Antigua und Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda is a state in the Leeward Islands. It became independent in 1981, after more than three centuries of British colonial rule, and brief occupations by France in the 17th and 18th century, during which slaves were brought to the islands. Sugar cane plantations dominated the economy in the past. The agriculture has been diversified, and tourism is an important source of income. The WCC member churches present in Antigua and Barbuda are the Church of the Province of the West Indies (Anglican), the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas, and the Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province. Together with the Catholic Church, which is relatively small, and the Salvation Army, these churches form the Antigua Christian Council. There is also a United Evangelical Association of Antigua and Barbuda, affiliated with the WEA. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a growing Evangelical church. Rastafarianism, an Afro-Caribbean religion brought to Antigua from Jamaica, has a following among the people of the islands.