Chaplaincy
The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Chaplaincy Team is made up of a number of ordained ministers who provide spiritual, moral and ethical guidance to all members of the Force, irrespective of their religion or beliefs.
Throughout the years the members of the BDF Chaplaincy Team have been unwavering in their quest to bolster the morale of the Force by providing spiritual comfort and advice to soldiers and their families.
Main Duties
- Conducting worship services.
- Performing religious rites and ceremonies, such as weddings and funeral services.
- Visiting and providing spiritual guidance to personnel and their families when ill or admitted to hospital.
- Providing counselling to individuals seeking guidance on moral, spiritual and ethical matters.
Force Senior Chaplain
Reverend Hugh Sandiford
Reverend Hugh Orison Frank Gordon Sandiford was ordained to the Order of Deacon on 16 November 2000 being the Feast of St. Margaret, and to the Order of Priest on 11 November 2001 being the Feast of St. Martin.
Rev Sandiford has been in parish ministry since September 1, 2002. He is currently the Rector of the St. Matthias Church in the parish of Christ Church after spending 12 years in the double cure of St. Matthew and the Church of the Resurrection.
Rev Sandiford received his Bachelor of Arts in Theology from the University of the West Indies after completing his studies at Codrington College. He is currently pursuing the Master of Arts programme in Christian Formation from the Virginia Theological Seminary. He has also completed certificate courses in HIV/AIDS counselling and four units of Clinical Pastoral Education.
Chaplain
Reverend Esther Willoughby
Rev. Esther Willoughby is an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Holiness Church. She took up the post of Senior Pastor in March 2016, where she served as Assistant Pastor for fifteen years.
She worked in many departments of the church including the Local Board of Administration and was president of the Wesleyan Women Society for eight years. She was a teacher for forty-two years of which thirty-seven were spent at the Garrison Secondary School now called the Graydon Sealy Secondary School.
She taught Religious Education and Food and Nutrition to CXC level as well as Religious and Moral Education and Family Life Education. She was responsible for the Gen-Link programme (Elderly and Youth) and the Prefects' Body. Rev. Willoughby devoted much of her time to community work.
Chaplain
Reverend Joel Cumberbatch
The Reverend Joel Cumberbatch was born in the parish of St. Andrew, Barbados. He received a sound primary and secondary education at the Chalky Mount Mixed School and the Alleyne School also located in the same parish.
Reverend Cumberbatch received his early spiritual nurture at the Chalky Mount Pentecostal Church and the Chalky Mount Wesleyan Holiness Church respectively.
In preparation for his ministerial vocation, Reverend Cumberbatch entered Caribbean Wesleyan College in 1977 and graduated four years later with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. In 1982, he attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, USA and graduated in 1984.