{"id":184,"date":"2021-04-29T04:40:42","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T04:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184"},"modified":"2021-05-03T04:34:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T04:34:08","slug":"history-st-johns-church","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184","title":{"rendered":"History &#8211; St. Johns Church"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>History &#8211; St. Johns Church<\/h2>\n<h3>Table of Content<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#early-settlement\">Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#church-building\">The Church Building<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#church-furniture\">Church Furniture<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#services\">Services of the Church<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#music\">Music in the Church<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#churchyard\">The Churchyard<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#rectory\">The Rectory and other property<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#parish-life\">Parish Life in the Early Days<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#references\">Acknowledgments &amp; References<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-335\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg\" alt=\"St. Johns Church\" width=\"700\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1536x1187.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-2048x1582.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 id=\"early-settlement\">Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church<\/h3>\n<p>Tradition says that Pembroke Church was first built in 1621; in 1996 the parishioners celebrate its 3 75th anniversary. Although there is no historical record to support the tradition, there is no record giving any other definite date. All that can be definitely said is that a church existed in Pembroke in October 1618, for at that time the Assizes presented Judith, the wife of Roger Bayley, for disturbing the congregation during Divine service by &#8216;railings, miscalling, and all other uncivil speeches&#8217; in Pembroke tribe church. The records do not help us to determine how many years before 1618 this church was built, but there is reason to think that the Virginia Company had intentions to found a church in Pembroke in 1612 when Governor Moore arrived in his ship, the <em>Plough, <\/em>with the first\u00a0settlers. It was certainly not built immediately, but\u00a0may well have been built in 1615 or 1616.<\/p>\n<p>Bermuda had been claimed by the Virginia\u00a0Company in 1609 following the chance shipwreck of\u00a0the <em>Sea Venture. <\/em>The Company&#8217;s shareholders saw an opport11nity of making money by owning and\u00a0farming shares of land to grow exotic crops to sell in\u00a0England. Consequently, it was important to them to develop a plan for this uninhabited island showing\u00a0the boundaries of their shares, and also to provide\u00a0some means whereby the settlers would have some\u00a0form of government three thousand miles from\u00a0London. The plan was not formulated immediately but was developed and modified over the first years\u00a0of settlement. By 1615, the Company had decided\u00a0that about one-quarter of Bermuda would be set aside as the &#8216;General Land&#8217; to provide revenue to\u00a0support the expense of government, and the\u00a0remaining three-quarters would be divided into eight\u00a0&#8216;tribes&#8217; ( our modern parishes) each containing fifty\u00a0shares to be owned by the individual shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>In the &#8216;General Land,&#8217; there would be shares set aside <em>in <\/em><em>lieu <\/em>of salary for the Governor, the Secretary, and\u00a0other officers, and there would be glebes set aside to\u00a0provide sites for churches and to support the clergy.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Norwood (in later life a parishioner of\u00a0Pembroke and a Council member) was the surveyor\u00a0to determine the details of this plan. Although he\u00a0completed the survey and took it to England in\u00a0161 7, the details of boundaries were not known in\u00a0Bermuda until about 1622. Norwood, following his\u00a0instructions from the Company, laid out only two\u00a0glebes for churches and the support of clergy: one\u00a0on St. George&#8217;s Island, and one in Pembroke. It is\u00a0likely that the Company reasoned that one church\u00a0was needed in St. George&#8217;s, the capital, for official\u00a0functions, and one other, centrally located, would\u00a0serve the population in the main island. Thus the\u00a0churches in St. George&#8217;s and in Pembroke can claim\u00a0to be the oldest church foundations in Bermuda.<\/p>\n<p>The foundation of Pembroke was not,\u00a0however, put into effect until after Governor Moore&#8217;s\u00a0departure in 1615, when many settlers left St.\u00a0George&#8217;s to seek choice tracts to farm on the main\u00a0island on behalf of a shareholder. The colony&#8217;s first\u00a0minister, George Keith, joined the exodus from St.\u00a0George&#8217;s. He probably went to Pembroke where a\u00a0glebe was set aside and was probably the first\u00a0minister to officiate in Pembroke church. A later\u00a0minister, Samuel Lang, is known to have gone to\u00a0&#8216;dwell in Pembroke tribe&#8217; in 1620. The following\u00a0clergy served in Pembroke before the first official\u00a0appointment to Pembroke was made in 1623:<\/p>\n<p>1615-1617\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0George Keith\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Left for Virginia<br \/>\n1617-1619\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Lewis Hughes\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Returned to St. George&#8217;s<br \/>\n1620-1621\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Samuel Lang\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Died<br \/>\n1621-1622\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Lewis Hughes\u00a0 \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 \u00a0Returned to England<\/p>\n<p>On Norwood&#8217;s return to England in 1617 with\u00a0his refined survey and his first-hand detailed account\u00a0of what Bermuda was like, the Company (now the\u00a0Bermuda Company) revised its original plans to\u00a0provide Bermuda with only two churches and two\u00a0clergymen. Lewis Hughes, sent to Bermuda in 1614,\u00a0records that the Company decided in June 1618 that\u00a0it intended to provide for four ministers, and this\u00a0provision was incorporated into the laws for Bermuda of 1622. Two more glebes for the extra two churches and ministers were found by taking one\u00a0from the &#8216;General Land&#8217; which lay in Tuckers Town\u00a0at the boundary with Smith&#8217;s tribe, and the other\u00a0from a strip of unassigned land between\u00a0Southampton and Sandys. The additional churches\u00a0could serve the inhabitants of the main island both\u00a0near its eastern and near its western ends, leaving the\u00a0earlier glebe in Pembroke to serve the central area.<\/p>\n<p>The settlers, however, felt that four churches,\u00a0one in St. George&#8217;s and three on the main island,\u00a0were inconvenient, and petitioned Bermuda&#8217;s House\u00a0of Assembly in May 1623 to allow each tribe to build\u00a0its own church. The Assembly granted the petition,\u00a0and this marks the official foundation of the\u00a0churches of the remaining tribes. Although Bermuda\u00a0and one in each tribe, the Company decreed that the\u00a0number of ministers would be five; throughout the\u00a0seventeenth century under the Company&#8217;s rule,\u00a0Pembroke shared its minister with Devonshire.<\/p>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-191\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pembroke-Tribe-Church-from-South-East-1819.jpg\" alt=\"Pembroke Tribe Church from South East 1819\" width=\"727\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pembroke-Tribe-Church-from-South-East-1819.jpg 1409w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pembroke-Tribe-Church-from-South-East-1819-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pembroke-Tribe-Church-from-South-East-1819-1024x648.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pembroke-Tribe-Church-from-South-East-1819-768x486.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"church-building\">The Church Building<\/h3>\n<p>The earliest churches in Bermuda were\u00a0probably built of wood and stucco, in the\u00a0manner of the half-timbered Elizabethan\u00a0buildings with which the settlers were\u00a0familiar in the England whence they came. The only\u00a0trade mentioned in the early records in connection\u00a0with the building of these churches is that of\u00a0carpentry. Buildings of Bermuda stone did not appear until after 1620 when Governor Butler built\u00a0the State House in St. George&#8217;s of stone &#8216;as an\u00a0invitement of others to do the like&#8217;. One presumes\u00a0that the first church built in Pembroke was of this\u00a0wood-and-stucco type. Just where it was built before\u00a0October 1618 is uncertain. On the one hand, the\u00a0Company had decided in June 1618 that the\u00a0Pembroke church should be located on the glebe,\u00a0which would have put it somewhere near the site of\u00a0the present St. Monica&#8217;s or near the present\u00a0Pembroke Rest Home (the former rectory). On the\u00a0other hand, the building of the church would have\u00a0been started before the Company&#8217;s decision was\u00a0made, let alone made known in Bermuda. It appears\u00a0most likely that the first church was built on or near\u00a0the present site because this was a neck of hard\u00a0ground between the marshes ( which made travel\u00a0difficult in Pembroke in the early days) and thus was\u00a0a convenient location to serve the whole tribe. The\u00a0land .chosen for the site of the church was on a share\u00a0owned by the Earl of Pembroke.