Christmas Day

Quick Diary: December 21-28 2009

Monday 21st:
Morning meeting with the Archbishop at the Diocesan Office in Bridgetown. Gave him a book about Manchester. Short and friendly meeting.
Evening visit with Michael Maxwell to St. Thomas Parish Church for their patronal festival. Michael was preaching. Beautiful church. Bells, smells and procession. Not such a large congregation. No refreshments.

Tuesday 22nd:
Afternoon visit to St. John's Parish to meet Mr and Mrs Ivan Squires, friends of Lionel and Alma Weekes. Ivan is pastoral assistant at St. John's and he took us to the church for a guided visit. Incredible location with breathtaking views; interesting churchyard; very traditional interior.
Went from there to visit Cynthia Nurse- Alma's sister. Suffering badly with toothache.
From there went on to visit Madeline and Champ - more friends of Dorothy - lovely people - lovely home.

Wednesday 23rd:
In afternoon went for meal with Bridgeman and Claudine Forde, members of Holy Trinity Choir. They lived for over 40 years in Oldham and have only been back in Barbados about 6 years. Very interesting insights. Joined later by Marjorie Butcher, Church Warden from Holy Trinity. Very interesting from "church politics" point of view!

Christmas Eve:
Quiet morning writing sermon. Visit to beach in afternoon. Spent evening setting dining room table.
Went to church at 11.30pm for carol singing. Church already packed although the Mass not beginning until midnight. Dorothy, Marva and Glenda struggled to find a seat! Mass from about 12 to 2am. I preached: went quite well though was quite nervous. Over 500 people in church!

Christmas Day:
Three hours in bed then up at 7am. Up to Holy Trinity for the 8am Eucharist. Quieter than last night - just over 200 in church. Preached same sermon - went much better - much more relaxed.
Home about 11am. Went for swim: nobody on beach. Back to Dorothy's about 12.30pm. Guests started to arrive. 11 for lunch. Sat down to eat about 4pm. Lots of food of course! Ended the evening playing dominoes - had a lot of fun.

Boxing Day:
Lazy day. Beach. Not much else. In evening went to Glenda Watson's (near neighbour of Dorothy) to bless the house. Stayed for drinks.

Sunday 27th:
Presided at the 8am Eucharist at Holy Trinity - the main service of the day. All went well.
After church dropped off Marva then called at Mr and Mrs Browne's and met Canadian relatives. To beach for quick swim.
Then to Fr & Mrs Thorne's for lunch (Maurice and Yvonne). He is a retired priest. Lovely family and home. The Maxwells there and Leroy. Wonderful Caribbean cuisine.
In evening to Holy Trinity for the Christmas Cantata at 6pm. Interesting. More like the Colbert Belgrave Show..............Back home by 8pm and watched "Jerry Maguire" on video.

Monday 28th:
Spent morning around ChristChurch looking for hire car for John's arrival tomorrow. Nothing available.
Back for a swim.
Late afternoon to Marva and Douglas's home where I blessed the house - followed by a lovely meal. Douglas Massiah (MR FIX IT) found me a hire car from St. John and we went to collect it.
Back home and watched "The Green Mile" on video.

Second Sunday at Holy Trinity

Dorothy chatting with the Archbishop after church

Dorothy with niece Marva

Marva, Daniel, Dorothy

The new Archbishop of the West Indies, & Bishop of Barbados,

The Rt. Revd. Dr. John Holder

Michael Maxwell and me with the Archbishop

The confirmation candidates with the Archbishop

The Holy Trinity servers team with the Archbishop

On Sunday morning December 20th - Advent 4 - I attended the only service at Holy Trinity which was an 8am service of Holy Eucharist and Confirmation. There were 12 people to be confirmed of all ages. The service was broadcast on local radio and there was particular interest in the event as this was the first public service at which the new Archbishop was officiating. I had met him briefly at the Christmas party on Friday night and I was struck by how unassuming he is: there is no "edge" to him at all and there does not appear to be a grain of pomposity in him - all very refreshing. The service went well - again VERY traditional - indeed the hymms (which were all sung with great gusto by the choir) were verging on the turgid. I led the intercessions. All went well. The service lasted about 2 hours.

I had a quick swim at the local beach at lunchtime as Dorothy was making lunch. In the evening we went back to church to attend the Christingle service which was very well buried in a children's and young people's service. There were some very good items in the service and there are obviously some very talented young people in church - but at 2 hours 45 minutes it was just a little long!

Those Christmas lights!

Me and the Maxwells at the Diocesan Christmas party

The Barbados police band and the banner to welcome the new Archbishop

The decorated houses around Bridgetown

Independence Square

Parliament buildings

This was definitely the winner!

