Tobago’s Chief Secretary Reminds Leaders that the Church is Still Relevant Today
The current Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly the Honorable Mr. Farley Chavez Augustine recently reminded Adventist leaders and young people that the Adventist Church is still relevant today.
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The current Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly the Honorable Mr. Farley Chavez Augustine recently reminded Adventist leaders and young people that the Adventist Church is still relevant today. The timely reminder was given in the presence of more than 140 Adventist leaders gathered at the Scarborough Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tobago, during the inaugural Quadrennial Session of the Tobago Conference on Nov. 20, 2023.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church is still relevant,” said The Honorable Augustine. “The role that the church plays is still very relevant. We have lives to save; young people to train; women to take care of; families to breach the gap for, and an island to keep praying for. The role of the church is even more relevant today.”
Augustine, who grew up in the Adventist Church, attributed his leadership skills and development to the church where he was groomed and trained. "When I became an AY Leader at the age of nine, people were surprised that the church would something like this. When entered secondary school teachers wondered where I got my leadership skills from. I had to tell them that there is a little church called Speyside Seventh day Adventist Church for which I credit the skills I have."
"The role that the church played in my upbringing is still relevant today,' he said. " We still have lives to be saved, we still have families to breach the gap for, we have an island to keep praying for. The role of the church is still very relevant today."
Numerous key figures graced the commencement of the session, among them President Vishnu Persad from the Tobago conference; Dr. Eli Henry, President of the Inter-American Division; The Honorable Mr. Farley Chavez Augustine, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly; Senator Lawrence Hislop; and Dr. Kern Tobias, President of the Caribbean Union Conference. Image credit: CARU Media.
Also present was young Adventist government senator Lawrence Hislop from the Sandy River Seventh day Adventist church, and Tobagonian Dr. Kern Tobias, President of the Caribbean Union Conference who applauded the young men for their leadership service to the church.
Twenty years ago, at the formation of the Tobago Mission, the Honorable leader was a delegate to the session representing his local church. “To see that twenty years after we are here celebrating the transition to Conference, I think we should congratulate all those who had a role to play in moving the church forward."
The Honorable Mr. Farley Chavez Augustine is a very Down-to-earth Christian leader. At age of nine he was elected as Youth leader of his local Speyside Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tobago and then, at the age of seventeen he was appointed as a church elder. By the age of twenty-five was the first elder of his church.
He led several successful ministries of the church and shared that he never refused to serve the church in any capacity. “All my busy life in public service, I carried on with God’s work,” he emphasized. He still currently participates in his the SpeySide Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The opening session was accompanied by music performed by students from the John Roberts Memorial SDA Primary School in Glamorgan, Tobago. Image by CARU Media.
A native of Tobago, he is a firm believer in community. He worked as a communications officer at the then Division of Education, Youth Affairs, and Sport, for the government before starting his career as an educator at his community Speyside High School. He now leads a vibrant and youthful Administration that is on a mission to make Tobago “the greatest little island in the world” He is devoted to his wife, Takyana, and enjoys traveling and baking in his leisure time.