<\/p>\n<p>Timbered buildings of the Elizabethan type do\u00a0not fare well in Bermuda&#8217;s climate. Consequently, it\u00a0is highly likely that all of these earliest buildings\u00a0were replaced sometime in the seventeenth century\u00a0by more sturdy churches, with walls of Bermuda\u00a0stone but with roofs thatched in some fashion with\u00a0leaves of the endemic Palmetto palm. The early\u00a0parish minutes and accounts for Pembroke, which\u00a0begin in 1663, give some details of the materials\u00a0bought to repair the church, and these materials are\u00a0more consistent with those needed to repair a stone\u00a0building than one predominantly of wood. They\u00a0also tell us that the parishioners were regularly called\u00a0upon to provide a number of palmetto leaves in\u00a0proportion to their land-holdings, and to gather at\u00a0the church at a certain time to rethatch the roof. It\u00a0was the occasion for a grand party; the parish\u00a0accounts itemise expenses of thatching and they are\u00a0primarily to provide rum, brandy, wine, and sugar clearly, thatching was thirsty work.<\/p>\n<p>Bermuda suffered very severe hurricanes in\u00a01712 and 1716. That of 1712 blew down St.\u00a0George&#8217;s and Smith&#8217;s churches, and the hurricane of\u00a01716 appears to have blown down most of the\u00a0others. It damaged Pembroke church beyond repair.<\/p>\n<p>At a parish meeting held on 14 August 1716, it was\u00a0agreed that the church should be completely rebuilt,\u00a0and teams of parishioners were organised to convey\u00a0stone and lime to the site, and an assessment was\u00a0made to divide the estimated quantity among the\u00a0land-owners in proportion to their holdings. In July\u00a01717, the appointed building committee signed a\u00a0contract with Moses Wellman, the mason, with\u00a0specifications that are summarised below. This\u00a0contract is recorded in the Pembroke minute book,\u00a0and the entry is reproduced in Plate 3.<\/p>\n<p>The church is to be built forty-six feet in\u00a0length and about twenty feet in breadth, with a\u00a0porch and vestry to be each sixteen feet square.\u00a0The floor is to be one foot higher than before,\u00a0and the church walls are to be raised to a height\u00a0of nine feet from the floor to the wall plate and the porch and vestry walls are to be eight feet\u00a0(or thereabouts) high. Two buttresses are to be\u00a0built at each end of the church, and the inside of\u00a0the church roof is to be pointed before the\u00a0ceiling is added. For this work, the vestry will\u00a0pay Moses Wellman or his assigns the sum of\u00a0thirty-two pounds ten shillings (current money)\u00a0at the raising of the roof, and a further thirty-two pounds ten shillings when finished and\u00a0whitewashed, for a total of sixty-five pounds.<\/p>\n<p>The parishioners are to supply split or sawed\u00a0laths and nails, and large stones for the\u00a0foundations which they will lay. The\u00a0parishioners shall also shall make and mix all\u00a0the mortar &#8216;the first time over&#8217; as the workmen\u00a0will require, and shall find two ladders and\u00a0scaffolding.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-236 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Chapter 1-1\" width=\"545\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-1.jpg 545w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-1-300x230.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 545px) 100vw, 545px\" \/>The signatures to this contract are of men\u00a0active in the affairs of the parish at the time. They\u00a0are: Abiel Beek, William Place, John Lowe, Joseph Newman, John Mitchell, Steven Ingham, Nathaniel\u00a0Trott, Samuel Sniith, Joseph Stowe, Thomas Burt,\u00a0Cornelius Hinson, Thomas Dunscomb, Thomas\u00a0Wood, Abraham Adderley, Edward Swan, Benjamin\u00a0Wood, John Pitt, Thomas Morris, John Ward, Joshua\u00a0Whitney, Nathaniel White, William Adams, Adam\u00a0Eve, Richard Harmar, and two others whom we have\u00a0been unable to identify. Many of these surnames are\u00a0still to be found in <span style=\"color: #000000;\">Bermuda<\/span>, and some in Pembroke\u00a0parish.<\/p>\n<p>Other records contain similar building plans\u00a0for other churches blown down in one or other of\u00a0the two hurricanes, and they all have the same form\u00a0and only differ slightly in dimensions. Generally, the\u00a0specifications state that the new church is to be\u00a0much the same as the old church, and there is a\u00a0uniformity of design. Consequently, one is safe in\u00a0assuming that the earlier Pembroke church was very\u00a0similar, at least in size and form, to its replacement.<\/p>\n<p>The church was completed in 1718, as a note in the parish register put it: Be it remembered this 24th October 171 7, the double row of cedar trees was planted around the church in Pembroke Tribe, all within the bounds of the churchyard, and the 17th November following, rafters were raised upon the new church, and it is hoped it will be finished in four months.<\/p>\n<p>The two large cedar trees which are now growing very close to the Hinson Cooper wing are thought to be of this planting, but if they are. they were not planted in the churchyard but on the land\u00a0of Thomas Hall which lay to the north of the church.<\/p>\n<p>At this time, the northern boundary of the\u00a0churchyard lay within the present church, approximately along the line of pillars supporting the north gallery.\u00a0A drawing of this rebuilt church, made in 1819\u00a0By an ininerant artist, J.C.S. Green, is reproduced in Plate 2. One can obtain an idea of the form and size\u00a0Of this early Pembroke Church by viewing old Devonshire church, and the (now Presbyterian) Christ Church, Warwick.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, the church required the\u00a0continual maintenance that buildings in Bermuda do.\u00a0The roof was renewed in 1745, and major repairs were made in 1774 and again in 1776. In 1782 a\u00a0&#8216;best London-made twelve-light&#8217; chandelier was purchased for 45 6s. Notwithstanding these repairs, there was a growing feeling that the church was becoming too small to serve the growth of the population which ws drawn to Pembroke parish by the increasing bustle of the new town of Hamilton. In 1803, the parishioners petitioned the legislature for help, noting that the church could not hold half the inhabitants of this rapidly growing parish, and that the pews were so tied up that it was impossible for a newcomer to get one. No help was forthcoming for that source, and in 1807, a committee reported that the church was in very poor repair; the ceiling needed to be removed and replaced the roof needed patching and repair, and there were several weaknesses which needed to be fixed. This report was discussed at length, and parishioners agreed that the work had to be done\u00a0and raised the money to complete it.<\/p>\n<p>The problem of the inadequacy of the capacy of the church became more pressing as the second decade of the nineteenth century began. A Church Fund was started, but there was controversy as to whether it should be used to enlarge the old church or build a new one in the town of Hamilton. Eventually, in 1818 it was agreed that part of the fund could be used to repair the old church, and the\u00a0remainder be put to building a new church in Hamilton. In May 1820, a parish meeting decided to enlarge the old church by adding to the south of it, but in the following November, the meeting had second thoughts. It then decided to leave the old south wall of the church intact, and enlarge the church to the north and to the east so as to make it\u00a028 feet wide from &#8216;outside to outside&#8217;, and to raise\u00a0the walls to give a 15 foot ceiling.<\/p>\n<p>Once a contract\u00a0was let, the parishioners decided on a number of\u00a0details&#8211;all the windows were to be new &#8216;with an\u00a0arch&#8217; and to contain 24 panes of glass; the whole\u00a0church was to be raised by three courses of stone. It\u00a0was subsequently discovered that the old south wall\u00a0was in a &#8216;shattered&#8217; condition, and could not be built upon, and it was agreed that it be renewed. The\u00a0rector, Coster, was asked to design a new pulpit, and his design in mahogany was accepted. The work was funded by the issuance of certificates which were taken up by parishioners and repaid by an annual assessment of ls per \u00a31 of property value.<\/p>\n<p>A vestry had not been included in the building plans, and it was agreed at a vestry meeting in 1823 that this defect be remedied by building one 18 feet wide by 1 7 feet long, &#8216;to be 16 feet in the clear&#8217; with the door to be in the centre of the north wall of the\u00a0church and one window in the east and one in the\u00a0west &#8216;with arches to correspond&#8217;. The rebuilt church had a gallery in the west end, and in 1829, the vestry authorized the building of a second gallery in the south end to accommodate those who sat in the west gallery which was to be used for the new organ.