Harrowing roof collapse leaves St Peter’s Anglican in ruin

When Hurricane Beryl struck Jamaica seven weeks ago, Reverend Marjorie Downer anticipated that the 83-year-old St Peter’s Anglican Church would sustain damage. However, she was not prepared for the complete collapse of the roof, which has left the church with a multimillion-dollar repair bill.

Located in the Pedro Plains, St Peter’s is the mother church of the six Anglican churches in St Elizabeth.

“The church roof is gone. It’s caved in. It has to be rebuilt. You can’t go in there. Even the benches are covered with the top, so call it, it’s done,” the rector told The Gleaner in a recent interview.

Despite the passage of time, Downer said persons around her were still traumatised, and to her, it all seemed unreal.

“It’s not only the church [building] that is damaged, but where I live as well – the rectory. The roof is gone as well, so I have to be staying with church members down in Treasure Beach,” she said.

According to the retired teacher from Brown’s Town, St Ann, who took up ministry some eight years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic was devastating for her and the dwindling congregation, but the emotional toll in the hurricane’s aftermath surpasses that pain.

Despite the damage, the congregation is still meeting in the church hall in a small wing, the roof of which was spared, giving praise to the Almighty and thanking Him for life, even if without electricity and other amenities.

The rector said that two elderly church members, with whom she has been staying, insisted that she stay with them instead of remaining alone in the rectory during the passage of Hurricane Beryl, a move she is very thankful for.

“It’s a good thing. This family, they said they wouldn’t leave me. They said, ‘You’re not staying there alone’, ... so I hesitantly came down to them, but their roof is gone as well, but not as bad as the rectory. We can’t live in it (the rectory). Everything is almost gone,” said Downer.

GILBERT EXPERIENCE

She said when the family’s roof began lifting off, her mind flashed back to a similar experience she had during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

“I experienced Gilbert, so it was scary, but because I sort of know what it is, we were able to just sit there and talk and pray, talk and laugh, because we know what it was like [before],” Downer said.

“At a point, we just came out watching the rain falling in the living room. Everything got wet,” she said.

During Gilbert, Downer recalled, the roof of the Brown’s Town house in which she lived went after the eye passed. She recalled not having electricity for several months, and now, she was living that reality all over again.

“That’s why I can manage this one, [but] mosquito biting me like mad now and heat killing me. No electricity here or anywhere in this area,” she said at the time she spoke with The Gleaner.

“It’s stressful for me because I don’t have a secretary, and every second somebody calls, ... but people are calling to help and calling to find out [how we are doing], but it’s really stressful,” she said.

“We have been getting help here and there, but the help we need, ... we’re not getting because most of us, all we need is a roof over our heads, and we’re getting [mainly] foodstuff, and so we wouldn’t mind getting some nail and hammer and zinc, but we are thankful that people have remembered us,” Downer added. “But, we are getting on.”

The St Peter’s Anglican Church was built in 1941 and has been seeing a decline in its congregation numbers.

Downer told The Gleaner that the church can hold 300 persons, but since the pandemic, when she started her leadership at that location, she recognised that attendance numbers were falling both at the location and online. Now, between 30 and 40 worshippers show up for services.

“The attendance is not as great as before, but it’s still better than the other churches,” she said.

“Since COVID, many members have died. Some get old. It’s an aged congregation. Most people are old, so many died, and quite a few didn’t come back [after COVID]. They just stay home because they can’t manage to come out,” the rector said.

Downer went to the church in November 2019. She was a former leader at The Church of the Holy Spirit in Portmore, St Catherine, before being ordained in St Elizabeth to oversee the six churches.

The other churches she manages include All Saints Anglican in Newell, Saint Augustine in Mountainside, St Matthew’s in Orange Grove, Saint Paul’s in Barbary Hall, and a chapel called The Epiphany in Bigwoods.

She said that All Saints was also hit by Hurricane Beryl, but the damage was not as severe as at St Peter’s Anglican.

Although reluctant to give an estimate for the repairs, which are yet to begin, Downer pleaded for help, asking persons who want to assist St Peter’s Anglican Church to contact the Diocese of Jamaica and Cayman Islands at 876-926-8925 or 876-926-2498 and indicate that they would like to assist that specific church.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com