First communion for dreadlocked Anglican priest

The stained glass windows of the 1664 church shimmered in the Half-Way Tree summer sun as history unfolded inside last Tuesday.

For the first time in the Anglican Church in Jamaica, a dreadlocked priest celebrated his first Eucharist.

The Rev Bertram Gayle, the easy-going and gentle priest with an engaging personality and ready smile, administered his first communion to more than 100 worshippers at St Andrew Parish Church. He also officiated the rite on Sunday.

Days earlier, Gayle was ordained as an Anglican priest by the Most Rev Bishop Howard Gregory at the Cathedral of St Jago de la Vega in Spanish Town.

The hallmark of Gayle’s first Eucharist was the strong Jamaican flavor of the service.

From the opening hymn, Enter into Jerusalem, written by Father Richard Ho Lung with adaptations by Gayle, to the closing hymn, All Around are People Hurting, written by the evening’s celebrant, Gayle himself, the elements were richly indigenous. The music throughout the service was spirited and celebratory, with a Revival rhythm for the Lord’s Prayer, Our Father Who Art in Zion.

Much of the liturgy, too, was conducted in Jamaican Creole, including several sentences and readings from the Bible in dialect. The mass setting was written by Daren Evans and Everton Clarke, both young Jamaican composers.

Gayle, a physical fitness devotee, was part of a team that translated the New Testament and the Psalms of David from the Bible into Jamaican Creole in 2012.

Before the service ended, Gayle thanked several members of the clergy for their unwavering support during his journey to priesthood, including the Rev Canon Serrano Kitson, rector of St Andrew Parish Church, and the Rev Fr Sean Major-Campbell, rector of Christ Church in Vineyard Town.

“I feel very privileged, blessed, and very humbled that I have been called to serve around God’s altar and to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Gayle said in a post-communion chat.

“In the spirit of peace and one love, I am excited about what the future holds,” he added.

Gayle hails from Darliston in Westmoreland, and he is one of four priests who were ordained last week. The others were Courtney Carridice, Monnecia Duncan, and Kamar Prendergast

Other clergy in attendance included the Rev Deacon Javanie Byfield, the Rev Fr Craig Mears, and Sister Andrea Taylor-Smith.

editorial@gleanerjm.com