<\/p>\n<p>In 1831, the growth in the number of black\u00a0parishioners caused consideration of further enlargement of te church. The rector, Lightbourn, and Archdeacon Spencer, urged expansion and offered 50 and 100 from the London Society for the Conversation and Religious Instruction of Negros if the Pembroke parishioners would match this\u00a0donation. The parishioners did not feel that this was\u00a0necessary, arguing that they had already enlarged the church substantially, and that they were disposed to grant as much space as possible; they argued that they had done so, giving back the black people one-fifth of the seats in the church. The rector and the archdeacon returned to urge enlargement in 1833, ut the parishioners felt that they could install more\u00a0seats without adding to the building.<\/p>\n<p>After emancipation of the slaves in 1834, the\u00a0need for more accommodation became even more\u00a0evident to the parishioners. In 1835, with the debt\u00a0of the previous alterations liquidated, the\u00a0parishioners felt that more accommodation could be\u00a0obtained by making adjustments and building a\u00a0&#8216;steeple&#8217;. In June 1836, the parishioners agreed to\u00a0demolish the vestry and add to the north of the\u00a0church, exactly as the 1821 enlargements had added\u00a0to the south. They also agreed to build the tower at\u00a0the west end. The work was put in hand, and it was\u00a0completed in 1838. At this point, the church itself\u00a0was cruciform, perfectly symmetric, and finished\u00a0with the tower at the west end, and so it remained\u00a0without further alteration until 1874. It had also\u00a0encroached on Thomas Hall&#8217;s land at the north, and\u00a0the parishioners bought a strip of land from him for\u00a0$50 to accommodate the new addition and to\u00a0provide access to the new north door.<\/p>\n<p>Major changes were made between 1874 and\u00a01914. In 1874, an apse was added to the east end, in 1886 an organ chamber was built to the\u00a0design of Cardy Hallett on the north-east to house\u00a0the new instrument which had been ordered from\u00a0the firm of Wedlake in London.<\/p>\n<p>In 1900, an addition was made to the southeast\u00a0to the design of Horace H. Hallett, the brother of\u00a0Cardy Windows and doors had to be replaced in\u00a01905 to plans by Mr. Hallett, with the windows\u00a0containing panes of &#8216;cathedral glass&#8217;. A &#8216;lighting\u00a0fund&#8217; was started to install kerosene oil lamps, and\u00a0the Service Book records that the Christmas Eve\u00a0service in 1899 was &#8216;the first evening service held in\u00a0this church&#8217;. The sidesmen spearheaded a campaign\u00a0in 1907 to light the church with acetylene gas; these\u00a0lamps were suspended from the ceiling as can be\u00a0seen in Plate 4. The St. John&#8217;s Guild raised money to\u00a0convert to electric light in 1923.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-237 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"Chapter 1-2\" width=\"700\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-2.jpg 760w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-2-300x221.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>In 1914, the apse was demolished and the\u00a0present chancel and apse were built to the design of\u00a0J.H. Dale, together with a new organ chamber and a\u00a0vestry, and the services of Horace H. Hallett were\u00a0called upon again for the new apse. The new\u00a0chancel was first used on 19 July 1914. This enlargement was accomplished through the\u00a0generosity of a bequest by the late Frances Russell\u00a0Reid of Pembroke Hall. The addition built in 1886\u00a0to house the organ and now vacant, was designated\u00a0as a memorial chapel by the vestry in 1921.<\/p>\n<p>The vestry began a discussion in 1937 of the possibility of a further addition to provide a better\u00a0vestry room. Mr. Hinson Cooper was asked to\u00a0prepare plans, and a fund was started. In 1939, four\u00a0graves on the site of this addition were cleared by\u00a0transferring the remains to the new north cemetery,\u00a0but the fund had collected only a little more than\u00a0half of the estimated cost. The shortage of funds,\u00a0together with the onset of World War II, caused the\u00a0project to be temporarily halted. The new wing,\u00a0containing a vestry, a choir room, and a parish\u00a0meetirig room in memory of Hinson Cooper, a longserving\u00a0churchwarden, was completed and blessed in\u00a0October 1973.<\/p>\n<p>All these changes are depicted in Plate 1, and\u00a0Plate 4 shows the interior view, with the church\u00a0dressed for Easter, taken from a postcard made in\u00a0about 1909.<\/p>\n<p>The apse of 1874 had been floored in 1883\u00a0with Minton tiles which were given as a memorial to\u00a0the Hon. Joseph Wood, Samuel Saltus, and Donald\u00a0McPhee Lee. These three gentlemen were close\u00a0friends and pillars of society and of Pembroke\u00a0church. Saltus left his house, &#8216;Westfield&#8217;, to the\u00a0rectors and vestry as a rectory, and the residue of his\u00a0estate to found a school which became known as the\u00a0Saltus Grammar School; Wood was a legislator and\u00a0lived at &#8216;Woodlands&#8217;, the large house which is on the\u00a0School&#8217;s property; and Lee established the Royal\u00a0Gazette in 1828 and ran it until his death in 1883.<\/p>\n<p>The Minton tiles were badly laid in 1883, and had to\u00a0be re-laid in 1896. It was intended that they be\u00a0transferred to the new apse when it was built in\u00a01914, but most were broken in the attempt to raise\u00a0them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-238 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-3.jpg\" alt=\"Chapter 1 - 3\" width=\"700\" height=\"547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-3.jpg 667w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-1-3-300x234.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>In 1967, it was agreed to improve the baptistry\u00a0by moving the gallery stairs from the south to the\u00a0north side. As work was begun, it was found that\u00a0the gallery was in poor condition, and a major\u00a0renovation had to be undertaken. In the process, it\u00a0was discovered that the pillars, long covered with a dark brown paint, were of cedar. These were\u00a0stripped and cleaned. The front panels, painted the\u00a0same dark brown, were found to be of pine. The\u00a0vestry ordered that they be replaced by the cedar\u00a0panels which can be seen today The vestry agreed\u00a0that this treatment be extended to the pillars and\u00a0fronts of the north and south galleries also. The\u00a0north gallery had to be strengthened to carry the\u00a0weight of the nave organ when that was installed in\u00a01968.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to add to the carillon of bells in\u00a01970 revealed that a major reconstruction of the\u00a0tower was necessary and was promptly put in hand.\u00a0A major programme of repair and restoration of the\u00a0church fabric was begun in May 1983; a service of\u00a0thanksgiving on its completion was held in\u00a0December 1984.<\/p>\n<p>The demand by a number of the parishioners for the building of a second church to accommodate population growth, with a preference for a site in the town of Hamilton, was satisfied by the building of Trinity Church on the site of the present Bermuda Cathedral. This was begun in 1844. It was built in a gothic style and the chancel and transepts were completed by 1855, at which time it was consecrated by Bishop Feild. It was also known as the Chapel of Ease of St. John&#8217;s. The early records of baptisms, marriages, and burials which were performed in Trinity Church were entered in the St. John&#8217;s Registers. The building was completed in 1883 but destroyed by fire set by an arsonist in 1884. The rebuilding of Trinity Church, which later became the Bermuda Cathedral, was undertaken by a building committee in the national, rather than parish, interest.<\/p>\n<p>In 1899, the Rector, James Davidson, argued strongly for a Mission Church to serve the people in what had become a densely populated part of the parish. Funds were collected, and a building erected on the glebe. It was dedicated to St. Monica and was opened for service in May 1907. A second mission church, St. Alban&#8217;s, quickly followed in September of the same year. Both began as Sunday Schools, but St. Monica&#8217;s developed as Mission Church and added a sanctuary in 1928 and a church hall in 1940. The need for a further mission station was met by the opening of St. Augustine&#8217;s in 1911. Although St. Alban&#8217;s had a very active life as a Sunday School and a church for a period, it is no longer used, being much closer to St. John&#8217;s. St. Monica&#8217;s and St. Augustine&#8217;s, however, both thrive to this day and require separate chapters to describe their development.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-188 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/St-Johns-Church-Building.jpg\" alt=\"St Johns Church Building\" width=\"678\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/St-Johns-Church-Building.jpg 678w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/St-Johns-Church-Building-300x209.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 id=\"church-furniture\">Church Furniture<\/h3>\n<p>The early church had box pews. These were\u00a0complete boxes, fitted with a door giving on\u00a0to the aisle, and had plank seats. Some were\u00a0single, having seats along one side, others\u00a0were double, having seats on both sides so that the\u00a0occupants faced each other. In the earliest days, the\u00a0pews were assigned to individuals by the churchwardens\u00a0in accord with the parishioner&#8217;s rank and\u00a0position; the men were seated on one side of the\u00a0aisle and the women on the other. Making these\u00a0assignments in such an equitable manner as to satisfy\u00a0differing views of the social hierarchy was a task\u00a0fraught with difficulty. Southampton&#8217;s difficulties\u00a0were so extreme as to bring the matter before the\u00a0Governor and Council in 1627, and Devonshire\u00a0recorded difficulties after their new church was built\u00a0in 1718. Pembroke, however, records no such\u00a0troubles, and the practice of segregating the men\u00a0from the women appears to have been replaced by\u00a0family pews at some quite early date.