"The Holy Spirit Speaks" through Canon Dr Alson Percival, rector of the two churches in the St George and St John's Parish, Nevis, on Saturday coming at the Grand Stand, Queen's Park Savannah, on Renewal (Day) Pentecost, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On sale will be Service booklets with hymns and prayers, lunch and snacks.
Leading to Renewal Day, which has now become an annual event on the Anglican calendar, Canon Percival is carrying on outreach programmes on "The Word - The Annointing" from Monday last, starting at St Margaret Church (north), Tuesday at St Andrew's Church (Tobago), Wednesday at St Stephen Church (south) and Thursday at St Mary's (east). And will preach the sermon on Friday at Trinity Cathedral's midday service.
A firm believer in the Born Again theory, Canon Percival is careful to explain his belief is in being baptised by the Holy Spirit and not the second water baptism : "You can only have water baptism once and to be baptised as an infant is the time to be brought to the fellowship of the church in pure and humble state. And this is the state that each adult has to return to in order to enter into the Kingdom of God. Matthew 18 1-4 refers."
A national of St Kitts & Nevis, the Canon who was born in St Kitts, obtained a Diploma in Theology from Codrington College, before being ordained deacon in 1977 and priest in 1978. Through external examinations, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Somerset, England; a Bachelor's in Divinity from London; and a Masters in Biblical Studies and Ph.D in Theology through Trinity Theological Seminary in Indiana, in partnership with Liverpool University in England.
Before going to Nevis 14 years ago, Canon Percival, who is married to Margaret, father of three adult children and one still at primary school, served as priest at the Cathedral in Antigua for one year, and in Montserrat for seven years. He has travelled all over the Caribbean and United States preaching the Word.
"I have been guided by the Holy Spirit. And my theory is that you have to be a Christian for this to happen. When you are born again and you are converted, you are a true Christian. You are a person in whom Christ lives and Christ's temple is in you. You recognise you give your life to Christ and he directs your life."
Canon Percival tells how easy it is to experience the daily Christian walk if we have God's presence in our lives. "The result of what is going on around us is when we do not want to effect change but whenever a person becomes a Christian there is change in that person first of all, and then in his/her surroundings." What we must remember, says Canon Percival is that Christianity is a process "you do not automatically arrive, every single day is a new experience, every single day you are getting closer and closer, it is not an aloof situation. Your feet remain on the earth, you have to face reality, you have to face day to day problems but" and there is a big BUT from the Canon "it is how you allow God to deal with it with you rather than you dealing with it and then dragging Christ into it, that is the answer. People can become very disillusioned, but if Christ is in it with us then we can deal with it."
"When you put a matter in the hands of the Lord, you have to first of all leave it there. It is easy, believe that the answer will come. But remember the answer could be either "yes, no or wait." And waiting means in his time, but in the process he is enabling you by his grace, and dependency is upon him. If the wait is long, we can sssume the answer is 'no' but we must continue to trust in God, for behind a 'no', there is his plan. If you trust him, he brings you to see his plan behind his 'no.'
Those of us who go to the savannah on Saturday will hear Canon Percival's many Biblical references citing the experiences of those in the Old Testament, such as Moses, who had to wait sometimes up to forty years on God. The key in each instance was "to trust in God, allow Jesus to work it out with you, rather than you taking it personally into your hands."
Touching on Canon Percival's achievements by correspondence courses, his reply was firm: "You have to have a programme. If you know me, I am very programmed, I believe in methodology and discipline. If you are looking to be a priest and do not have any discipline everything will go haywire. You must know your goal, you must know where you want to go, you must map out your programme and endeavour to follow it."
"Our Lord mapped out his programme, remember after the River Jordan he was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights to map out his Ministry. He was very disciplined in his Ministry and what he set out to achieve, he achieved in his Ministry, that is part of my motto."
"Also remember John F Kennedy's words: the tougher the fight the sweeter the victory. With these two principles I have built my Ministry."
For those who wish to experience the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, Canon Percival lists seven easy steps:
- Give yourself to God through Christ.
- Seek the unction of the Holy Spirit who will guide you into all truth.
- There is the real you that is imbedded in the flesh with whom the Holy Spirit works and he will clothe you and protect you
- Each day start with a Prayer of Thanksgiving, which must be given to God for the new opportunities he has given and for you to work with him as joint heirs with Christ to achieve this purpose.
- Allow your life to be a beacon to yourself and to others
- Endeavour to realise that you are a conduit of God's blessings; use your skills to bring blessings to others and
- Let God work things out with you rather than you with God which is when your self is taking over rather than your inner being which is the real you.
As to the widespread evangelism in the Church (all churches not just Anglican churches), Canon Percival believes "that is what should have been happening to the Church from the very beginning but the Church went tangent to the Will of God. Remember Jesus when he left the world said I will send you a Comforter. People have suddenly realised how far we have gone away from the nucleus of the faith. The church is the core, the rays from prayers and the unction of the Holy Spirit are reaching out, and now gaining more prominence in the Church."
A firm believer in the evangelical type of worship, Canon Percival chuckled: "I have always been in trouble through that. It puts me into trouble with my colleagues and older churchgoers. But I mix the formal with the evangelical as I like my hullabaloo, my incense and all that, so it must be a mesh."