His Lordship Reverend Dr. John Walder
Dunlop Holder is the new Archbishop of the Province of the
West Indies.
Dr. Holder's election as Archbishop took place at Guyana's
new Convention Hall in Georgetown on 10th December, 2009
during a meeting of the Provincial Synod of the Church of
the Province of the West Indies.
Archbishop Holder, who originated from Bath Village, St
John, Barbados, said he never dreamt of reaching such
heights.
"Let's say if ten years ago someone had said to me that you
know in ten years you would be Archbishop of the West
Indies, I would have told them they were dreaming, but such
is life.
Dr. Holder got the nod over Bishop Alfred Reid of Jamaica.
Dr. Holder attended St. John's Elementary Mixed School
between 1953 and 1958; and later graduated from the Modern
High School. Archbishop Holder later trained for the
ordained ministry at Codrington College, Barbados and
continued his studies at the University of the South, USA.
He completed a PhD at King's College London in 1984. His
specialties are in Old Testament hermeneutics and the
writings of Second Temple Judaism.
Archbishop Holder previously held the title of Bishop of
Barbados, since 2000 after taking up the post from Bishop
Dr. Rufus Brome who retired in January, 2000. Archbishop Dr.
John Holder was the thirteenth Bishop of Barbados.
The Church in the Province of the West Indies is a member
province in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church
comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West
Indies area.
The West Indies became a self-governing province in 1883
because of the Church of England missions in territories
that became British colonies. It is made up of two mainland
dioceses and six island dioceses, including Barbados,
Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern
Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward
Islands.