By GENEA NOEL

Freeport News Reporter

genea@nasguard.com

Grand Bahama's economy is expected to receive significant boost as 1,400 persons are expected to visit the island when the Cunnings Temple AME Church hosts its 11th annual Episcopal District Post Conference planning meeting.

The event, scheduled for November 19 – 22, will be held at the Our Lucaya Resort Westin and Sheraton Hotel.

During a press conference yesterday, committee members announced plans for the upcoming meetings and said that members from all over the United States, which includes 450 churches, will converge on the island to plan for the new conference year.

Pastor Clifford McKinney of Cunnings Temple on West Settler's Way said that this is the second time that the event will be held outside of Florida and the first time the event will ever be held on the island.

"Many of our leaders will be here to help in planning for the new year. At the end of the year, we plan for a new year which means all of our program dates will be confirmed so that when the new years comes about, we can all fall in line," McKinney explained.

The decision to have the conference in Grand Bah-ama, McKinney said, was to stimulate the island's economy and boost tourism as many of their church members are employed in the tourism industry.

"Every year, we normally meet in Florida, but this year we decided to bring it to Freeport to boost the economy in light of the downturn of the economy, to assist and bring some growth and income to Grand Bahama." he said

"The island has been down for quite a while and we thought that we would bring it here to bring some assistance."

Although the church plans to bring some economic relief to the island, McKinney aid that they also intend to bring about a greater awareness of what their church is all about.

"This is the first AME church on the island and many people do not know about us, they do not know that we are here," he said.

"When our visitors come in, we want them to know that their is an AME church where they can worship." McKinney also hopes that people see the church as a part of an international organization and be encouraged to join.

"The bottom line is to bring spotlight on what we are doing in The Bahamas as an AME church because many persons are not aware that we have presence here."

Established on the island from 1999, McKinney said that the church would like to make their presence felt within the Christian community.