Drexel Wellington Gomez (born 24 January 1937) is a Bahamian

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Life and ministry

Gomez was born on the

Berry Islands The Berry Islands are a chain of islands and a district of The Bahamas, covering about of the northwestern part of the Family Islands. The Berry Islands consist of about thirty islands and over one hundred small islands or cays, often referr ...

in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. He graduated from

St Chad's College St Chad's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. Founded in 1904 as St Chad's Hall for the training of Church of England clergy, the college ceased theological training in ...

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, in 1959. He was

enthroned Enthroned is a Belgian black metal band formed in Charleroi who are one of the premier acts of the Belgian black metal scene. History The band was founded in 1993 by drummer Cernunnos. He soon recruited guitarist Tsebaoth and a vocalist from ...

and

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

as Lord Bishop of Barbados in the Cathedral Church of St. Michael on 25 June 1972 and then in 1997 was elected the Bishop of the Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Gomez was elected Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the West Indies in 1996. His full title became His Grace the Most Reverend Drexel Wellington Gomez, Lord

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

, Metropolitan and Primate of the Church of the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

& Bishop of the Diocese Of Nassau & The

(Including the Turks & Caicos Islands). Along with Archbishop

Peter Akinola Peter Jasper Akinola (born 27 January 1944, in Abeokuta) is the former Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also the former bishop of Abuja and Archbishop of Province III, which covered the northern and central parts of the country ...

, Anglican Primate of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, Gomez was a leading opponent of the ordination of non-celibate gay people as Anglican clergy, an issue that escalated into a crisis for the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

following the consecration of an openly non-celibate gay priest,

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected Coadjutor bishop, bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he se ...

, as the Bishop of New Hampshire in the United States in 2003. In October 2003, Gomez was appointed to the

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

Commission on Communion by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

. The commission produced the ''Report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion'' (also known as The ''Windsor Report'' and the ''Eames Report''), published in October 2004. In August 2007, Gomez was the main preacher at a service at which several Anglican archbishops consecrated two American priests as bishops despite the opposition of the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

. Gomez accused the American church of "aggressive revisionist theology" and teaching lies. Gomez retired as bishop and archbishop in 2009.

Works

Liturgical works

* D. W. Gomez (contributor), ''A companion to the 1975 experimental rite for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist: prepared for experimental use in the Province of the West Indies / the Provincial Liturgical Commission, the Church in the Province of the West Indies.'' (1976) * D. W. Gomez (ed.), ''True Union in the Body? A contribution to the discussion within the Anglican Communion concerning the public blessing of same-sex unions'' (Oxford, 2002), p. 3.https://www.wycliffecollege.ca/sites/default/files/archival-document/TRUE%20UNION%20IN%20THE%20BODY.pdf

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Drexel 1939 births Living people 20th-century Anglican archbishops 21st-century Anglican archbishops Alumni of St Chad's College, Durham Bahamian Anglicans Anglican bishops of Nassau Anglican archbishops of the West Indies Anglican bishops of Barbados People from the Berry Islands Anglican realignment people