Rev Roy and Dr Jane Dodman

P.O. Box 64

Stony Hill

Kingston 9

Jamaica

Email: rdodman@cwjamaica.com

May 2007

Dear Friends,

We are writing this letter as we prepare to spend a month in Britain. We will be spending two weeks in Edinburgh visiting some of our partner congregations. We will also have holiday time with family and friends in England and we have booked a week in Glencoe, when we look forward to doing some walking in that beautiful area.

Earlier this month we spent five days on the north coast of Jamaica at the biennial United Church Synod. Our friend, Henley Bernard, was inducted as the new moderator at the opening service. He will initially serve in this position for two years. Henley was the associate minister at St John’s in Hannah Town when we first arrived in Jamaica and met us at the airport. So we have known him and his family a long time.

The theme of the Synod was Holy Spirit Renew and Transform your Church. The opening worship and daily Bible studies built on this theme as we tried, individually and together, to discern how the Holy Spirit s calling us to act in these times. Norbert Stephens, whom some of you will know from when he served as a minister in Bearsden a few years ago, led the bible studies. These Bible studies were both deep and challenging. In the first he used the Jesus’ healing of the woman with an issue of blood to pose the question ‘What if?’ and in the second he centred on the story of Naaman to asked ‘Why not?’ Both sessions spoke clearly to the need for transformed and transforming leaders so that we can earnestly pray ‘Holy Spirit, renew and transform your church.’

In his report, the General Secretary, Collin Cowan, challenged each of us to live out our unity in Christ in a world scarred by crime and violence, and divided by some of the negative effects of economic globalisation. He also called on us to meet the needs of all of our members and the wider society for renewal and transformation.

Several of the Synod sessions were held in small working groups to discuss the recommendations from the central administration and the standing committees. Jane was part of the group discussing the Public Education report. Principals of United Church preparatory and high schools were invited to participate in this session. Jane was delighted that three of the principals were students on the Doctor of Education programme run within the International University of the Caribbean, and a fourth student, who works for the United Church, was the facilitator of the group discussion. We feel that these educational opportunities are making a difference not only in the lives of the students, but also on the wider church and society. Roy, as Chairperson of the United Church’s Mission, Witness and Service Committee, shared in that group discussion. There was much agonising on the future of the United Church’s two children’s homes – Mount Olivet Boys’ Home and Pringle Home for Children, which are in need of need of support for staff, building maintenance, programming and upgrades to meet government regulations.

We enjoyed uplifting and celebratory worship as well as lively and thought provoking debate during the business sessions. Marjorie Lewis led a service in recognition of the 200^th abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Marjorie will be in Scotland in June, sharing in a similar event through ACTS. Much of the debate on the floor of Synod centred on recommendations for restructuring the Church, through a decentralisation process that will concentrate on the local congregation as the focal point of the church.

On our return from Synod, we were challenged, as always, to use the momentum to continue our work in our own locations. During Synod we received the sad news that Icilda Thomas, the Grade 2 teacher at the Mel Nathan Prep School, who was only in her early 40s, had died. Icilda was also a student at our University, where she was studying for her Bachelor of Education degree. The teachers, children and parents are devastated by her death. The small staff team is a closely-knit group and as well as coping with their personal grief, the teachers have been supporting the children in their loss. All the children in the school, except the Grade 1 children have been in Icilda’s class. Icilda was an ardent Baptist and the funeral in her home church in rural St Thomas (she travelled to Kingston every day) was a moving service. We were unable to transport all the children to the funeral, so the Grade 2 children, the school choir and all the Hannah Town staff attended. The choir sang I can fly, which spoke to Icilida’s life, where she had overcome much adversity and was always seeking to be the best she could be and encouraged the children she taught to do the same.

As Jane did at Mel Nathan Prep, Roy also faced a sad loss at Salisbury Plain where brother Les, one of the kindest, gentlest Christian men you could ever meet died of colon cancer while still in his early sixties. This is a terrible loss not only for family and friends but also at the Salisbury Plain church which is a small and impoverished rural congregation where Les was so important with his care, support and visiting.

The new school building at Mannings Hill is progressing well, and at the site meeting on May 30^th it was reported that it should be handed over to the community and school board in early August so that the school can open for students in September.

Roy is also acting as interim minister at the Castleton charge, which is further from Kingston and has four deep rural congregations. Due to the financial stresses in the United Church, Castleton are unable to call their own minister and we are in the middle of delicate negotiations to look about a realignment with Shortwood where Roy used to be the minister. To make this difficult process even more delicate, the minister of Shortwood, Dave Hazle (who studied in Edinburgh) has accepted a call to serve in the largest church in Grand Cayman. We add this, as we believe that British congregations may understand something of the stresses involved in these kinds of issues!

We are looking forward to seeing many of you in June. Thank you for your continuing support and prayers for us.

Best wishes,

Jane and Roy