In launching his new book detailing the Presbyterian Church’s role in T&T’s post-colonial era, Rev Winston B Gopaul called on disciples to ensure that the church does not become a club for elites.
Gopaul, who has served the church since 1969, launched the paperback titled The Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago in the Post-Colonial Period at the St Andrew’s Theological College in San Fernando, yesterday.
The author of the book, Biblical Sermons from a Presbyterian Pulpit, his perspective as an active member of the church details most of the developments since his July 1969 ordination and attempts to show how the church responded to the many challenges and crises it has faced since 1968.
At the launch, he said the book was his effort to provide information to members, leaders and those interested, and to put on record some of the issues which engaged the church.
Minded that many of the leaders he served with are aging and a new generation taking over, he said the church must continue to be reflective of Jesus Christ.
“We must ensure that the church never becomes an exclusive club for the few, based on social status, educational standing, financial resources or highly placed positions of respect.
“Instead, the church must always be an inclusive community, reflecting the mind and the spirit of Christ our Lord, rejecting prejudice, greed, exploitation of the vulnerable, demonising and exclusion of people who may not always share our views, discrimination of any kind and devaluation of human dignity and human life. We must all work together to make the church a faithful servant of Christ our Lord,” Gopaul said.