25/06/2013
The CofE's National Adviser for the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) has thanked older members of the UK's African Caribbean communities for all their generation and previous ones have done to enrich life in the UK.
Dr Elizabeth Henry contributed a thank you message and gave a prayer of thanks to a special Service of Celebration at Bloomsbury Baptist Church (on Saturday 22nd June) marking the 65th anniversary, to the day, of the arrival of the ship Empire Windrush at Tilbury in 1948. Empire Windrush was carrying 493 passengers from Jamaica invited to start a new life in the UK, the first large group of West Indian immigrants to the UK following the Second World War.
Elizabeth Henry said: "Many of the Windrush's passengers regularly joined Church of England congregations in worship. This 65th anniversary celebrates how they laid the foundations for future generations, their contribution enriching UK life on so many levels."
The well-attended service also contained music from local choirs, further tributes, and a contribution from Empire Windrush passenger, Mr Sam King.