On Friday evening Michael and Dawn Maxwell and their two boys took me to the Barbados Diocesan Christmas Party that was being held in the swanky Grand Barbados Hotel in the bay area of Bridgetown. It was a very big event that was dominated by the big news that the Bishop of Barbados, John Holder, had just been elected as the Archbishop of the West Indies the previous weekend. It is fair to say that Barbados had been doing cartwheels since this news was announced as a Bajan has never before held the post. We did not get back from town until after midnight and I was up at 7am on Saturday to attend a wedding at Holy Trinity at 8am!

I have never heard of an 8am wedding before but the bride was no more that 15 minutes late and the whole thing was over by 9am.

I spent Saturday afternoon on the boardwalk in Christchurch and on the beach at Akkra. In the evening Dorothy's nephew Hal and his wife Margaret took us for a drive to see some of the outlandishly decorated houses around Bridgetown. Quite amazing!

Codrington College: December 18th

The drive at Codrington College, with the lily pond on the right

The wonderful drive at Codrington College - look at those palm trees!

The Principal, Revd. Dr. Ian Rock with my host - Michael Maxwell

The college chapel

The view from the college grounds! It must be the most spectacularly located theological college in the Anglican Communion......

We should have flown at 6.40pm last night but LIAT - the Caribbean airline whose acronymn is said to stand for Leave Island Any Time - was delayed by two hours. It was nearly 9pm when we left St. Vincent for the 30 minute flight back to Barbados. Michael's wife Dawn was there to meet him and they dropped me off at Dorothy's. It was past 11 when we went to bed and we were up at 6 this morning to get ready for Michael who was collecting me at 6.30.

The morning Mass at Codrington was the last of the term - the students leave today for a Christmas break until January 25th. I was privileged to be asked to celebrate as well as preach. There were about 12 ordinands in the congregation. I preached on the Gospel for this Sunday - Advent 4 - the visitation - basically a sermon about Mary. It seemed to be well received. After the Mass we had a very good breakfast in the Refectory with the students. There are two female ordinands in the college. The Dioceses of Belize and the Bahamas seem to be well represented.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Dec 15-17

The hills of St. Vincent

Kingstown Bay, St. Vincent

And again.....

And again.....

And again.....

Some of the sights at the magnificent Botanical Gardens, Kingstown - founded 1765

Servers and clergy lining up before the Ordination Service

Bishop Friday with the new Deacon Richard Kellman

St. George's Cathedral, Kingstown, St. Vincent -

the mother church of the Diocese of the Windward Islands

On Tuesday morning I flew with six others from Holy Trinity to the Eastern Caribbean Island of St. Vincent - Barbados' nearest neighbour (160 miles way) and main island in SVG - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - which group includes the iconic Mustique.

We flew via St. Lucia where we had a delay and so we did not get to St. Vincent until about 1pm - two hours later than planned. There were more hiccups over accommodation but as I am the late comer and gatecrasher to this party I am not going to be complaining! Tuesday afternoon we took a minibus into the main centre - Kingstown - and had a wander around this very small capital. Not much of interest here but we did find the Anglican Cathedral where the ordination is to be held on Wednesday night - a wonderful Georgian building straight out of the Empire. We took an interesting minibus journey back to the hotel - my Bajan friends being more fazed by the dangerous driving than I was. We had a quiet evening.

Wednesday morning we came back into Kingstown and I set off to walk the 30 minutes or so up the steep hill to the south of the bay where Fort Charlotte stands. It was a perfect day - not a cloud to be seen - and it was hot walking but good too and the views from the top were outstanding. I came back down and found my way to the Botanical Gardens which were quite impressive. Both tourist attractions were busy with middle aged pasty Brits who were in Kingstown for the day from "the boat" - a huge P&O cruise ship that dominated the harbour. All locals assumed that I was one of them and I was glad not to be!

I took a minibus part way back to Indian Bay where I got out to swim. As the driver was being handed cups of rum to drink by a female passenger I was very glad to be leaving! St. Vincent is not known for its beaches and Indian Bay is not much to look at but the sea was perfect.

I got back to the hotel about 3 and showered and changed for the Ordination that was taking place at St. George's Cathedral at 5pm. Richard Kellman, who was ordained deacon, is a member of Holy Trinity in Barbados where I am linked during my stay and hence my presence here for this event. The Bishop of the Windward Islands - C. Leopold Friday - had already met us at the airport and made me completely welcome in the vestry prior to the service. There was a good crowd of clergy present and a good congregation. Bishop Friday presided with great dignity and solemnity and it was hard to believe what he later confessed - that this had been his first ordination since his consecration over three years ago -a sign of the state of things in the Church in the West Indies. It was a very traditional service - again very reminiscent of the Church in Wales - nothing dull or tired about it and very well done: it lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes! And of course it included the full works - all smells and bells! After the service we are went up the hill to Bishopscourt to a reception. The rum flowed and I had some good conversation. It was a very happy evening and I was thrilled to be there.

