, thirty or forty members. In many cases they do not continue. […] At the present time, the Headquarters of the Archdiocese in Trinidad and Tobago is served by nine (9) local priests and twelve (12) deacons. Two Ethiopian priests together with the Archbishop serve in the archdiocese.”
Networking
» Follow EOTC Archdiocese of the Caribbean and Latin America on Facebook
» Visit Trinidad & Tobago “Ethiopian Orthodox” YouTube channel
» Visit EOTC Archdiocese of Caribbean & Latin America’s website
Video
published in 2014:
2016: