Religion in the Turks and Caicos Islands

The majority of the population of the Turks and Caicos Islands are Christian. The Religious groups were; Protestant, 72.8% (Baptists 35.8%, Church of God 11.7%, Roman Catholics11.4%, Anglicans 10%, Methodists 9.3%, Seventh-Day Adventists 6%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.8% and Other 14% [1]

History

Christianity

Baptist

The Baptist denomination was organized in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1835 with its first church located in Grand Turk.[2] Today the Baptist churches operate under the guidance of the Turks and Caicos Islands Baptist Union.

Anglicanism

The Turks and Caicos Islands belong to the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands within the Church in the Province of the West Indies. They have many natives who practice this religion and influence many-a-tourists.

Latter-Day Saints

As of January 2009, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) were officially established in the islands. However, the islands are under the jurisdiction of the New Providence, Bahamas District. Until August 2006, the district was presided over by mission president of the Florida Ft Lauderdale Mission. After August 2006, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos were reassigned to the Jamaica Kingston Mission.

Roman Catholicism

Prior to 1984, Turks and Caicos Islands was a part of Archdiocese of Nassau in the Bahamas. In 1984, it became a mission sui iuris (Independent Mission), the first Ecclesiastical Superior being Archbishop Lawrence Aloysius Burke. During that time the islands were served by a number of priests who stayed anywhere from a few months to a year and a half.

In the three years prior to 1998 the islands were served by a priest who came for some eight months of the year. The remaining six months of those last three years there was no priest present on the islands.

July 1998, at the request of the Holy See, the Archbishop of Newark provided two priests to serve on a full-time basis the Catholic community of the Turks and Caicos Islands. In the Fall of 1998 the Archbishop of Newark, Theodore McCarrick, assumed responsibility as Ecclesiastical Superior of the Mission Sui Iuris of Turks and Caicos Islands. On 9 October 2001 The Most Reverend John J. Myers succeeded Cardinal McCarrick as Archbishop and as Ecclesiastical Superior. Presently serving the Mission is the Reverend Monsignor Ronald J. Rozniak, the Archbishop's Vicar General for the mission, and two parochial priests.

Islam

There are about 51 Muslims living in Turks and Caicos Islands.[3]

Judaism

There is a Jewish Chabad with a rabbi and an active congregation consisting of mostly expatriate Jewish communities from around the world.[4]

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Central America and Caribbean :: TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS". CIA The World Factbook.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Robert (2010). A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches. Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0521701709.
  3. ↑ "Muslims in Turks and Caicos Islands". Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  4. ↑ "Chabad of Turks & Caicos". www.jewishtci.com. Retrieved 2015-10-21.


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