<\/p>\n<p>Once pews were assigned, families regarded\u00a0their pew as personal property and early wills often\u00a0contain a pew as a bequest. In 1775, the legislature\u00a0passed an Act <em>or the more regular Payment o the\u00a0<\/em><em>Clergy, <\/em>under which pewholders were to pay an\u00a0annual rent for their pew. After the passage of the\u00a0act, each parish held an auction at which families\u00a0and individuals bid for the pew of their choice, or for\u00a0a seat in a pew. This accomplished some\u00a0redistribution of the seats, but generally, the families\u00a0retained the pews for which they now paid an annual\u00a0rent. Each year, the churchwardens listed the pews\u00a0which had become available, usually because the\u00a0&#8216;owner&#8217; had died or had removed from the parish.<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0Pembroke, these were few, and a newcomer had\u00a0difficulty in obtaining accommodation. This became\u00a0extreme in the early nineteenth century, and was a\u00a0major pressure for enlarging the church. With the\u00a0diplomatic help of the rector, Alexander Ewing, the\u00a0parishioners were persuaded to give up their rights to pews and allow them to be auctioned afresh in 1803. This achieved some redistribution, and\u00a0allowed a few newcomers to obtain pews, but the\u00a0demand for pews continued to exceed the number\u00a0available. In 1775, Pembroke had 25 pews on its list;\u00a0this number increased to 54 with the rebuilding of\u00a01821, of which two were reserved: one for the\u00a0Governor and one for the Admiral when in\u00a0residence.<\/p>\n<p>When the church was rebuilt between 1821\u00a0and 1838, the Pembroke vestry agreed that doors and\u00a0book-rests were to be installed on all pews, and those\u00a0who had already put doors on their pews were to be\u00a0refunded. The box pews were removed in September\u00a01883, and the picture of the interior taken by J.B.\u00a0Heyl, as well as that of <em>Plate 4, <\/em>shows what older\u00a0members of the congregation will remember as the\u00a0old open pews of which a few are retained in the\u00a0west gallery. This change increased the number of\u00a0pews substantially.<\/p>\n<p>These pews served well until they were\u00a0severely weakened by termites and were replaced\u00a0with the present ones in 1969 and 1970. They were\u00a0made in the shop of Burland, Conyers, and Marirea under the supervision of David Ifor Nisbett.<\/p>\n<p>The practice of renting pews was considered by\u00a0the vestry in 1962. It was decided to continue the\u00a0practice but the rates were increased. This was not a\u00a0successful move, and the practice was discontinued.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Pulpit, Reading Desks, Altars:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The pulpit is that originally built in 1821. It was originally installed at the crossing of the nave with\u00a0the transepts on the northwest corner (see <em>Plate 4),\u00a0<\/em>but was cut down a foot or so when it was installed in its present position after the chancel was built in 1914. The silver reading desk on it was added in\u00a01954 in memory of the Rev. Eustace Mordaunt\u00a0Strong, donated by Maud and Morris Gibbons. The\u00a0&#8216;Communion Table and Altar&#8217; which was obtained\u00a0under Lyttleton&#8217;s incumbency was made by Mr.\u00a0Johnson for \u00a34 in 1769; it is probably the small\u00a0graceful cedar table which is now used as a credence\u00a0table for the nave altar and sits under the pulpit;\u00a0certainly, this table is of the style and has the patina\u00a0of this period. The portable nave altar itself was\u00a0made from old mahogany of the church by Ifor\u00a0Nisbett in 1973.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-195 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Carved-Cedar-Board-1625.jpg\" alt=\"Carved Cedar Board 1625\" width=\"399\" height=\"484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Carved-Cedar-Board-1625.jpg 567w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Carved-Cedar-Board-1625-247x300.jpg 247w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/>Thomas Packwood was commissioned to build\u00a0a reading desk in 1774 for \u00a35 <em>2s, <\/em>and this is the reading desk behind the pulpit on the north side of the chancel. The &#8216;branches&#8217;, <em>i.e. <\/em>the candalabra, on it\u00a0and on the pulpit were purchased in 1833. The\u00a0reading desk on the south side is a copy made by a\u00a0master shipwright, A.G. Cresdee, and presented by\u00a0him in May 1948. Cresdee also made the elegant\u00a0mahogany prayer desk, now in the memorial chapel;\u00a0it was presented by his wife, Gertrude A. Cresdee in\u00a01945.<\/p>\n<p>There is preserved in the vestry a cedar board\u00a0with a carved design <em>(<\/em><em>Plate <\/em>6) and the date 1625.\u00a0This had been found behind the pulpit when it was\u00a0moved. It is actually two boards, now joined\u00a0together with one at the top and one at the bottom.\u00a0Its origin is unknown, but it is likely to have been a\u00a0<em>Plate <\/em>6. The carved cedar board with date 1625\u00a0part of a significant piece of furniture, <em>e<\/em><em>.<\/em><em>g<\/em><em>. <\/em>a pulpit or\u00a0a reading desk, which had been installed in the\u00a0church in 1625.<\/p>\n<p>The altar in the present apse was presented by a large group of parishioners in memory of their beloved dead whose remains lie in the churchyard. The panelling was provided by the vestry from parish funds. The altar and panelling were dedicated on 20 June 1915. The altar replaced an &#8216;altarpiece&#8217; which had been bought by private subscription in Halifax in November 1823.~ The sanctuary also contains a walnut credence table (on the south side), the gift of Bishop Feild. The altar rail of walnut on decorated iron supports was made in Halifax in 1874 and given by Hon. Thomas S. Reid. It was originally installed in the 1874 apse and reinstalled in the new apse in 1914.<\/p>\n<p>On each side of the sanctuary arch, facing the congregation, is the Decalogue, spread over two panels, one on the north and one on the south. They are painted on canvas mounted on a wooden frame and are said to have been executed and presented by one of the daughters of Governor Lefroy whose term ran from 1871 to 1874. The brass eagle lectern was presented by Governor George Henry Barker in memory of his wife, Frances Isabella, in January 1902. The cedar portable lectern of simple and pleasing design was made by the late George Trott, cabinetmaker, and was presented by the parents of Andrew William Doughty in commemoration of his ordination to the priesthood on 30 June 1983.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Memorial Chapel<\/em><em>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When the organ was moved from the organ chamber built in 1886 to its present location, the old organ chamber was initially used to provide additional seating. In 1921, the vestry designated this space as a memorial chapel and considered a plan whereby the reredos, <em>i<\/em><em>.<\/em><em>e<\/em><em>. <\/em>the panelling behind the altar, together with the altar itself would be\u00a0presented in memory of Bishop Llewellyn Jones,\u00a0Bishop Feild&#8217;s successor, by a number of parishioners\u00a0who had been confirmed by him. This plan\u00a0apparently was not completely put into effect,\u00a0because on 6 April 1933, the Service Book records a\u00a0dedication service of the furniture in the memorial\u00a0chapel. The altar, reredos, and panelling were the\u00a0gift of Miss Nellie Thompson in memory of her\u00a0parents; the communion rail was the gift of Olivia\u00a0Estelle Groves in memory of Benjamin William and\u00a0Olivia Jane Walker and of Dagmar H. Dickinson; the\u00a0credence table was the gift of friends in memory of\u00a0Helen Darrell, and the dwarf screen was a gift of the congregation.<\/p>\n<p>In April 1924, a lectern for the memorial\u00a0chapel was dedicated. It was a gift of Mrs. Rhoda\u00a0Elizabeth Alice Jackson in memory of her son, Cyril\u00a0Healey Jackson, who was killed in action in World\u00a0War I in 1915. The pedestal was made in 1850 by\u00a0Cyril&#8217;s father, the celebrated black woodworker, John Henry Jackson, of choice and beautifully figured\u00a0cedar. It had been exhibited in the Crystal Palace\u00a0Exhibition of 1851 in London where it had won the\u00a0distinction of being &#8216;highly commended&#8217;. The bookrest\u00a0was made by Mr. W Tite to plans sketched by\u00a0&#8211; Mrs. Jackson. It is now in the south transcept.<\/p>\n<p>Also in the memorial chapel is the aumbry and\u00a0sanctuary lamp presented in memory of Mrs. Lena\u00a0Peel in 1973, and a prayer desk in mahogany\u00a0presented by Governor Sir Edwin and Lady Leather\u00a0in 1977. A crucifix, or <em>Christus Rex, <\/em>had been\u00a0presented by the St. John&#8217;s Guild in 1983 in\u00a0commemoration of the amalgamation of the guilds of\u00a0St. John&#8217;s and of St. Alban&#8217;s which had taken place\u00a0the year before. It hung in the reredos of the\u00a0memorial chapel until it was stolen.