VI Male Call 2017 which is spearheaded by the New Life Baptist Church, stemmed from the idea of Save the Seed theme some 20 plus years ago when Bishop John I. Cline got the inspiration from the Save the Seed and as a root of that he did male call. Photo: Facebook

Male Call is an initiative of Bishop John I. Cline, who believes the time is right for such an initiative in the territory. Photo: Facebook

This is according to Senior Pastor at the New Life Baptist Church Bishop John I. Cline, who appeared as a guest on the CBN Channel 51 television show, Vigilate Dialogues, on August 26, 2017 to discuss the new initiative, Virgin Islands (VI) Male Call 2017. The host of the show was Shaina M. Smith.

VI Male Call 2017, which is spearheaded by the New Life Baptist Church, stemmed from the idea of the Save the Seed theme some 20 plus years ago when Bishop John I. Cline received the inspiration.

“It was where we call males from -at the time- within the Christian community together whether they were Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal or Adventist, it didn’t matter. As long as you were a male living in the BVI we wanted us to come together around a Christ centered theme to help promote just Christian living, godly life style in our country. So that’s the history of male call.”

Bishop Cline further stated that along the way Male Call was phased out but he believed that this is the right time for the territory and he revisited and brought some of the things to life.

“The need for us to all show some kind of responsibility in terms of building our nation whether it’s from an economic, religious, social, political stand point, I think the time is now that we can try to galvanise men,” Bishop Cline stated, adding that there can be a ‘Female Call’ as well.

VI point of view

The senior pastor noted that this time, the plan is to take Male Call from a Virgin Islands point of view.

“We are looking for persons from Virgin Gorda, business community –some of our speakers will reflect that- and we are looking at it from a political stand point. We are looking for people that sit on the corner that doesn’t ordinarily have a voice but have a story and we want them to come in and tell their story,” explained the Bishop.

He continued, “We are trying to get prisoners involved; those who have been incarcerated and those who feel that their livelihoods have been taken away. We want to give them an opportunity to voice how did it happen, how did it get here and how we can survive it.”

Target audience

Bishop Cline pointed out that the programme is aimed at young boys from ages 8 and up, where the older can impact some wisdom and instructions to them and the younger boys can ask questions of the older men.

According to Bishop Cline, “We are targeting males in the BVI. You do not have to be affiliated with a church, you just have to live here. We just want you to come and be a part of what will be an impactful event for men in the BVI.”

The event is set to kick off on Friday, September 1, 2017 at the Noel Lloyd Action Movement Park at 5:00 P.M. This will be the opening session where various guest speakers will address different topics and rally for the cause.

On Saturday September 2, 2017 the programme continues at the Save the Seed Energy Centre Gymnasium at 9:00 A.M. where the topics will address everything that affects male in the Virgin Islands. Guest speakers will include Professor Devin Robinson, Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton (AL), Virgin Islands contractor James Todman Sr., and many others.

“We want to make it a time of fellowship but also informational where people can walk away knowing that it has had an impact in their lives,” said Bishop John I. Cline.