It?s been a tradition spanning more than four decades ? and the Ladies Aid Society is keeping it going at Bethel AME Church in Shelly Bay.

The annual Palm Sunday Symposium organised by the group has become an Easter event many in the community eagerly anticipate each year.

Ladies Aid Society president Jean Clarke said the group is the oldest AME church auxiliary in the Island.

?We have been celebrating the Palm Sunday Symposium for 43 years,? she said. ?It?s only at Bethel. It was started by our grandmothers and mothers and thank God we have been able to carry on.?

Mrs. Clarke said the tradition has always been to bring the community closer together during Holy Week. This has largely been achieved by having ministers from other Christian denominations participate in the service.

?We have an organising meeting and whoever is suggested as a speaker at that meeting ? we invite,? she said. ?They speak for ten to 15 minutes on the subject and bring a choir or guest soloist. Sometimes they bring liturgical dancers.?

Some of the congregation of the invited speakers also attend, making the event a church filler most years.

?We go through the events of Holy Week with anointed preaching and spirit filled singing from various churches,? Mrs. Clarke said. ?It gives the Christian a greater appreciation of the resurrection of Christ which is the basis of Christianity.?

Three guest ministers will share the pulpit with Bethel?s pastor, the Rev. Malcolm Eve who is also the AME Church Elder on the Island at the symposium slated, as its name demands, on Palm Sunday, March 20.

Rev. Harold Lambe of Evening Light Pentecostal Assembly will speak on Jesus? entry in Jerusalem, Bishop Neville Smith of Radnor Road Christian Fellowship will talk on The Last Supper and Pastor Dean Smith of The Open Door Assembly will preach on the Crucifixion. Rev. Eve will bring the excitement home with his sermon on the Resurrection.

All are welcome. The service begins at 4 p.m.