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Font:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The question of providing a font was frequently\u00a0discussed in the minutes. The churchwardens were\u00a0instructed to procure a baptismal font to be made of\u00a0stone &#8216;taken from the caves or limestone&#8217; in 1824. In\u00a01833, the vestry ordered a pedestal for the font. But\u00a0in 1847, the vestry minutes note that a stone font\u00a0was presented to the church by Vice-Admiral Sir\u00a0Francis Austen and family. Still later, the rector,\u00a0Mark James, urged the provision of a new font in\u00a0celebration of Queen Victoria&#8217;s Diamond Jubilee. A\u00a0subscription was raised, the present font was\u00a0obtained and dedicated by Bishop Llewellyn Jones in\u00a0February 1898, just three months before the Rev.\u00a0MarkJames died. It was made in Exeter, England,\u00a0with a base of Portland stone, the font of Caen stone\u00a0with a small shaft of Mansfield stone to relieve the\u00a0work. It is said that it replaced an iron font, and\u00a0was, at that time, located at the intersection of the\u00a0nave with the transepts. The removal of the font to\u00a0its present location took place after the building of\u00a0the chancel in 1914. The marble floor in the present\u00a0baptistry was dedicated in June 1915.<\/p>\n<p>The Baptistry was restored in commemoration\u00a0of the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most\u00a0Reverend Michael Ramsay, in May 1968.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Chairs<\/em><em>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 1826, the vestry authorised the construction of\u00a0two chairs, to a design by Archdeacon Spencer, in\u00a0anticipation of the arrival of Bishop Inglis. These\u00a0two, carved in cedar, now grace the north and south\u00a0sides of the sanctuary.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Windows<\/em><\/strong><em>:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Pembroke church contains some fine stained-glass\u00a0windows which are memorials to bishops, to farmer\u00a0clergy, or to parishioners. That to Bishop Feild is the\u00a0northern window in the sanctuary, and that to Bishop\u00a0Llewellyn Jones is in the south wall of the chancel.<\/p>\n<p>Former clergy are remembered by the windows to\u00a0the Rev. Joseph Fraser Lightbourn on the south side\u00a0of the sanctuary, to the Rev. Canon Mark James on\u00a0the south wall of the chancel, and to the Rev. Canon\u00a0Nowel B. Chapman on the west side of the north\u00a0transcept. The Chapman window was designed by\u00a0Professor Wolfe of the Fine Arts Department of\u00a0Syracuse University, N .Y.. Memorials to parishioners\u00a0or their families are the most numerous. The central\u00a0east window was given by Frances Russell Reid in\u00a0memory of her family. It, with the windows to\u00a0Bishop Feild and to the Rev. J .F. Lightbourn to the\u00a0north and to the south of it, formed a unit, made by James Ballentine &amp; Son, Edinburgh, after designs by Herdman R.S.A .. These windows were originally in the apse of 1874, and were moved to the new apse\u00a0when it was built in 1914.<\/p>\n<p>The four-light east window of the south\u00a0addition, representing the Adoration of the Magi, is a\u00a0memorial to Robert Alexander Tucker. Other\u00a0families memorialized by windows are (in clockwise\u00a0progression) Adolphus John Harvey and his wife,\u00a0Hon. Eugenius Harvey, Hon. James Tucker (circular\u00a0window over the south gallery), Leveson H.S. Heyl,\u00a0Benjamin John Alfred Hayward and his wife,\u00a0Theodore White (in the baptistry, designed by\u00a0Vivienne Gardiner), L.G.B. Powell (the two lights in the west gallery), the John Greenslade family, Arnold\u00a0Randolph Vaucrosson (circular window over the\u00a0north gallery), Emma Maria Conyers, and Lt. Walter\u00a0Neville Conyers, killed in action in 1916 (both in the\u00a0memorial chapel) .<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Bells<\/em><em>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The church always had a bell, and in 1838 the sexton was instructed that the bell be rung for 15 minutes before services. But in 183 7 it was deemed &#8216;insufficient&#8217;, and a new one was erected in 1842. It, in turn, was deemed &#8216;insufficient&#8217; and yet another new one was installed in 1860. It was a 31-inch bell, weighing 672lbs from John Warner &amp; Sons, Bellfounders, in England. After it was installed, a floor was built under the bell, and the concourse below was ceiled. The bell was fixed since the vestry members were afraid that ringing it by a wheel might &#8216;prove injurious to the structure of the tower&#8217;. The bell was supplemented by a carillon of thirteen bells, cast in the foundry of John Taylor &amp; Sons, Loughborough, England, and was first heard in January 1913. They were a gift by Mrs. Conyers in memory of her late husband, James Adam Conyers.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently, the same firm enlarged the carillon to\u00a025 bells by the generosity of a number of\u00a0parishioners whose names are recorded on a bronze\u00a0plaque under the west gallery. It first pealed forth on 20 December 1970. An electric striking mechanism\u00a0with a keyboard was given by A.E. Nichol in\u00a0memory of his wife.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Church Silver and Vestments:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>A communion cup, with other furniture, was sent as a gift to Pembroke tribe in 1620. It is possibly this\u00a0set, described as &#8216;consisting of one cup and two\u00a0pa tens&#8217; and &#8216;injured and hardly fit for use from long\u00a0wear&#8217; which the vestry sent to New York to be\u00a0exchanged for &#8216;two silver cups and two patens&#8217; in\u00a01839. The Service Books record other gifts and thee\u00a0dedication, amongst which are the following:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-196\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Furniture-donors.jpg\" alt=\"Furniture donors\" width=\"744\" height=\"651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Furniture-donors.jpg 992w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Furniture-donors-300x263.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Furniture-donors-768x672.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"services\">Services of the Church<\/h3>\n<p>The instructions issued to Governor Moore\u00a0in 1612 enjoined him to effect &#8216;a religious\u00a0government&#8217;. The charter, granted by James\u00a0I to the Bermuda Company in 1615, went a\u00a0stage further and required that all the governors of\u00a0the Company, as well as all those who went to settle,\u00a0were to swear to the oaths of allegiance and\u00a0supremacy, which bound them all to allegiance to the\u00a0reigning monarch of England and to the Church of\u00a0which the monarch was the head. Thus all settlers\u00a0were required to be of the Church of England, but as\u00a0we have noted in Chapter III, the distance between\u00a0the settlers and the potential wrath of the\u00a0ecclesiastical authorities in England made the due\u00a0observance of the oath a matter of little concern.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth I had added all colonies overseas to the see\u00a0of the Bishop of London, and Bermuda was\u00a0automatically included in 1612. London was chosen,\u00a0it is believed, simply because the early settlements\u00a0had been established by companies of London\u00a0merchants, and their business addresses were in the\u00a0city of London.\u00a0Bermuda was not settled by people seeking\u00a0religious freedom, as motivated the settlers who\u00a0sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth Colony\u00a0in what is now Massachusetts, or those who still later\u00a0(1629) went to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Bermuda settlers came out in the hope of\u00a0a living better than that which they had in England.<\/p>\n<p>Some came as &#8216;factors&#8217; i.e. agents for the owners of\u00a0shares of land, and others as tenants of the owners\u00a0on terms which allowed them half of the produce of\u00a0the land under their lease. Still, others came as indentured servants which, in many respects, was a\u00a0euphemism of the time for slavery of those who were\u00a0sent out from England as labourers to work the land\u00a0and grow produce, mainly tobacco, for the English\u00a0market. The Church in the seventeenth century\u00a0ministered to a farming community, for Bermuda&#8217;s\u00a0development of the carrying trade with ships did not\u00a0occur until the next century.<\/p>\n<p>The church services initially were those of the\u00a0Book o Common Prayer, but in 1620 Governor Butler\u00a0translated the services for the Eucharist and for\u00a0Marriage from a Genevan rite used in Guernsey\u00a0which had a sanction (if not approval) from James I.<\/p>\n<p>This was done to settle differences between the two\u00a0ministers, Lewis Hughes and Samuel Lang, and it\u00a0was urged by Butler on the grounds that the different\u00a0churchmanships of these two clerics confused the\u00a0people. Butler would have liked to achieve\u00a0uniformity, but despaired of getting this in Bermuda\u00a0when &#8216;all the bishops in England could not [achieve\u00a0it] there&#8217;. Nonetheless, these two headstrong clerics\u00a0accepted the compromise, but it was short-lived.<\/p>\n<p>Writing in 1646, Nathaniel White noted that the\u00a0people did not believe that they were lawfully\u00a0married unless the service from the Book of Common\u00a0Prayer was used. Nonetheless, considering the\u00a0preferences of the seventeenth-century clergy as noted in Chapter III, the Book o Common Prayer was\u00a0soon discarded. Particularly during Sampson Bond&#8217;s\u00a0tenure of nearly thirty years, the services in\u00a0Pembroke were those of the Congregational Church\u00a0of Massachusetts, and a visitor from Boston would\u00a0have felt completely at home.