The President of the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone, the Rt Rev Arnold Temple, has spent five days visiting the Island, developing the twinning relationship with the local Methodist Church.  The twinning was founded last year in Freetown during a trip by a group from the Island.

During his time here, he preached at an all-Island service at Peel, and visited informal groups at churches in Glen Maye, Port Erin, Promenade Douglas, and Laxey, stressing the need for the church to be active and visible in the community around it.  This is certainly the case in Sierra Leone, where the church runs over 120 schools, as well as hospitals and clinics.  The church is also engaged in the political process:  “We are gearing up to monitoring the forthcoming elections in November, to help ensure they are fair and free from intimidation”, explained Arnold.

He also visited Douglas harbour to inspect and consecrate the government’s fisheries patrol vessel ‘Panther’, to be re-named ‘Isle of Man’ and donated to the Sierra Leone government. 

Paul Craine, Chairman of the Methodist Church’s Twinning Group (‘Skimmee Lannoonnaghey’ in Manx), said, “Arnold’s visit here has allowed us to explore practical ideas of how we can deepen the bond between us;  possible exchange visits, learning about and praying for each other, and financial support – it’s a two-way process.”