The Leadership Team Is Installed in the Tobago SDA Mission
Administrators from the Caribbean Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Tobago Adventist constituency paused on Sabbath, August 27, 2022, for the installation of administrators, directors and executive committee members at the Tobago Mission of Seventh-day Adventists.
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Administrators from the Caribbean Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Tobago Adventist constituency paused on Sabbath, August 27, 2022, for the installation of administrators, directors and executive committee members at the Tobago Mission of Seventh-day Adventists.
Fanfare, from the Tobago Seventh-day Adventist Church Marching Band, accompanied the presentation of Pastor Vishnu Persad (President), Pastor Martin Cunningham (Executive Secretary), and Sister Kerene Horsford-Nero, (Treasurer), to the constituency gathered at the Scarborough Church for the special service. Local ministerial workers, families, and community guests were also in attendance.
“Today marks a new era in the leadership of the Tobago Mission,” said Pastor Johnson Frederick, Executive Secretary of the Caribbean Union Conference. He was the Caribbean Union Conference's designee to lead the installation in the absence of Dr. Kern Tobias, President of the Caribbean Union Conference. Pastor Frederick went on to challenge the team and said, “That means progress and success. Leadership is far from a walk in the park; it is a long march through a dark valley and is complex, more so now than ever before. A successful leader is a leader with character, one who acknowledges their weaknesses and seeks to grow together with the people they lead - displaying moral transparency.” Drawing from the leadership style of Moses, he encouraged the leadership team to spend time consulting with the ultimate leader for all aspects of their leadership journey and to take everything to the Lord.
Pastor Bertie Henry, Treasurer of the Caribbean Union Conference, encouraged leaders to continue to recognize and operate within the remit of the purpose of the church. He added that by so doing, the church should reach unprecedented heights, many would come to praise God, and all would recognize that something new is happening in Tobago.
During his response, Pastor Vishnu Persad expressed thanks to God and to Pastor Toney Mapp who served the Tobago Mission, as president, for eleven years (2011-2022). “Thank you for being faithful to the very end. Thank you for being a mentor to a young president who is still trying to find out what happened at the Caribbean Union Conference Session," said Pastor Persad; he was elected to serve as president in July 2022, and began his tenure of service as the youngest president of the Tobago Mission.
The administrators and departmental directors who will serve the Tobago Mission of Seventh-day Adventists are:
- Pastor Vishnu Persad: President and Prayer Coordinator
- Pastor Martin Cunningham: Executive Secretary and Community Services Director
- Sister Kerene Horsford-Nero: Treasurer and Director of Stewardship, Trust Services, Health and Safety
- Pastor Paul McKenzie: Assistant to the President for Evangelism and Director of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries
- Pastor Richard Frederick: Publishing and Health Ministries Director
- Pastor Lowell Ottley: Ministerial Secretary and Family Ministries Director
- Sister Annette Lewis: Director of Youth & Adolescent Ministries, Chaplaincy and Communication
- Brother Wilfred Desvignes: Field Secretary and Director of ADRA, Men’s Ministries, Children’s Ministries, and Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL)
- Sister Jamila Nicholls: Director of Women’s Ministries, Education, and Human Resource
The Tobago Mission was organized in 2004 and, today boasts a membership of about 8,660. The leadership team has supervisory responsibilities for 32 congregations and, under God, will inspire the Adventist constituency to remain faithful.