<\/p>\n<p>After the government of Bermuda was\u00a0transferred from the Bermuda Company to the\u00a0Crown in 1684, Henry Compton as Bishop of\u00a0London enforced the use of the Book o Common\u00a0Prayer of the 1662 edition. One reaction against this\u00a0by some Bermudians was the formation of what is\u00a0now Christ Church, Warwick, which obtained its\u00a0first minister from Massachusetts in 1718. In\u00a0Pembroke, however, the congregational habits of the\u00a0people gradually turned to a comfortable acquiescence\u00a0with what today we would call low-church\u00a0Anglicanism.<\/p>\n<p>The service of Morning Prayer was the staple, which, conveniently, could be led by lay readers, since in the eighteenth century no church could expect a service from its rector more frequently than once in four weeks. There are records of the sending out to the colonies books of homilies, and one presumes that they were used by the lay readers to supply the sermon. It was also common practice for \u00b7the parish to save up its infants for baptism on the 5unday that the rector did come, and on these occasions, the service of baptism, usually for several children at a time, was combined with Morning Prayer.<\/p>\n<p>The surplice returned to use, and the old account books of Pembroke show entries beginning as early as 1739: &#8216;To washing the surplice and Table linen twice- 5s 4d.&#8217; Likewise, the account books show entries for the provision of bread and wine for\u00a0Communion, but the frequencies of these entries\u00a0suggest that the Eucharist was not celebrated more\u00a0than about four times a year.<\/p>\n<p>With the passage of the act of 1820 and the\u00a0provision of one cleric for two parishes, each church\u00a0could count on a service from its Rector each Sunday,\u00a0in the morning on one Sunday, and in the afternoon on the next.<\/p>\n<p>The usual Sunday Services in Pembroke since\u00a0the 1820 Act consisted of Morning Prayer, the Litany,\u00a0and Ante-Communion all together with a sermon\u00a0when the service was held in the morning, and\u00a0Evening Prayer for those held in the afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Special services were held for the Lodges and\u00a0Friendly Societies as they celebrated their major feast days, including a service of Vigil at 4:00 a.m. on\u00a0Christmas morning for the Loyal Order of Good\u00a0Shepherds.\u00a0On the first Sunday in Lent was held the\u00a0service of Commination or the Denouncing of God&#8217;s Anger and Judgements against Sinners. The service\u00a0books frequently note that the service of Churching\u00a0of Women, or the Thanksgiving of Women after\u00a0Childbirth, was held, presumably on a personal basis with the new mother.<\/p>\n<p>Through most of the nineteenth century, the\u00a0Holy Eucharist was infrequently celebrated, probably\u00a0not more than about four times a year. The change\u00a0towards making the Euchrist the central service was\u00a0begun in 1872 by the newly-i11ducted rector, Mark\u00a0James, who gave notice that henceforth there would\u00a0be a celebration of the Eucharist once a month at the\u00a0regular Sunday morning service. The congregation\u00a0accepted this, and these services drew about 100\u00a0communicants. James also began celebrations on\u00a0major feast days such as Epiphany and Ascension\u00a0Day.<\/p>\n<p>James Davidson (who followed Mark James)\u00a0continued this practice. Since Davidson had the\u00a0benefit of a full-time curate, he introduced more\u00a0weekday services. The practice of alternate morning\u00a0and afternoon services continued until 1921 when,\u00a0by an act of the local Legislature, Pembroke and\u00a0Devonshire were made separate livings.<\/p>\n<p>Gradually the pattern of Sunday services at St.\u00a0John&#8217;s changed and the parishioners had a\u00a0celebration of Holy Eucharist at 8:00 a.m., Morning\u00a0Prayer (on about half the month&#8217;s Sundays) at 11:00\u00a0a.m., and Evening Prayer at 7:30 p.m., the late hour\u00a0being possible since the church was first lighted in\u00a01899. Holy Communion gradually replaced Morning\u00a0Prayer at the 11:00 a.m. services, but eventually, the 11:00 o&#8217;clock service was moved to 9:30 a.m., and Morning Prayer followed at 11:00 a.m. on the first\u00a0Sunday of the month. The service of Morning Prayer\u00a0was discontinued in 1986 because of lack of support.<\/p>\n<p>The Holy Eucharist was celebrated also, as now, at\u00a08:00 a.m.\u00a0In 1968, the experimental rite known as Series\u00a0II began to be used at sung Eucharists in place of the\u00a0Book o Common Prayer. Series II was replaced by\u00a0Rite A from the Alternative Services Book in\u00a0September 1983, and it was used, as now, at sung\u00a0Eucharists and at weekday celebrations. The Office\u00a0of Holy Communion from the Book o Common\u00a0Prayer continued (and continues) to be used for the\u00a0said Eucharist on Sundays at 8:00 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>All rectors throughout the history of Bermuda\u00a0were conscientious in administering the lesser\u00a0sacraments of baptism and marriage and providing a sermon at funerals. As we have noted, baptisms\u00a0usually were performed in conjunction with Morning\u00a0Prayer in the church, but, naturally, when\u00a0circumstances required, they were performed\u00a0privately either at the house of the child or at the rectory.<\/p>\n<p>Burials were performed in accordance with\u00a0Bermuda&#8217;s custom under which the interment took\u00a0place within twenty-four hours of death. Since St.\u00a0John&#8217;s had the only cemetery in Pembroke until\u00a01880, all burials in it were conducted by the rector,\u00a0whether the deceased was a member of St. John&#8217;s or\u00a0not. This practice raised problems when the clergy\u00a0of the Methodists and other denominations wished\u00a0to perform the burial service for their own members;\u00a0this matter is described in Chapter VIII.<\/p>\n<p>Marriages were generally solemnized at the house of the bride (or of a relative) in accord with long-standing custom, beginning with the early settlement. The Bermuda Company had sent out several instructions to the Governors to stamp out this practice but to no avail. Lyttleton, in the eighteenth century, attempted to insist that marriages be solemnized in the church. His success was short-lived since in the nineteenth century the performance of marriage in the bride&#8217;s house was a common practice. This did not change until the present century A story is recorded of one of Lyttleton&#8217;s marriages in an unspecified church, which could very well have been Pembroke.<\/p>\n<p>An Irish military captain was to be married to a Bermudian girl and met Lyttleton by appointment at the church, only to find that it was locked and that the churchwardens one of whom had the key, were away on business elsewhere in the Island. Lyttleton agreed to perform the ceremony in the church porch and sent to a neighbour for a copy of the Book o Common Prayer\u00a0The neighbour mischievously removed a page of the\u00a0marriage ceremony. The ceremony began, and after the\u00a0groom had plighted his troth, Lyttleton turned\u00a0the bride and to the next page only to find the page missing.<\/p>\n<p>Accordingly, a second prayer book was sent\u00a0for, and by the time it had arrived, dusk had fallen.\u00a0Nevertheless, Lyttleton soldiered on, and the couple\u00a0were duly married.\u00a0The couple then repaired to the bride&#8217;s house\u00a0where the wedding supper began with a profusion\u00a0delicacies and much liquid refreshment. The\u00a0captain&#8217;s friends became tipsy and rowdy, and the\u00a0bride, fearing for her safety, fled upstairs to the\u00a0stronghold of her bedroom and locked the door. ln\u00a0vain did the groom plead to gain admittance.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing daunted, he found a ladder and climbed up\u00a0to her window He had only just got his head over\u00a0the sill when the bride realised her privacy was being invaded and instinctively slammed the wind\u00a0sash down on his neck. Equally instinctively, the\u00a0groom kicked, and the ladder fell away from the\u00a0house. Then only did the bride realise that the\u00a0intruder was her new husband, and with great\u00a0solicitude raised the window. Whereupon the\u00a0husband fell to the yard below. The story ends at\u00a0this point, concluding only with the comment that\u00a0was four weeks before matrimonial relations could\u00a0begin.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"music\">Music in the Church<\/h3>\n<p>Music was always an important feature of\u00a0the services in Pembroke Church. From\u00a0the earliest days up to the introduction of\u00a0an organ, the direction of the music was\u00a0in the hands of the parish clerk.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Canons of 1604, which officially\u00a0governed the church in Bermuda, state clearly that\u00a0the parish clerk was an appointment by the rector,\u00a0the parish meetings in Bermuda regularly took under\u00a0their jurisdiction this appointment along with the\u00a0appointments of churchwardens, and other officers.<\/p>\n<p>Generally, the parish clerk continued in office for\u00a0several years, and the parish meeting did not always\u00a0record \u00b7an officially renewed appointment.