PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:
15 September 2016
Contact:
Patricia Ebanks
Tel: (345) 938-2209
E-mail address:
jointcommitteeCMS.CICSDA@gmail.com
Churches
Unite in Signalling Commitment to Family Values
Following
the mass rally of church and community members last Sunday (11
September),
organizers
thanked those who turned out and said their presence signalled that
the church was not prepared to abandon the biblical values that have
been, in their view, the “bedrock of these Islands.”
An important achievement of the rally, said Bishop
Nicholas Sykes, immediate
past chair of the Cayman Ministers’ Association (CMA) and a member
of the initiative’s Joint Planning Committee, “is
that for the first time the churches have united in taking a public
stand and have “succeeded in starting a serious public conversation
around the themes of law and values, how law can be corrupted, and
from where values are derived.”
In
line with that, in his remarks following the rally, Joint
Planning Committee Chair, Pastor Shion O’Connor, said a
significant achievement was the message that it sent to Government
and the community that the church was committed to a position of
biblical family values. It was encouraging, he said, to hear the
Government’s stated position at the rally despite the concerns that
had been raised by last month’s decision by the Immigration Appeals
Tribunal.
Pastor
Alson Ebanks, senior pastor of the Church of God Chapel, also
identified the interplay between law and values in his presentation.
The values espoused in our society, he said, determine “what laws
our legislators make, how our courts interpret those laws, and how
you and I determine what is right or wrong for us ethically and
morally.”
And those values are the foundation of a strong society:
“In
a nutshell, we (the leaders and the people) determine how strong the
overall structure of a nation is by how strong the foundation is—and
values form that foundation.
To
strengthen these foundations, it will take us all working together.”
He called upon all Christians to make “an all-out commitment to
follow the Bible as the authoritative source of those values that
contribute to the emotional, physical, spiritual and social
well-being of individuals and nations.”
To
set the stage for what is hoped to be a continuing public
conversation about values and the law, three keynote speakers, Pastor
Alson Ebanks, senior pastor of the Church of God Chapel, Walkers
Road; Dr. Brendan Bain, public health specialist; and constitutional
law specialist Mr. David Gibbs III presented to a capacity crowd at
the Lions Centre. They focused on the broad topics of family values
and the Christian ethic and the law. Making a brief presentation at
the end of the rally along similar lines was Ms Philippa Davies,
advocacy officer of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society. The
tone for the evening’s agenda was set by brief addresses by Pastor
O’Connor as well as Pastor Torrance Bobb, who is the chair of the
CMA and a member of the Joint Planning Committee.
Speaking
following the rally on behalf of the Joint Planning Committee, Pastor
O’Connor, President of the Cayman Islands Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists, said: “I thank the thousands of Caymanians and
residents of these islands who turned out in impressive numbers at
the Lions Centre—and countless others who watched online—for
their support and commitment to the cause of preserving biblical
family values in the interest of our current and future generations.”
The
unity of the churches in this initiative was symbolised throughout
the evening by the various musical presentations.
The opening praise and worship segment was led by the First Baptist
Choir under the baton of Pastor David Jorge. That interdenominational
tone continued throughout, with the Church of God Children’s Choir,
spoken work and rap artistes Pauze
Entertainment
from the Baptist church, saxophonist Junior Hinds, the Adventist
church’s Iserve
youth group’s chorale, and junior and senior mass choirs composed
of members from the various churches.
One highlight of
the evening was Attorney Gibbs’ presentation in which he counselled
the churches to set out a statement of faith clearly defining their
position on biblical beliefs with respect to marriage, morality and
human sexuality. He said that church and other leaders must hold
themselves accountable to these standards.
Dr. Bain
focused largely on positive parenting values, urging parents not to
neglect their responsibilities to teach wholesome values to their
children. He warned against promoting pleasure and fun of all kinds
outside of the boundaries of a proper set of values.
The
public health specialist warned, also, against the dangers of early
sexual initiation and promiscuity, with their links to sexually
transmitted diseases and certain cancers.
Meanwhile,
in his presentation, Pastor Ebanks appealed to everyone to avoid a
narrow view of the issues impacting the family and society:
“[This]
very public agenda to re-define marriage, family and sexual morality
[reflects] but one of the dangers facing the Caymanian family.
Another very real danger is that our children are targets for the sex
trade, pedophilia and child abuse. We must stand as one people and
speak with one voice against all these attacks on the family. And we
must do it now—because when it comes to our children, the future is
now!” he said, referencing the slogan for the rally – “The
future Is Now: Preserving Values for a Better Tomorrow.”
Pastor
Alson Ebanks traced these threats to family and society to the
Christian notion of the “fall” of man and the emergence of sin.
He spoke of its impact on humanity, and stressed the Christian duty
to extend love and compassion to everyone—all humanity— who all
accordingly suffer from the ill-effects of the original sin.
“To
model biblical family values,” Pastor Ebanks said, “means that we
must show loving compassion to those who struggle in every area of
their lives, including persons who are conflicted about their sexual
identity and those who struggle to control their sexual desires and
fail to live up to God’s moral standards.”
Pastor
Ebanks continued: “Compassion does not condemn… but compassion
provides practical solutions,” identifying some of the areas of
need as “single parent families, abused spouses, neglected
children, victims of sexual abuse and those in bondage to sexual
sins.”
Shortly
before the close of the rally, Ms Davies spoke briefly about
initiatives of organizations such as hers in Jamaica in countering
international efforts, including from US President Barak Obama and
the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, to undermine laws and policies
protecting the family in that country. Ms Davies called upon the
Cayman society to stand firm on God’s design for marriage, sex, and
the family, and to align themselves with other regional agencies
working to curb international influences.
She
said that policies that are being changed in Jamaica due to
incursions from international forces have included school’s sex
education curriculum impacting values relating to sexuality.
Reflecting
a concern to avoid similar occurrences here in Cayman, Pastor
O’Connor said he was pleased about the public expression of
commitment of both the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition to
fight any international pressure to change Cayman Islands’ laws
with respect to marriage. “We thank both leaders for their public
stand and commitment to the values of the people of these islands,”
he said.
In
their guest presentations,
Premier
Alden McLaughlin and the Leader of the Opposition Mckeeva Bush both
affirmed that, from the perspective of their political parties,
marriage between a man and a woman would continue to be legally and
constitutionally supported. The Premier said that he had been assured
by Governor Helen Kilpatrick that the UK would not pressure for
change.
The
Premier nevertheless stressed an equal “obligation under the law
and the constitution … to ensure that all people, but especially
any minority group, regardless of differences, receive fair treatment
and respect under the law and the constitution of our Islands.”
Commenting,
Pastor O’Connor said that the community in general and the church
in particular are fully committed to the Christian exhortation of
“loving our neighbours as ourselves,” regardless of their
religious, philosophical or identified sexual orientations.
“An
important aspect of our rally was to communicate to all that we are
all sinners and that Christ died that we should all have redemption,”
Pastor O’Connor said.
Speaking
following the rally, Pastor Bobb similarly underscored the importance
of the guidance afforded by Christian teachings: “We are convinced
that as we embrace the teachings of scripture as the final authority
in matters of spirituality, morality and conduct, that we will
individually and collectively have a better tomorrow.”