John Walder Dunlop Holder (born 1949 in Bath Village, St. John,

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

) is a former Barbadian Anglican archbishop. He was the

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 ...

Archbishop of the West Indies and held the See of

. He was born at Bath Village, St. John on the island of Barbados and attended the parishes Elementary Mixed School (1953–1958), graduated from the Modern High School and went to

Codrington College Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in Saint John, Barbados, St. John, Barbados now affiliated with the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. It is one of the oldest Anglican theological colleges in the Americas. It was ...

, a theological college affiliated to the

University of the West Indies at Cave Hill University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system. It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, fol ...

. Leaving school, he married Betty Lucas-Holder, with whom he had son Stuart, and began work as a teacher and a civil servant before entering

in 1971 to be trained for the priesthood for the Diocese of the Windward Islands. He graduated from the college in 1975, having obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) in Theology from the University of the West Indies and a Diploma in Theological Studies of Codrington College. Ordained deacon in December 1974 it was just a year and nine months later, in September 1976, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood in St. George's Cathedral on the island of St Vincent where he spent two years as a curate. He returned to his home island of Barbados in 1977 as tutor in Biblical Studies at Codrington College. This allowed him to continue part-time at his academic studies at the School of Theology, the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an off ...

, from which he graduated in 1981 with a

Master of Sacred Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

(STM) and a major in Old Testament Studies (''hermeneutics and the writings of Second Temple Judaism''). At this period he travelled to England where he was made Honorary Chaplain at the university Church of Christ the King, Gordon Square, London (1981–1984) and to further study at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, gaining a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) in Old Testament Studies four years later in 1985. Returning to Barbados in 1984, he rejoined the staff of Codrington College now as lecturer in Old Testament Studies. Along with his work at Codrington, he performed duties in parishes in the Diocese of Barbados as an Assistant Priest, first at Cathedral Church of St. Michael and then at St Augustine's Church in 1986, before being appointed Priest-in-Charge of this parish from 1989 to 1990. In the decade between 1990 and 2000 he continued serving as Priest-in-Charge in a number of churches - St John's Parish Church (1990–1992), St Mark and St Catherine (1992–1993), St Mark (1993–1994), Holy Trinity (1994–1995) and finally Holy Cross (1995–2000). It was during this last tenure that in 1996 he was made an Honorary Canon of the Diocese of Barbados and three years later, in 1999, he received an award for his work at Codrington College. Then in March 2000 he became the thirteenth Bishop of Barbados, succeeding Rufus Brome, who had then retired. Later in 2005, whilst a member of the Advisory group to Anglican Observer at the United Nations (2003–2006), for his contribution to Theology in Barbados, he earned the Errol Barrow Award. On 10 December 2009, election of the next archbishop took place at Guyana's then new Convention Hall in Georgetown during a meeting of the Provincial Synod of the Church and Holder became the new archbishop of the Province of the West Indies (a member province in the worldwide Anglican Communion). Holder retired in 2018.Anglican News
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holder, John 1949 births Living people Alumni of Codrington College Alumni of King's College London Barbadian Anglicans 20th-century Anglican bishops in the Caribbean 21st-century Anglican bishops in the Caribbean 21st-century Anglican archbishops Anglican archbishops of the West Indies Anglican bishops of Barbados