Thieves preying on St Ann’s Bay Methodist Church since 2018 fire

WESTERN BUREAU:

Ravaged by fire in February 2018, the 185-year-old St Ann’s Bay Methodist Church is now being targeted by robbers, who have broken into the building on several occasions in recent times, even as the church works to repair the fire damage.

Reports have been made to the police on each occasion, but no one has been apprehended in connection with the incidents, a church member, Cynthia Graham, told The Gleaner.

The church, which opened on Emancipation Day, August 1, 1883, later became the boyhood church of Jamaica’s first proclaimed National Hero Marcus Garvey, who was born in St Ann’s Bay on August 17, 1887.

The theft includes 82 chairs stolen on two occasions, which were loaned to the church by a member in the wake of the fire that had damaged all the benches in the church. Also stolen were two speaker boxes, three microphones, a laptop, and food supplies, cooking utensils, among other items, including several things from the church hall. With the theft of the speaker boxes, another member has loaned the church two, but these are taken home after use each time. Food items are no longer stored in the building.

“For 25 years, the church has had a school-feeding programme for some students at the St Ann’s Bay Primary School. Every time the supplies are brought in, there is a break-in and the items purchased, plus pots, spoons, plates, etc, are stolen. Now the grocery items must be taken home each day,” Graham explained.

One recently installed window has also been damaged.

“On three occasions, we have found that very expensive windows had panes of glass broken by stones,” Graham said.

The 2018 fire, which is the second in the church’s history, left millions of dollars’ worth of damage, including the historic 110-year-old pipe organ.

Head of the Methodist Church in Jamaica, Bishop Everald Galbraith, who served at the church from 1997 to 2002, said then that the church, opening as it did on Emancipation Day, has for many years been connected to Emancipation and has touched many lives and served the community in great ways.

“So it’s very, very painful,” Galbraith said at the time.

In a follow-up story in October 2019, The Gleaner reported that repairs started on the building, but these were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the latest setbacks, Graham has vowed that they will press along with the restoration of the church building, continue to serve the community, and spread the word of God.