Selvin Uriah Hastings (26 September 1916 – 19 September 1991) was the first

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n national consecrated as a bishop of the

Moravian Church , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Prot ...

and the first Jamaican to be elected head of the Moravian Church Unity Board.''Onward'', the magazine of Moravian Missions
Volume XXIV, Number 2
, February 2005, p. 2, Moravian Mission Society, South, Inc.

Early life, education and ministry

Bishop Hastings was born in

Darliston Darliston is a settlement in Jamaica. Darliston is a town in Westmoreland Parish in western Jamaica. It is located east-northeast of Savanna-la-Mar. In 1991 the population was 1,435 (2007 estimate 1595). Principal economic activities include t ...

, Westmoreland, Jamaica. After attending local schools, he trained at St. Colme's Theological College, Kingston, and in the United Kingdom, before serving the

Jamaica Province of the Moravian Church The Jamaica Province of the Moravian Church (formally The Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands) is part of the worldwide Moravian Church Unity. History 1754–1809 The beginning The work of the Moravian Church in Jamaica started wi ...

at Springfield in St. Elizabeth, Mizpah in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and Church of the Redeemer and

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

in Kingston. He undertook further training in the United States, gaining a bachelor's degree from

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

and a master's degree from the Union Theological Seminary.

Leadership roles

He was elected to the Provincial Elders' Conference (PEC), the Executive Board of the Moravian Church in Jamaica, in 1951 where he served as president for many years. He was consecrated as a Bishop in 1961. He served on the board of the Moravian Church Foundation. He was appointed as Jamaica's representative on the Executive Board of the Worldwide Moravian Church in 1967, where he served as chairman until 1974 and was General Director from 1972 to 1974. He was twice president of the Jamaica Council of Churches, from 1960 to 1963 and again in 1971. He was the first chairman of the board of governors of the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) where he also lectured in

homiletics In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

, church history and church administration.

Publications

*''These 50 Years'' (1991), a book of sermons.Moravian Church Honours Three Pioneers
, Jamaica Information Service press release, Jermain O. Brown, 24 December 2004. *''Seedtime and Harvest: A brief history of the Moravian Church in Jamaica, 1754-1979'', volume of church denominational history.

Honours

He was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree by Moravian Theological Seminary (1990) and made a

Commander of the Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

(1989).

Private life

Hastings was married to Pansy, and they had three children. He was a Freemason, initiated in 1963 in Arawak Lodge No 6902 (under the jurisdiction of the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...

) in Kingston, Jamaica. He served as the District Grand Chaplain for the Masonic District of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, and in that capacity he was the dedicating Grand Chaplain of the new Masonic temple in Barbados Avenue, Kingston, on 12 February 1982, assisting Dr Aubrey Jacobs and Major-General Rudolph Green.

Legacy

The Moravian Church in Jamaica has established a foundation in his honour. As part of the church's 250th anniversary celebrations in 2004, the Postal Corporation of Jamaica issued a commemorative stamp featuring Bishop Hastings.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, S U 1916 births 1991 deaths Jamaican clergy Jamaican people of the Moravian Church Bishops of the Moravian Church 20th-century bishops Butler University alumni People from Westmoreland Parish Commanders of the Order of Distinction