\u00a0His duties are quite clearly expressed in a\u00a0minute of the Pembroke parish meeting in June\u00a01666, at which Hammond Johnson was chosen as\u00a0clerk:\u00a0the said Johnson is to register all matters and\u00a0agreements in the church book; further, it is ordered and voted that in case Mr. Sampson\u00a0Bond, minister of the said parish, shall at any\u00a0time desire that Hammond Johnson shall read\u00a0the Psalms or other matters as to his ease and\u00a0conveniency shall be thought fit, [he is to do as\u00a0instructed]; [but] if not desired, the said\u00a0Johnson [is] not to meddle.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8216;church book&#8217; refers to both the minute book\u00a0and the register of baptisms, marriages, and burials.\u00a0Johnson, one notes, was instructed by the\u00a0parishioners to read the Psalms; perhaps his singing\u00a0voice was not tuneful to the congregation&#8217;s ears.<\/p>\n<p>These duties did not alter materially until about 1800\u00a0when the increased amount of paperwork associated with assessments and pew rents required a separate\u00a0person to be the vestry clerk.<\/p>\n<p>In 1821, the Pembroke vestry with the Rector, George Coster, in attendance, appointed Benjamin Atwood as clerk. But in 1825, after Coster had left for Newfoundland, the vestry for undisclosed reasons appointed Alfred Ketchum as clerk but neglected to terminate Atwood&#8217;s appointment. On Sunday, 17 April 1825, the churchwardens arrived at the church for Morning Prayer and found Atwood already in the clerk&#8217;s pew.<\/p>\n<p>The churchwardens went to the vestry room and sent the sexton to ask Atwood to come and see them, but Atwood refused. The churchwardens then went to Atwood and showed him the minute of the vestry meeting which had appointed Ketchum in his stead. Atwood refused to budge. The churchwardens threatened to remove him from the clerk&#8217;s pew by forcible means, but Atwood defied them &#8216;with fists bent&#8217;. The churchwardens then told Atwood that he officiated at his own peril, and instructed Ketchum to go to his own pew and give out the Psalms. But Ketchum demurred, arguing that it was not proper to give out the Psalms from any place but the clerk&#8217;s desk. By this time, Atwood had given out the first Psalm, and the service had begun. The vestry appealed to the Attorney General for a legal opinion and received the interesting answer that the clerk was appointed for life and could not be removed unless he committed a serious misdemeanour.<\/p>\n<p>The source of music for the services in the\u00a0seventeenth century was the metrical version of the\u00a0Psalms, with tunes, first published by Sternhold and\u00a0Hopkins in 1562. Later editions were enlarged and\u00a0published by John Day, and were widely known as\u00a0&#8216;Day&#8217;s Psalter&#8217;. They were officially sanctioned for\u00a0use in the services of the Church of England by the\u00a0Royal Injunctions of 1559, and by the seventeenth\u00a0century, the wide use of these Psalms had given them such a familiarity and acceptance as to make them\u00a0inseparable from the Book o Common Prayer. From\u00a0about 1700, other versions had appeared which gave\u00a0congregations some choice. Tate and Brady\u00a0published new translations in 1696, but this &#8216;New\u00a0Version&#8217;, as it was called, never completely\u00a0supplanted the &#8216;Old Version&#8217;. A further alternative\u00a0was Isaac Watts&#8217; Psalms and his Hymns and Spiritual\u00a0Songs which were first published in 1707. Hymns\u00a0did not come into general use until the latter half of\u00a0the eighteenth century, and in the nineteenth century, there was a growth in interest in hymns as distinct\u00a0from the Psalms. The collection, Hymns, Ancient and\u00a0Modem, was not published until 1861, and was first\u00a0used in Pembroke on 12 March 1884. It was\u00a0replaced by the present Hymns or Todays Church in\u00a0March 1985.<\/p>\n<p>In the early days, it was rare for parishioners to\u00a0have either a copy of the Book o Common Prayer or of the Psalms. Consequently, it was the duty of the\u00a0parish clerk to &#8216;give out&#8217; the Psalms by the process of\u00a0&#8216;lining out&#8217;. The clerk would sing the first line of the\u00a0Psalm, and the congregation would then repeat it.<\/p>\n<p>This was followed by the second line, first by the\u00a0clerk, and then by the congregation, and so on until\u00a0the end. If the parish clerk did not have suitable\u00a0vocal ability for the task, then a &#8216;singing clerk&#8217; would\u00a0be hired for the purpose. In 1727 there is a record of\u00a0John Masters as singing clerk, not only in Pembroke but in Hamilton, Smith&#8217;s, and Devonshire as well.<\/p>\n<p>Singing clerks were not easy to find. Presumably, the\u00a0Psalms were said, rather than sung, in Pembroke\u00a0when Masters was leading the singing elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Pembroke acquired its first organ in 1830, and\u00a0it was installed in the gallery at the west end. It was\u00a0a barrel organ and was also fitted with a keyboard.\u00a0Quite a repertoire of tunes was available in a set of\u00a0barrels, each of which had projecting spikes which,\u00a0when the barrel was turned, pushed levers which\u00a0activated different notes on the organ. It was similar\u00a0in construction to the present day music boxes. The\u00a0first organist was Miss Susan Wood, and a small boy\u00a0was conscripted to pump the bellows. Bishop Inglis\u00a0commented in his diary on this organ as he heard during\u00a0his visit in 1830, and he noted that &#8216;the\u00a0singing and chanting was good&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>This comment,\u00a0together with others in his diary, tell us that by this\u00a0date the congregation had added the Te Deum,\u00a0Jubilate, and the Responses to their vocal\u00a0achievements. The organist was provided with a\u00a0&#8216;musick stool&#8217; in 1838, and the vestry ordered the\u00a0churchwardens to have printed &#8216;such anthems as she\u00a0may require for the use of the church&#8217;. This suggests that\u00a0a choir had been formed. Miss Wood served as\u00a0organist until 1846 when, at her request, she retired\u00a0and Miss Angelina Eve succeeded her.<\/p>\n<p>In time, this organ was replaced by one which\u00a0was a little larger, but by 1886 it was decided that a\u00a0still larger instrument was needed. An organ\u00a0chamber was built (where the present side chapel is\u00a0and a contract was entered into with H. Wedlake of\u00a0London to provide a two-manual organ with his\u00a0&#8216;patent pneumatic action&#8217;. It was duly delivered and\u00a0installed in the new chamber and was first used at\u00a0the morning service on Advent Sunday, 1887. It gave\u00a0satisfaction for a short period, but the climate\u00a0adversely affected the pneumatic action. Although\u00a0Mr. Wedlake gave assurances that he would make\u00a0adequate repairs, he failed to act when asked to do\u00a0so.<\/p>\n<p>The vestry turned to the firm of George Jardine\u00a0&amp; Son of New York, which replaced the pneumatic\u00a0action with tracker, but retained the pipework, and\u00a0added a rank of pipes to the Great Organ. The\u00a0church had to be closed for about six weeks while\u00a0the work was in progress, and services were held in\u00a0the Cathedral. The re-built organ made its debut in\u00a0September 1896 and at the time was said to be the\u00a0&#8216;largest and most complete organ&#8217; in Bermuda. It had\u00a0two manuals and pedals with a total of 22 ranks\u00a0containing in all 1200 pipes.<\/p>\n<p>With the building of the new organ chamber in\u00a0its present location in 1914, the organ was moved\u00a0there by the organist, G.F. Boucher. Boucher Was\u00a0effectively retired by the vestry in 1927, and his\u00a0successor was H. Walter Wheeler. The organ began to\u00a0give trouble, and in 1931 the rector urged that the\u00a0vestry give consideration to &#8216;re-actioning the organ. An organ fund was started in 1932 and although the\u00a0vestry received several specifications and prices, it\u00a0decided not act until the organ fund reached \u00a31000.<\/p>\n<p>In 1935 the organ tuner, Roy Conyers, wrote to the\u00a0vestry stating that he could not tune it since so much\u00a0was wrong, particularly leaking bellows. He could\u00a0do temporary repairs for \u00a330, and the vestry accepted\u00a0his offer. Finally, in 193 7, the vestry accepted the specifications and tender of Casavant Freres of\u00a0Canada. The reconstructed and enlarged organ was\u00a0dedicated on 13 December 1937. According to the\u00a0Royal Gazette: &#8216;The organ is &#8221;new&#8221; in every respect\u00a0except that the original pipes have been retained but\u00a0the action will be electrical as opposed to the old-fashioned\u00a0&#8221;tracker&#8221; action, the scope of the\u00a0instrument has been considerably enlarged and an\u00a0entirely new console now on the opposite side of the\u00a0chancel, has been installed.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The electric action, like the Wedlake\u00a0pneumatic action of fifty years before, suffered in\u00a0Bermuda&#8217;s climate. In 1938 Roy Conyers passed over\u00a0the care of the organ to Fred Anfossi who reported\u00a0that although the cable linking the console with the\u00a0organ was, supposedly, designed for Bermuda&#8217;s\u00a0climate, it was not damp-proof. Between Anfossi and\u00a0Casavant, the problem was rectified.<\/p>\n<p>A new console by Austin was presented to the\u00a0church in memory of Dorothy Tucker Powell and\u00a0was dedicated in April 1965. The Nave Organ was\u00a0designed, built, and installed by the Bermudian\u00a0builder, Thaddeus Outerbridge in 1968, and was\u00a0blessed by Bishop Armstrong on 27 October.