Dear Editor,
His Grace, the Most Reverend Drexel Wellington Gomez — former Lord Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of the Church in the Province of the West Indies, and Bishop of the Diocese of Nassau and The Bahamas (including the Turks & Caicos Islands) — has transitioned from this life to eternity.
The acorn born in 1937 in the Berry Islands, in the then Colony of The Bahamas, grew to become a towering oak in the Anglican Communion and a respected voice across Christian and non-Christian communities worldwide.
There are many facets to the exceptional life of this man of God. I wish to reflect on a few that especially stood out to me.
His Grace took seriously his purpose as a servant of God. His light shone brightly, whether walking with kings and queens or with so-called “ordinary” people.
Until his illness in 2025 — well into his 80s — he was still saying mass and teaching Bible study. His homilies were impactful: hearers agreed, they left you thinking and thirsting for more. He welcomed questions, recommended books, and was always willing to discuss them for further edification.
I recall his introduction to the works of N.T. Wright, and the joy he expressed in counting such theologians as friends.
Though acclaimed as a scholar himself, His Grace had an unquenchable thirst for learning.
Beyond theology, he was a linguist, a math teacher, a counselor — a true polymath. Yet he remained humble and consistently emphasized excellence: anything worth doing was worth doing well.
I used to tease him that I needed to bring a dictionary when listening to his homilies. He had the gift of elucidating biblical texts in ways that made them fresh, relevant, and challenging. He made people think.
When the Anglican Communion faced a potential schism in the early 21st century, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, appointed Archbishop Gomez to the Lambeth Commission.
Leaders from across the global Anglican Communion — and even from the Vatican — respected him deeply, both as a theologian and as a man.
It is widely acknowledged that Archbishop Gomez’s personal relationships and theological integrity played a pivotal role in preventing what many believed to be an inevitable division.
I had the privilege, along with Lady Sharon Wilson, to serve as a lay delegate at the Provincial Synod where His Grace was elected Primate of the West Indies. He was deeply respected across the Province.
The Bahamas may appear as a mere dot on the globe, but His Grace’s life proved the power of letting one’s light shine before all people — a life that fulfilled the spirit of the prayer of Jabez.
He loved his family. He and his siblings were raised in a household grounded in the principle of service.
I know personally that his father, Mr. Ruben “Big Daddy” Gomez, registrar of births, would go himself to the Maternity Ward at Princess Margaret Hospital to register babies.
His mother, Mrs. Wealthy “Big Mama” Gomez, was not only the matriarch of the family but a strong, loving mother figure in her community.
His Grace was a devoted husband to his wife of more than 60 years, Mrs. Carol Gomez; a loving father to his children; and a strong, steady, and stable sibling, uncle, grandfather, and family man.
Their church home, St. Agnes — the Cathedral Over the Hill — was a sanctuary where Black Bahamians in 1937 could know they were fully God’s children, equal with all others.
His Grace once told me — as did Archdeacon William Thompson — “We are Anglicans. We have the Book of Common Prayer. We read. We educate. We think.”
He worked tirelessly with others to produce the Book of Common Prayer now used in the Province of the West Indies.
He valued unity within the Communion and took seriously the theology and liturgy of the Church in all Provinces.
He was honored by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and by The Bahamas, rightly recognized for his patriotic service and his service to the Church. But perhaps more telling than these formal honors is the fact that so many of us felt seen, known, and loved by him.
It is extraordinary that a man of such vast intellect and global influence could make you feel as though he had time — always — for you.
My family and I, who knew him as a family friend, celebrate his life as a testimony that from this small country — geographically and in population — our people continue to have world impact in ways amazing and unimaginable.
History will determine the full and lasting impact of this Bahamian acorn who became a global oak. But today, I simply salute the man who was, at heart, a pastor — in the truest sense of the word.
Thank you, Mrs. Gomez, and the entire Gomez family, for lending him to us — and to the world.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Yours sincerely,
— Allyson Gibson
