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Reverend André Symmonds now bishop designate

by Barbados Today Traffic
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Scores of well-wishers in Quebec, Canada and Barbados witnessed the consecration of Reverend André Symmonds, senior pastor of Calvary Temple Community Church (CTCC), in Groves, St. Philip, to the position of bishop and conferment of the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in a virtual ceremony beamed from CTCC on Sunday, December 6, 2020.

Dr David Harewood, presiding bishop and chairman of the College of Bishops at Bethel Life International Fellowship (BLIF) in Austin, Quebec, Canada, lauded Rev. Symmonds as a loyal and exemplary church and pastoral leader who has led with distinction.

“Having been led of the Holy Spirit, we do find pastor Symmonds to be of good behaviour, an obedient servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful to the sacred scriptures of truth and upon completion of training, he will be fit for acceptance into this Most Holy College of Bishops.

“Be it known that we are therefore highly honoured to undertake the task of formal preparation for the sacred service of consecration,” recounts Dr Harewood, a Barbadian who urged members of his fellowship and CTCC to lift up Rev. Symmonds in their prayers.

During the consecration, the bishop designate was awarded the Doctor of Divinity by The College of Bishops, BLIF.   

Speaking on his elevation, Rev. Symmonds, who has been senior pastor of CTCC since September 30, 2018, described the conferment as an honour and a very humbling experience.   

“The preferment to the office of bishop is something that I have never envisioned. I have thought about, prayed over and sought after many things in ministry, but the office of bishop was never one. It is most humbling!

“The Doctor of Divinity was going to be my next academic qualification. I have been pursuing it for years. After my own faults and failings, I shelved it. I never thought that I could complete it or achieve it again. But God! The songwriter declared, ‘Even when we don’t see Him, He’s still working!’ This is all God and none of me.”

Rev. Symmonds, a former senior pastor of the People’s Cathedral Church and a former principal of the West Indies School of Theology’s satellite campus in Barbados, is the holder of a Master’s degree in Ministry and Theology from Faith Theological Seminary and Christian College, Tampa, Florida, USA, conferred in 2015 and a Master’s degree in Organisational Leadership – summa cum laude, Oxford Graduate School, Tennessee, USA awarded in 2009.

Other qualifications include the Bachelor of Theology degree magna cum laude from Northpoint Bible College, Haverhill, Massachusetts (Formerly Zion Bible College, Barrington, Rhode Island USA) awarded in 2000.

Rev. Symmonds is the author owf the New York Times accredited devotional book, Just a Minute Bible Booster and radio host of two weekday programmes: The Bethel Life International Fellowship and Just A Minute Bible Booster.   

Officiants of the event from BLIF included Apostle Dr Melveeta Grooms Harewood, co-chairman and general secretary, and from Barbados, Dr George Callender, chairman. Specially invited guests from BLIF included Apostle Dr Cassandra R. Smith, bishop of protocol and from Barbados, Dr Nigel Taylor, president of the
Barbados Evangelical Association. (PR)

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