Thirty delegates representing the Council for World Mission (CWM) Caribbean member churches gathered in Mandeville, Jamaica, from 25-28 October for the CWM Caribbean Regional Assembly.
Convened under the theme, “Re-visioning Mission as Prophetic Witness: Caribbean Churches for Life, Justice, and Transformation,” the assembly provided a sacred space for theological reflection, open dialogue, contextual analysis, and collective discernment, culminating in a Caribbean Regional Action Plan for solidarity, advocacy, and transformative action.
Called to be prophetic witnesses
In his opening address, CWM General Secretary Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum urged member churches to renew their prophetic witness amid economic injustice, climate vulnerability, and migration.
Keum emphasised that re-visioning mission requires a return to the radical and transformative message of Jesus Christ.
In her welcome address, United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (UCJCI) General Secretary Rose Wedderburn also challenged delegates to move beyond familiar patterns of ministry to defend life, pursue justice, and transform communities.
Confronting Caribbean realities
Delivering the keynote address, “Caribbean Churches as Prophetic Communities of Life, Justice, and Transformation,” Rev. Izett Samá Hernández, president of the General Council of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, employed the See–Judge–Act methodology to challenge the region’s churches to embody prophetic witness through inclusion, practical solidarity, and collective resistance to injustice.
Drawing on Isaiah 43 and experiences of regional solidarity with Cuba, Hernández emphasised that Christian witness cannot coexist with indifference to suffering.
A panel session, “Community Voices: Climate Vulnerability and Catastrophe,” brought the experiences of survivors of Hurricane Melissa into the assembly.
Testimonies from a grandmother, a college student, and yam farmers highlighted continuing challenges related to housing, education, livelihoods, emotional wellbeing, and equitable access to recovery assistance.
Reflecting on these lived Caribbean realities amid the interconnected challenges of climate disasters, debt, migration, and insecurity, UCJCI Moderator Rev. Dr Collin Cowan called for the purposeful use of church resources, advocacy, and collaborative action.
“We speak every Sunday; we now need to translate the talk into tangible action,” Cowan said.
CWM Jubilee 2027: liberation, restoration, and renewed mission
Looking towards CWM’s Jubilee celebrations in 2027, Keum outlined seven organisational goals, including thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness, deeper member church ownership, mission audits, truth-telling and restorative justice, youth and intergenerational leadership, renewed missional vision, and public witness to God’s justice and hope.
He encouraged Caribbean member churches to examine their partnerships, institutional practices, and missional impact, making these part of their journeys towards renewal.
From dialogue to action
A major outcome of the assembly was the development of a Caribbean Regional Action Plan, providing a shared framework for coordinated mission, advocacy, and transformation.
Through collective discernment, representatives identified six key issues requiring action by churches in the region: racism, xenophobia, and exclusion; unemployment and economic injustice; housing insecurity and landlessness; gender-based violence; climate catastrophe; and migration.
Reflecting on the significance of the gathering, Janet McConnell, CWM mission secretary for Social Justice and the Caribbean region, said, “The Caribbean Regional Assembly was indeed a sacred space for honest dialogue, courageous reflection, and challenge.”
McConnell noted that the member churches’ stories of where God is already at work, together with their responses to the groanings of communities and all creation, had strengthened the assembly’s resolve to confront the region’s life-robbing realities.
She said the gathering also affirmed a shared commitment to move beyond dialogue towards establishing a strategic CWM Caribbean movement for solidarity, advocacy, and transformative action.
The assembly concluded with renewed regional resolve to translate prophetic witness into coordinated action, strengthening the Caribbean churches’ collective commitment to life, justice, and transformation.
