ST. AGNES EPISCOPAL CHRUCH
OVERTOWN, MIAMI

7th August 2005

I am honoured once more to be with you this morning in Miami.  This is a double honour since this is the official service to mark our country’s 32nd anniversary of Independence and also the occasion of a visit from the Anglican Church of St. Agnes in Nassau from which church this church sprang in the late nineteenth century.  We have a goodly heritage.  St. Agnes in Nassau is celebrating 160 years of work.

I wish to bring greetings to you on behalf of the Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont, the Prime Minister the Rt. Honourable Perry Christie and the Government and people of The Bahamas to our brothers and sisters and friends here in south Florida.  You know the connections with this country are very close, and with this church they are especially close.  We thank you all for the work that is being done in this part of the vineyard to improve the life of  this state, this country and the welfare of Bahamians and their descendants who are in Florida.

I wish also at this time to express my personal condolences to the Florida community and to the widow of the late Art Teele, a Bahamian woman the former Stephanie Kerr of West End, Grand Bahama.  I issued a statement shortly after his untimely passing on behalf of the Government but I thought that it was appropriate to say so personally in the context of this service this morning.  I repeat the sentiment that I expressed in the statement that Art was a friend of The Bahamas and of Bahamians.  When I first became Minister, Mr. Teele was one of the leaders in this community who sought to galvanize the Bahamians and their descendants in this area to assist in the work of the Ministry.  He was also instrumental in   making necessary introductions to our then new Consul General.  We shall sorely miss him.  We pray for his widow and family.

The Bahamas is moving along quite nicely.  In it 32 years, there is proud spirit of freedom and progress.  Throughout the country, there is a great deal of pride in being Bahamian.  The country is also doing well economically. There are several projects which are on the drawing board for the future and several which are underway.  All of these underscore the progress that the country has made.

As The Bahamas progresses, you will also know that much of that economic progress is shared with the South Florida area.  You have only to visit your airports today and see the scores of Bahamians lining up with their packages bought from South Florida businesses.  That is only part of the story, because the businesses in The Bahamas have many links of longstanding with Bahamian businessmen.  That is why we must all be committed to hassle free travel between the two countries.

The Bahamas is a friend of the United States, and we consider the United States to be a friend of ours.  We consider the people of both countries to be friends and allies.  I think nothing demonstrated that more than the help which this community gave to the people of The Bahamas during the trying times when two hurricanes struck the country, particularly our northern islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco last year in September, back to back.  I want to thank again the community of Florida, south Florida in particular for all the help and assistance they gave during that time.

Once again, I am pleased to be back in St. Agnes.  I want to thank Fr Barry for his help in organizing this.  I thank you the congregation of St. Agnes for hosting this service.  I thank Fr. Patrick Johnson of St. Agnes for taking time out of his busy schedule to come here along with the members of St. Agnes Nassau. I thank the Consul General Alma Adams and her staff for all the help she has given in organizing this event.

I pray that All Mighty God will continue to bless the United States of America and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and all of our people.
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