190 Not out!

The St Bartholomew Anglican church is gearing up to celebrate its 190th anniversary with a myriad of activities under the theme Reaching Out, Reaching Lives, Bringing Light To Our Community.

The church was officially consecrated in 1830, was destroyed by a hurricane on August 11, 1831 and was officially rebuilt and consecrated on May 27, 1833.

The church will begin its celebrations on August 25 with two services. The first is at 9:30 a.m. and an evening song service follows at 6 p.m. The activities will continue throughout the year and end on August 30th, 2020 with a luncheon.

Priest in Charge of St Bartholomew Anglican Church Ian Claridge said the vision of the church is to continue to open its doors to the community.

“As we grow, it is my dream to continue and expand the work and reach of God’s gospel through the involvement of the people and the presence of the church of St Bartholomew with the theme Reaching Out, Reaching Lives Bringing Light To Our Community,” he said.

Claridge added that the church must reach out more to the community.

“Offering our sacred space, offering celebratory services, offering other means to the community around us… We must really reach out and allow our presence to be felt by both those who live in this community but also those who work in it. We will do this by providing spiritual guidance not only to those members as we call ourselves but also to those in surrounding communities,” the rector said.

Claridge said another part of the vision for St Bartholomew Anglican Church is to provide upgrades to the church’s Seaview, Christ Church plant.

“We have already planned for the refurbishing of our parish hall. We have begun and are awaiting approval before we can go further [and have] a memorial garden where we can recognize those interred in the church graveyard. We have pursued and again are awaiting approval on the installation of a new organ. All of those we have been able to do through the grace of God and the hardworking people of St Bartholomew. We also hope to accomplish this vision through a PR Ministry which is dedicated to sharing this message on social media,” he said.

The rector of St Bartholomew Anglican Church highlighted the church’s anniversary design which was created by Codrington College student Athena Barrow who is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology.

Claridge added that as a part of the church’s celebrations they will offer special memorabilia and publish an anniversary commemorative booklet. (LG)