Right Reverend Leon Golding is Anglican Diocesan Bishop-elect

The Right Reverend Leon Paul Golding has been elected Diocesan Bishop for the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (Anglican).

Golding received 204 of the 214 votes cast by Clergy and Lay Representatives who attended The Special Synod, known as the Elective Assembly, which was held at St Luke’s Church Hall in Cross Roads yesterday.

The result represents a two-thirds majority of the votes cast separately in both the House of Clergy and The House of Laity, as required under the Constitution and Canons of the Church.

The results will now be sent to the Right Reverend Phillip Wright, Bishop of Belize and Senior Bishop of the Church in the Province of the West Indies (CPWI), who will seek ratification from the Bishops of the other seven Dioceses in the Province.

Golding, who succeeds The Most Reverend Dr Howard Gregory, who retired in December 2024, will serve as the 15th Diocesan Bishop.

Nurtured in the Cathedral Church of St Jago de la Vega in Spanish Town, St Catherine, his journey in the ordained ministry started in 1984 when he was ordained a deacon and a priest in 1985.

Golding has served as a deacon at the St Andrew Parish Church; and as rector of the St Mary Parish Church from 1988 to 1990; St Jude’s Church, Stony Hill (1990-2000); Kingston Parish Church (2002-2008); and Church of the Holy Trinity, Westgate, Montego Bay, from 2008 to 2012 when he was consecrated as Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay. He is also a former archdeacon of Kingston and Montego Bay.

Since Gregory’s retirement, he has guided the affairs of the Diocese as Canonical Administrator.

In thanking the clergy and laity following yesterday’s election, Golding expressed his commitment “to serve Christ and the Church in the best way I can”. He acknowledged the contribution of his predecessors, especially Gregory, under whose leadership many new development strategies were introduced.

“We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before, and we all have a responsibility to carry that legacy forward. I hope we will do what is God’s will in this time,” the Diocesan Bishop-elect stated.

Golding holds a bachelor of arts in theology and a diploma in ministerial studies from the United Theological College of the West Indies; and a master of philosophy from the University of Birmingham in England.

He is married to Lauren and has three children – Lisa, LeeAnne and Luke-Paul.