The Church in the Province of the West Indies covers a Geographical Area: 276,910 Sq. Km and Population: 5,320,600. In this region 770000 Anglicans come from the dioceses of Bahamas & the Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands.

The Church in the Province of the West Indies is one of 38 member provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.^[1] The church comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West Indies area. The present position of Archbishop and Primate of the West Indies is held by John Holder. Drexel Gomez was the previous primate until 2009, and has retired. The church is also part of the Global South.



The Anglican Church came to the West Indies with the original British settlers during the 17th century. The clergy came as chaplains to governors, tutors to the families of wealthy planters or merchants and rectors of parishes. They were not under any ecclesiastical authority. The bishop of London ordained and licensed them but had no power to appoint or remove them. A significant change came in 1824 with the creation of the diocese of Jamaica (which included the Bahamas and the settlement in the Bay of Honduras) and the diocese of Barbados (which included the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands, Tobago, Trinidad and Guyana). Later in the 19th century, six other dioceses were created to constitute the present eight. The Province of the West Indies was formally established in 1883. Venezuela, formerly part of the diocese of Trinidad, became a separate diocese in 1975 and separated from the province in 1980.



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 Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands. Great emphasis is being placed on training personnel for an indigenous ministry. The island locations and scattered settlements make pastoral care difficult and costly.