A Cash-Strapped Diocese Looks to Its Land: Barbados Anglicans Plan to Rent Acreage for Farming

• The Anglican Diocese of Barbados is looking at renting vacant land for farming
• Bishop Michael Maxwell said COVID caused a serious financial crisis
• The church has no property manager to count its available acreage
• A multi-million-dollar solar system launched at St Andrew’s Church in May 2022

The Anglican Church in Barbados is looking to its land for income after the pandemic hit its finances hard. Barbados Today reported in November 2022 that Bishop Dr Michael Maxwell and the church trustees responsible for diocesan property were considering renting vacant church land for farming.

The idea has two aims: to bring money into a diocese under strain and to support Barbados’ push for greater food security. Maxwell described it as a matter of stewardship. “In terms of stewardship, utilising our properties and our lands to again not just benefit us financially, because of course we had a serious financial crisis because of the hit from COVID…” he said.

The bishop admitted the church could not yet say how much land it had available. It had no property manager to carry out an assessment, a gap that shows how even long-established denominations can hold large estates without a clear picture of what they own.

Farming leases are not the only plan. In May 2022 the church launched a multi-million-dollar solar system at St Andrew’s Church, with private partners, and four more photovoltaic installations were planned at other church sites. The diocese is using these projects to make up for falling traditional donations.

The Barbados plan marks a change in how a mainline church treats its property. Land that for generations simply surrounded church buildings, or sat idle, is being treated as a working asset that can earn rent, feed people and produce power.

Jamaica’s historic denominations hold similar idle acreage, much of it inherited from the colonial era and poorly mapped. For church boards here, the Barbados experience points to some practical first steps: appoint someone to audit what the church owns and whether titles are in order, identify land that could be leased to farmers or used for solar, and set lease terms that protect the church’s ownership. Done well, it can ease the pressure on collection plates without selling land that congregations may need in future.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com