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Historical Sketch of St Patricks Church 2015 St. Patrick’s Church Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas : “Wonderful Impressions of The Past… Great Expectations for the Future!” Historical Sketch of St. Patrick’s Anglican Church 1892—2015 There was only one church in the entire central area of Governor’s Harbour. On Archdeacon Jrew’s visitation in May and June of 1847, he administered the sacrament for the first time in this church. The population then made a tremendous increase and the people of this area made a request that Fr. Richard Chambers who was the priest of five islands, be restricted to Eleuthera alone. During this time, however, there was a terrible hurricane and the church was completely destroyed, creating the need for a new church. On January 2, 1892, the new Anglican Church that residents of Governor’s Harbour had so long waited and worked for was finally begun. The site was laid out, the foundation dug out, and willing hands were sent to work. The Church’s outside measurements are 76 ft. by 40 ft.; because of the walls being 2 ft. thick, the inside measurements are 72 ft. by 35 ft. The foundation wall is 3 ft. thick. Hence the work was expensive but necessary in case of hurricanes or other bad types of weather. The cornerstone of the new church had now been laid under the leadership of Fr. Smith (who served 1886-1903). On completion in 1893 and consecration Nov. 26, 1894 by Lord Bishop Churton, Fr. Browne, Fr. Blum and the current Rector, Fr. Smith, this building was described as “A very substantial, large and beautiful church.” The cost was about £1,000, the money being gathered from the previous eight years by the means of church sales, collections, donations from residents of Governor’s Harbour and from friends in England. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel also donated £100. The stone with the alabaster columns cost £2,500, which represented the savings of the children in the Sunday School for the past 8 years. An organ and font were also bought for £1,264. On September 29, 1899, a stained glass window was dedicated in memory of the late Mrs. Laura Preston. Fr. Charles W. Smith (present priest at the time who served 1886-1903) performed the ceremony and was assisted by Fr. J.R. Vincent, his assistant priest. The window represented the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus and surrounded by adoring angels. It was the gift of Mr. C.C. Knapp of Beatrice, Nebraska, the eldest son of Mrs. Preston. A large number of friends in addition to the congregation were present at this ceremony. Fr. Langton (who served 1912-1921) had prepared the beautiful Church Yard Crucifix at St. Patrick’s. It was a privilege to consecrate it. 2 This edifice is still standing today and is in very good condition. On March 20, 1903, the Governor’s Harbour Anglican School for girls was begun. The school was being run by a Miss White, an English lady, and was for white girls only. These girls were Methodists whose parents rejected Miss White’s high churchmanship and took their children away. It then became the Methodist Institution. Miss White then moved into the old St. Patrick’s Church on Cupid’s Cay. Fr. Tanter (who served 1931-1936) came to Governor’s Harbour in succession to Fr. Griffiths in 1931 and was to be responsible for the out- stations of all of the outlying parishes, after which he was relocated to Harbour Island. Fr. Donald Knowles (who served 1936-1938) was temporarily put in charge of St. Patrick’s. In 1941, Fr. John Calnan (who served 1968-1970) came to South Eleuthera as Parish Priest in charge of that region and eventually was posted at St. Patrick’s. Candlesticks & Tabernacle: The candlesticks are made of wood and the tabernacle is made of metal; these were donated in memory of Fr. Wallop (who served in 1903) by his sister who brought the items over from England. The Tabernacle is said to be priceless. These were sent to the United States and England a few years ago (the later 1980’s) to be refurbished, and are thought of as museum pieces. 3 A church tabernacle is a box-like vessel for the exclusive reservation of the consecrated Eucharist. It is normally made of metal, stone or wood and is lockable and secured to its altar to prevent the consecrated elements within from being removed without authorization. In early Christianity, priests and/or lay people commissioned by them took bread consecrated at the Eucharist to their homes in order to give it to the sick and others unable to attend the celebration; but when the Edict of Milan ended persecution (February 313 AD) and the early church was allowed to practice its religion publicly, the Eucharist was no longer safeguarded in private Christian homes, but was reserved near the church altar. Pipe Organ: This magnificent instrument, located in the loft, was manufactured by CORPS & SON, Finsbury Park, London, established in 1835, and was in- stalled during the consecration service in 1893, and was bought for the price of One Hundred Pounds. 4 During the 1928 and 1933 hurricanes, the organ was dam- aged, whereby some of the keys sank. After the death of the then organist, Mr. George Bethel (organist at St. Patrick’s for 73 years) donations in his memory which amounted to $2,000 were given by friends of his daughter, Ms. Enid Bethel, to de- fray the cost of repairs to the organ. The cost to repair the or- gan was $5,000, of which the church paid the balance. This organ is one of the most beautiful musical instruments in the Bahamas and the oldest. As of 2014, the organ is around 142 years old. Mr. Arthur Rolle is the current organist and has been for the past 45 years. 5 Church Windows: The main church windows of the church were replaced in 2010 under the leadership of Fr. Jonathan Archer (who served August 2003-August 2010) with windows manufactured in North Carolina. Some parts of the old window have been pre- served by a few local parishioners. The wood of the frames is suspected to be Cuban mahogany which at the time was at least 117 years old and had never been in the presence of air conditioning. One parishioner family commissioned an artist to create a chalice out of the very old and extremely dense mahogany window frames, along with 11 crosses to be given to the exist- ing and previous priests. The chalice is used on special occa- sions at St. Patrick’s. 6 The two round stain glass windows above and on each side of the altar were replaced along with the tall windows and shutters on either side of the church in 2010. The area for the round stained glass windows had been cemented over after being destroyed over 60 years ago. Thus for more than 60 years, until 2010, the church did not have windows in these locations. 7 The round windows replaced in 2010. Church Bell: A church bell is rung in the church to signify, in modern times, the hour for worship, a wedding or a funeral. Bells are commonly rung in celebration, such as after a wedding or a thanksgiving, and sometimes a single bell after funerals as the coffin leaves or is interred. The bell is mounted high in a bell 8 tower so it can be heard by the surrounding community. The bell was originally mounted in the Church steeple and could be rung from inside the Church. The bell was moved to its current location in the 1960’s, as a result of the difficulty in servicing the bell in the steeple. The last time the wood shingle cover was rebuilt over the bell was 2014 after hurricane Irene in 2011 and hurricane Sandy in 2012 destroyed the cover. 9 Lichgate: The Lichgate (also spelled as lychgate, lych gate, lycugate) is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English churchyard. The word lych survived into modern English from Old English or Saxon word for corpse, as an adjective in particular phrases such as lych bell, the hand bell rung before a corpse. Lych way, the path along which a corpse was carried to burial and placed on a bier (a stand on which a corpse, coffin or casket is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave), which was supposed to establish a right-of-way. The gateway was really part of the church. Traditionally it was where the clergy met the corpse while part of the service was read before burial. It also served to shelter the pallbearers while the bier was brought from the church. 10 Parish Hall: This was built in 1962 under the guidance of Fr. Foster Pestaina (who served 1956-1962), then Parish Priest at St. Patrick’s. This was a painstaking labor of love. There were many hardships and disappointments, but eventually it was completed. It serves many purposes: the church utilizes the hall for meetings, children’s Sunday School, the Social Outreach ministry stores food for distribution to the commu- nity, thrift shop and church social occasions. The community utilizes the hall for meetings, Government sponsored events, parties, community outreach functions and youth events. The stone planters in front of the Parish Hall were constructed in the summer of 2013. Mr. Brent Petty, a mason from the community, volunteered most of his time to construct the ornamental stone wall.
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