A capacity crowd attended the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church at Island Harbour, Anguilla, on Sunday, April 13.

Bishop Brooks, Reverends Smithen and Hodge and others

A brief history written by the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks stated that before 1958 Anglicans, who resided at Island Harbour and the surrounding areas, worshipped at St. Augustine’s, East End. “In spite of the joy which many persons experienced as they worshipped at St. Augustine’s, they longed for the day when a place of worship would be constructed at Island Harbour,” he recalled.

Margaret Augustus directing youth group

Mr. Joseph Benjamin Hodge, a leading resident of Island Harbour, sought to make this a reality by donating a plot of land to the Parish of St. Mary’s. It was given “for the purpose of the erection of a church for the people of Island Harbour and the surrounding neighbourhoods and for no other purpose whatsoever.” (Quotation from Olva Flax’s book, Know Your Church). Construction work began in 1955 and continued until 1958. In recent years a church hall was built for the congregation and the wider community. “Plans are in hand to extend the worship space and to effect other improvements,” Bishop Brooks disclosed.

Combined St. Andrews and St. Augustine’s Choir directed by Lennox Vanterpool

The Very Rev. Rudolph Smithen (now Dean of St. John’s Cathedral in Antigua) served for three years as Parish Priest at St. Andrew’s and was one of eight Ministers there. At the outset of his sermon, he said: “Fifty years ago Christians at Island Harbour undertook to build this church. It was named after the Apostle Andrew for specific reasons. Island Harbour is a fishing resort and Andrew was a fisherman; but more importantly, I believe, it was named after him because of his missionary zeal.”

Dignitaries and others at the service

The Minister stressed the importance of the mission of the church in general, and called for its reformation and restoration similar to the cleansing of the temple by Jesus in the early days when it was being desecrated by its members as a place for selling, buying and money-changing.

St. Andrews Anglican Church

“The church is at war against all the ills that are affecting its spiritual and moral integrity. “We are at war against social ills that we so often embrace,” he asserted. He charged that many persons everywhere had forsaken worshipping God and were instead “worshipping at the altar of the god of creed, materialism and money.”

He continued: “There are occasions when the church remains silently afraid to address issues because it is supported by persons who have personal interests: the feathering of their own nests. To ruffle the feathers of the political divide, would mean a loss of prestige…especially when the church seemingly leans heavily on one side of the fence.”

He was of the view that while the world had degenerated in terms of the spiritual and moral life of its population, the church had “failed in its mission as an advocate of God’s word.” He declared: “We have made several terrible mistakes and the message of the church has lost credibility. The world hardly listens anymore when the church speaks. For too often what we say has no bearing on how we live…Some go to church because it is normal [to do so]. Others only go for festivals and special occasions such as weddings and funerals.”

Rev. Smithen added in his passionate delivery: “There is a lot of cleansing that must be done. Our integrity must be cleansed; our relationships must be cleansed; our attitudes must be cleansed; our work ethics must be cleansed; our public conditions must be cleansed; the conversations we hold must be cleansed; our intensions must be cleansed; and our hearts must be cleansed.”
The large congregation that filled the small church to capacity, and also occupied a large tent, included many leading persons in the public and private sectors. Among them were Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, Speaker of the House of Assembly, David Carty; Elected Represented for Island Habour and Minister of Infrastructure, Kenneth Harrigan; Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers; Deputy Governor, Stanley Reid; Methodist Ministers Joseph Lloyd and Cecil Weeks; Revolutionary Leader Ronald Webster and Mrs. Webster and the island’s long-established and foremost businessman, Albert Lake and Mrs. Lake.

They, and all others, were welcomed by Assistant Priest, Rev. Menes Hodge. After that, and towards the end of the service, Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, speaking on behalf of the Government and himself, congratulated St. Andrew’s on its Fiftieth Anniversary. He spoke on the importance of its mission and urged everyone to regularly attend church. He was joined by Rev. Lloyd, the representative of the Anguilla Christian Council, who extended greetings on behalf of that grouping and offered words of advice and best wishes.

The order of the Fiftieth Anniversary Service included special anthems by a combined St. Andrew’s and St. Augustine’s Choir under the direction of Lennox Vanterpool and the youth group led by Margaret Augustus. The concluding event was a reception at the nearby Church Hall.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News