ABOUT

The annual Sound the Trumpet Praise and Worship Conference is the marquee event hosted by the People of Praise Community in Trinidad, West Indies.  Since 2006, People of Praise Community has been “Sounding the Trumpet” through this annual conference.  The conference was born out of a desire to improve the musical landscape within the Church, raising the standard of Praise and Worship while at the same time bringing people to a place of spiritual renewal through the incredible love and power of God made manifest through music, ministry, dynamic sharing of God’s word and fellowship.  It is our prayer that persons will experience healing, salvation, deliverance and be renewed by a fresh outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit over the course of the weekend and that each person will be empowered to reclaim their personal lives, homes, families, schools, workplaces, prayer groups and parishes for Christ in an ongoing way.

The words of Msgr. Christian Pereira, then Parish Priest of Santa Rosa R.C. and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, written for the first ever Sound the Trumpet Praise and Worship Conference in September 2006 are as relevant today as they were back then.  Msgr. Christian effectively captured the essence of what that first and subsequent Sound the Trumpet conferences seek to bring alive when he wrote this foreword:

“St. Irenaeus who lived in the second century gave us the insight “The Glory of God is man (the human person) fully alive” (St Irenaeus was bishop of Lyons in the last quarter of the 2^nd century.  The reference can be found in the Office of Readings for St. Irenaeus – June 28).  The call to Praise and Worship God is a major aspect of our life as human persons.

 The Sound of the Trumpet is a powerful image for God’s people (ref. The various uses of trumpet are given by Moses in Numbers 10:1-10; the Trumpet was very evident in the fall of the walls of Jericho (Joshua 5:36); the call of Joel 3:15; and in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 the sound of the trumpet is a symbol that “Life’s earthly journey is completed”. While we continue to make our pilgrimage through life, it is a tremendous asset for all persons to learn the art of praising and worshipping the God who is the source of our life and our salvation.

To help us live lives of Praise and Worship, we gather as God’s People to celebrate Liturgy … (The work of God’s people).  The Liturgy of the Church (the gathered people) has its form and its focus and allows the gathered community (the Church) to enter more deeply into the saving work of Jesus (the Paschal Mystery).  … I trust that this conference will enable us to advance our culture into the realm of Giving Glory and Praise due to the Creator and Saviour as we nurture the growth of all human persons.”