Washington, DC (BWA):

Members of theBaptist clergy who have Caribbean heritage have formed an association. The new group - Caribbean Diaspora Baptist Clergy Association (CDBCA) - was officially launched last month during a church service held at Grace Baptist Chapel in the Bronx, New York.

The idea to form the Caribbean Baptist group was first mooted in 1993 when the Rev Dr Roy Henry, who was president of the Jamaica Baptist Union, met with a group of Caribbean Baptists at Bronx Baptist Church, which was founded by Jamaican Samuel Simpson in the 1960s.

Evangelising both worlds

After a mission conference in the Jamaican north-coast town of Ocho Rios in 2003, the Jamaica Baptist Union Mission Agency stated its intention "to participate in mission to Caribbean people in general and to Jamaicans, in particular, who are in the diaspora (for example, United Kingdom, United States and Canada)".

CDBCA, which was incorporated in 2006, signed a partnership agreement with the JBU in April 2007 at Grace Baptist Chapel in the Bronx to aid in "facilitating mission in both regions of the world", meaning the Caribbean and North America.