“There's power in the word” said Wendell Manwarren of 3Canal, addressing the 43 regional participants at the 11th Annual Caribbean School of Catholic Communications this week.

In a stunning presentation which held his audience spellbound Manwaren warned “You're in the business of the word, so watch your words. Your words have consequences” Manwarren was one of two local artistes who spoke on this year's theme Communication and the Religious Imagination: creating a culture of peace through music .

Manwarren, whom the average churchgoer may not consider to be spiritual is spiritual indeed. With deep Catholic roots, he had a great impact on all the participants. His music which he shared and explained was soul-searching. He urged participants to give thanks always, not to fear the “other side,” but to speak words that build up and not break down.

The dynamic Dr Pat Bishop of the Lydian Singers, had earlier made a sterling plea for discipline, hard work and high standards in Church music. “Only the best for God!” she challenged, lamenting the mediocrity which passes for Church music.

Pat Bishop (centre) is the centre of attention at CSCC 2005.

She reflected on the notions of religion and imagination, and then proceeded to explore traditional musical pieces from different countries explaining the variations in style, rhythm and instrumentation. All the while she illustrated the point about quality in music.

The Caribbean School of Catholic Communication (CSCC) is a three- year course which is held one week every year at the Emmaus Retreat Centre. The theme for the present cycle is Communication and the Religious Imagination: Creating a Culture of Peace .

Last year's school looked at “Creating a culture of peace through art”, this year's sub-theme was “Creating a culture of peace through music” and next year the School will look at “Creating a culture of peace through literature”.

This year's school began with addresses by Clive Belgrave , the Acting Episcopal Delegate for Communications and Rhonda Maingot one of the founders of the school.The plenary sessions were carried live on Trinity TV and Trinity Internet Radio.

Participants who came from Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, followed workshops in Journalism, Audio, Video, and Creating Media teams.

Eventually through this certified course they would become more qualified in their specific disciplines. Facilitators included Sr Angela Ann Zukowski, Msgr Patrick Anthony, Gitlin Aleong, Javier Molina and Lisa Bhajan.

CSCC 2005 was more than just lectures and workshops. As one participant wrote, “Not only is there prayer and worship and workshops, but in order to complete this well rounded experience, there is also a bit of leisure time for the students.

There are movies on Tuesday and Thursday nights and a cultural evening on Wednesday, and when the day is finished friends are allowed to gather and re-tell their day together. The food is good, the people are good and you never know what experience the following day will bring.

This is an overall good experience that I would recommend to anyone. Who knew learning how to create a culture of peace through music could be so interesting”.