Former chaplain to Queen opens 11th Diaspora Conference

THE 11th staging of the Jamaica Diaspora Conference will begin in Montego Bay on Sunday with a church service, led by a celebrated member of the Jamaican Diaspora and daughter of the western city whose own journey has carried her from St James to one of the most prominent positions in the global Anglican church.

The Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, bishop of Dover and Canterbury — who is the first black female in Europe to be appointed a bishop in the Church of England — will deliver the sermon at the Calvary Baptist Church on Corinaldi Avenue in the western resort town.

The service will mark the start of the biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, which runs from June 14 to 18 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre under the theme ‘Diaspora Partnerships: Rebuilding a More Resilient Jamaica’.

For Hudson-Wilkin, a guest of The Jamaica National Group at the conference, the moment is both personal and symbolic — “a real privilege and a deep honour” in her own words — to have been invited to deliver the sermon in the place her journey began.

Her message, she said, will centre on the need for Jamaicans at home and abroad to work collaboratively “to build a more resilient Jamaica”. Drawing inspiration from Deuteronomy 8:1-10 and 16-18, and St Matthew 6:25-34, she says these passages speak to collective gratitude, courage and faith.

A release from The Jamaica National Group said Hudson-Wilkin’s return to Montego Bay for the church service is expected to add a deeply reflective tone to the start of the conference, bringing together themes of faith, service and national responsibility. Her central message aligns closely with the focus of the conference, which is seeking to deepen collaboration between Jamaica and its global diaspora to strengthen the country’s resilience and catalyse its development.

Institutions of faith have a vital role to play in helping Jamaica to strengthen resilience, she pointed out, underscoring that faith “directs our focus to positively seek the best for others as we seek for ourselves.” She added that building resilience must include remembering God in times of material success and, in the same breath, advocacy for the vulnerable.

Long recognised as a trailblazer of several firsts, Hudson-Wilkin has served in several historic public roles in her sojourn with the Church of England. She is also the first black woman to serve as chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II and the first female chaplain to the speaker of the House of Commons.

For her, success of the 11th conference would be marked not only by the ideas that will emerge from the dialogue, but through the achievement of “renewed commitment and more selflessness” among Jamaicans, home and abroad, who are prepared to make a difference.

“Be the change you want to see!” she charged.