Today - Thursday - I have had a quiet morning in the hotel writing my sermon for tomorrow morning at Codrington College - and have just popped into town to catch up on emails. We fly back to Barbados about 6pm this evening.

First Sunday at Holy Trinity, St. Phillips Parish

With Dorothy and her niece Marva

With Michael Maxwell, the Rector of Holy Trinity

On Sunday December 13th (Advent 3) Dorothy and I were up at 6am in order to get to church by 6.45. She was anxious for me to meet her Rector - Michael Maxwell - before the 7am service. There were plenty of people around when we arrived and I was soon introduced and safely esconsed in the vestry. Michael is in his late 30s - very relaxed - and made me feel completely at home.

I stayed around for the 7am service and the 9am service - both Eucharists - both with very healthy congregations of 100 plus each. The 7am was a said Eucharist with hymns - the 9am a full blown Sung Eucharist. The style of service would be considered High Church in England but here it is the default position and in conducted without any fuss. The hymns were nearly all from A & M Standard which is used in hardly any churches at home - in other words very trad. It was all very welcome and very surprising! I felt completely at home - it was like being back in Llandaff Diocese. In both services I read the Gospel and gave a greeting at the end of the service. Everyone made me extremely welcome.

After the service, an opportunity arose to join a group from the church who are going to St. Vincent on Tuesday of this week to attend the ordination of one of their members. Having discussed it with Dorothy I decided that I would join them and so I will be spending three days this week in St. Vincent - an unexpected island for me to visit!

On Monday morning I went back to Holy Trinity to meet Michael at 10am. He immediately took me to visit Codrington College - the Theological College for the West Indies - and the oldest theological college in the Western Hemisphere (as they never tire of pointing out!). It is in the most stunning location imaginable - high in the Barbados Hills - overlooking the Atlantic. We visited the chapel and met the Principal - the Revd. Ian Rock - who promptly invited me to preach this coming Friday morning at 7am: they like early morning religion in the Caribbean!

From there we went back to the parish to lead a Communion Service in the local hospital of St. Philips for elderly geriatric patients. We then went down into Bridgetown where we called at the Diocesan Office and I made an appointment to meet the Bishop next week. There is a lot of excitement in the Diocese at the moment as the Bishop - John Holder - has just been elected at Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies. I also wangled an invitation to his Christmas party for clergy this coming Friday evening.

In the afternoon we had a funeral to attend at Holy Trinity - Michael was leading and I did some prayers. It was fairly similar to West Indian funerals that I have led in Manchester but with better singing and much more traditionally Anglican!

First Days in Barbados: 7-10 Dec.

Welcome to Barbados! The second swim was here............!

Hal, Dorothy and me at North Point

And again - this time looking towards the Atlantic....

Bathsheba beach on the East Coast

Dorothy's home in St. Philip's where I am staying

The interior of St. Michael's Cathedral

St. Michael's Cathedral

The Fish Market in Bridgetown

Akkra Beach - swim number three!

Parliament Buildings, Bridgetown

After a very busy few days in the UK from the 1st of December, including my Dad's 70th birthday party in Mitton, I flew from Manchester to Bridgetown via Gatwick on Sunday December 6th. The eight hour flight passed very quickly and before we knew it we were circling Barbados with stunning views of Bridgetown and the resorts along the south coast. I couldn't believe how English it looked from from the sky - like the Isle of Man only sunnier!

Dorothy and her niece Vilma were waiting to meet me and in no time at all we had arrived at Dorothy's comfortable home in Atlantic Park, St. Philip's, which is only about ten to fifteen minutes from the airport.

Monday was a wonderfully lazy day with a brief swim at Dorothy's local cove - Sharks' Hole - where the waves were just too choppy to go very far.

On Tuesday Dorothy's nephew Hal took us both on a drive around the island. It was an excellent day getting a feel for the land and what there is to see. Barbados is 21 miles long by 14 miles wide so it is impossible to get lost for very long. We went up to North Point - the most northerly tip of the island. Two great contrasts stand out as a first impression:

- the south of the island is very developed while the north of the island is completely unexploited.

- the wild Atlantic (East) coast is very different to the calm waters of the Caribbean (West) Coast.

But it still feels very English!

Wednesday I came into Bridgetown on my own on the bus and spent the day sorting out my mobile, email, and flights to St. Lucia on the 31st. Attended Holy Communion at St. Michael's Cathedral; met a great guy called Julian in the mobile phone shop who insisted on buying me a beer at 11.30 in the morning; had a delicious flying fish sandwich at the Fish Market; walked along the new board walk to Akkra Beach and swam there. It was a good day.

Today Thursday I have come into Bridgetown again and spent a couple of hours at the Museum in the Parliament Building: the exhibition of Ten Heroes of Barbados is excellent and has helped me to understand the history much better.