S. U. Hastings
The Reverend Doctor S U Hastings was the first Jamaican national consecrated as a bishop of the Moravian Church and the first Jamaican to be elected head of the Moravian Church Unity Board[1].
Bishop Hastings was born on 26th September 1916 in Darliston, Westmoreland, Jamaica. After attending local(?) schools, he trained at St. Colm's Theological College, United Kingdom before serving the Jamaica Province of the Moravian Church at Springfield in St. Elizabeth, Mizpah in Manchester and Church of the Redeemer and Trinity in Kingston[2].
He undertook further training in the United States, gaining a Bachelor's degree from Butler University and a Masters degree from the Union Theological Seminary[2].
He was elected to the Provincial Elders' Conference (PEC), the Executive Board of the Moravian Church in Jamaica, in 1951 where he served as president for many years[2].
He was consecrated as a Bishop in 1961[2].
He served on the board of the Moravian Church Foundation[2].
He was appointed as Jamaica's representative on the Executive Board of the Worldwide Moravian Church in 1967, where he served as chairman until 1974 and was General Director from 1972 to 1974[2].
He was twice president of the Jamaica Council of Churches, from 1960-1963 and again in 1971[2].
He was the first Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) where he also lectured in Homiletics, Church History and Church Administration[2].
He published a book of sermons, 'These 50 Years' (1991)[2].
He was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree by Moravian Theological Seminary (1990) and the Jamaican Commander of the Order of Distinction (1989)[2].
Bishop Hastings died on 19th September 1991[2].
The Moravian Church in Jamaica has established a Foundation in his honour[2].
Notes and references
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