\u00a0Outerbridge also installed the forceful Fanfare\u00a0Trumpet in December 1974. The organ was\u00a0completely rebuilt with virtually all new pipework in\u00a01989, once again by Casavant Freres. On Casavant&#8217;s\u00a0advice, an elliptical hole was cut in the wall\u00a0separating the organ chamber from the memorial\u00a0chapel and filled with a screen designed by Neville\u00a0Tite and made by Granville Gilbert. The organ and\u00a0screen were dedicated on 5 November 1989 and the\u00a0inaugural concert, using its total of 53 ranks and\u00a02,911 pipes, was given by Martin Neary, Organist, and Choirmaster of Westminster Abbey.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"churchyard\">The Churchyard<\/h3>\n<p>It has been noted that the early settlers in\u00a0Pembroke, in common with the settlers in other\u00a0parishes, had built their church on privately\u00a0owned land. There was a dispute in Smith&#8217;s over\u00a0the appointment of a Reader in 1656, when the\u00a0owner of the land on which the Smith&#8217;s church was built objected to the individual appointed and\u00a0threatened to &#8216;pull down&#8217; Smith&#8217;s church. This raised\u00a0fears among the settlers that other churches may be\u00a0similarly in jeopardy, and the Bermuda Company\u00a0ordered that all the existing churchyards should be\u00a0surveyed and laid out by Richard Norwood, the\u00a0General Surveyor, and the churches be given title to\u00a0the land in perpetuity. Norwood did this for the\u00a0church and churchyard in Pembroke in November\u00a01670 comprising one acre of land.<\/p>\n<p>In the early days, there were complaints that\u00a0straying cattle were frequently to be seen in the\u00a0churchyard, and some people even tethered their\u00a0cows there. Various methods were tried to stop this\u00a0inconvenience, and eventually at a Pembroke parish\u00a0meeting in 1747, a subscription was taken up to\u00a0build a wall round the churchyard. This was fitted\u00a0with gates, and appeared to be an effective solution.<\/p>\n<p>It would appear from the early records, that\u00a0there was little or no control over the location of a\u00a0grave or of its type. The parish meetings attempted\u00a0to take control of the use of the graveyard early in\u00a0the eighteenth century, by demanding that its\u00a0permission be sought before any burial plot be\u00a0enclosed. The earliest record of such permission is\u00a0in 1731 when a Pembroke parish meeting declared\u00a0that &#8216;Charles George had the liberty of the whole\u00a0parish to run a wall round his father-in-law and his\u00a0wife deceased &#8230; there being room between them for\u00a0the old gentlewoman [his mother-in-law] when she\u00a0is deceased.&#8217; In 1803, the Pembroke vestry\u00a0demanded a fee for its permission. But in 1831,\u00a0Daniel Vaughan requested permission to enclose\u00a0some plots and pointed to the wall built by James I.\u00a0Saltus around his plots without benefit of permission\u00a0payment of a fee. The vestry then levied a fee of\u00a06s 8d per square foot on Saltus, but an appeal was\u00a0launched to the Attorney General who declared the\u00a0vestry had no right to do so. In 1838 Pembroke\u00a0began the first register of the graves.<\/p>\n<p>In 1855, the vestry received a petition which\u00a0expressed the view that the burial ground was very crowded,\u00a0and that it was almost impossible to make\u00a0a fresh interment without disturbing the other dead.<\/p>\n<p>At this time the cemetery did not extend south of the\u00a0church much further than the level section of the\u00a0present graveyard. The vestry entered into\u00a0negotiations with Thomas Hall who owned the\u00a0property immediately adjacent to the old churchyard\u00a0to the south and to the east. It also considered, as an\u00a0alternative, a part of the &#8216;Woodlands&#8217; property on the\u00a0other side of what is now St. John&#8217;s Road. Neither\u00a0owner was enthusiastic to sell, and the matter had to\u00a0wait until 1864 when an acre was bought from\u00a0Thomas Hall&#8217;s estate, and the churchyard was\u00a0extended southward to its present extent in that\u00a0direction. It was enclosed by a &#8216;panelled wall&#8217; on the\u00a0western and southern sides built by Benjamin and\u00a0William Seon for a cost of \u00a3230. The Seons also cut\u00a0away some of the original hill and turfed the whole.<\/p>\n<p>At the parish meeting in 1864 when it was\u00a0decided to purchase land to extend the churchyard\u00a0there were a number of Methodists present. They\u00a0proposed that one-third of the new lot be\u00a0unconsecrated and be assigned to the burial of those\u00a0whose persuasion was not that of the Church of\u00a0England. But this proposal was defeated when the\u00a0vote was taken.<\/p>\n<p>Ever since the nineteenth century when non Anglican\u00a0groups grew in strength, the use of the\u00a0graveyard by these other groups posed problems, and\u00a0there have been many pamphlets written on the\u00a0subject of the &#8216;Burial Question&#8217;. This question was\u00a0whether the ministers of other denominations had\u00a0the right to preside over burials of their adherents in\u00a0the parish cemetery. In the nineteenth century, the\u00a0rectors of Pembroke Church had buried those of\u00a0other persuasions in the churchyard but had asserted it was their right and responsibility to read\u00a0the burial service, and not allow the ministers of\u00a0other persuasions to do more than play an assisting\u00a0role in the interment. The churchyard, for example,\u00a0contains the grave of Fr. Lyons, one of the early\u00a0Roman Catholic priests who ministered in Bermuda.<\/p>\n<p>He died in 1853 of yellow fever; his burial is entered\u00a0in the Pembroke Burial Register, and his burial\u00a0service was conducted by the rector, J .F. Lightbourn.\u00a0The issue was brought to a test in 1875 over\u00a0the burial of Mrs. Esther Levy, a Methodist. The\u00a0cortege arrived at the Pembroke church gate and was\u00a0met by the rector, Mark James, to conduct the burial\u00a0service. The ceremony then became quite unseemly\u00a0with both Mark James and John Cassidy, the\u00a0Methodist minister, reading burial services in\u00a0competition. Although James stopped and protested\u00a0at this intrusion, Cassidy replied that he intended to\u00a0continue. So both continued until Mrs. Levy was\u00a0lowered into the grave. James brought a suit against\u00a0Cassidy in the courts for trespass, and the court\u00a0decided in favour of James and imposed damages of\u00a0one shilling on Cassidy<\/p>\n<p>In 1902, the burial ground was again deemed\u00a0to be full, but the process of acquiring more land was\u00a0now different. Since 1867 the responsibilities of the\u00a0old vestry had been divided between two bodies: the\u00a0church vestry and the parish vestry (today known as\u00a0the Parish Council). The church vestry dealt entirely\u00a0with church affairs and collected the pew rents, while\u00a0the parish vestry collected all the taxes and dealt\u00a0with such matters as the relief of the poor, licensing\u00a0of liquor establishments, and acted as the parish\u00a0board of health. In 1902, the church vestry notified\u00a0the parish vestry (in its capacity of the board of\u00a0health) that it was necessary to make provision for\u00a0&#8216;an extension to the burial ground or the creating of a\u00a0parish cemetery&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, in 1907, the legislature passed the Pembroke Parish Public Cemetery Act which empowered the parish vestry to acquire land for a burial ground, and vested title of that land in the parish vestry The result was the acquisition in 1908 of the strip of land which lies adjacent to the east side of the old churchyard and which is now bordered on the east by the Marsh Folly Road. It was generally known as the Pembroke Parish Public Cemetery, and in May 1911 the western half of it was consecrated as a burying ground for interments according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England.<\/p>\n<p>The addition to the north of the church (where in Plate 10 is a lily field) was bought from R. C. Hollis Hallett by the Church vestry in 1926 as part of the acquisition of the remainder of the Hall estate including &#8216;Maria&#8217;s Hill&#8217;, now the Rectory The parishioners purchased a hearse in 1819, and a building to house it was built on land donated by Thomas Hall for the purpose in 1827. This\u00a0building still stands on the south side of St. John&#8217;s\u00a0Road at the entrance to the Saltus Grammar School.<\/p>\n<p>Repairs to the hearse were frequently needed and\u00a0noted in the minutes. In 1860, the Hearse Keeper,\u00a0James T. Butterfield, told the vestry that he had been\u00a0asked to pick up a corpse in Hamilton. Because of\u00a0the short notice, he had had to use a more spirited\u00a0horse than the usual one which &#8216;was from home&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The horse took flight with the hearse and overturned\u00a0it, doing considerable damage as well as injuring the\u00a0driver. He sought some financial help for the\u00a0necessary repairs. The vestry granted him one\u00a0pound.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the clergy who died in office are buried in the churchyard, although in many cases one does not know where. Samuel Lang, who served the whole Island before the Bermuda Company established the livings, may well be buried in Pembroke in 1621. Others include William Viner (1649), Sampson Bond (1692), Samuel Eburne (1713), Jonathan Chapple (1744), James Holliday (1754), James Barker (1791), Alexander Ewing (1822), Joseph F. Lightbourn (1872), Mark James (1898), Eustace M. Strong (1949), and E. Noel B. Chapman (1965). In addition, the churchyard contains the graves of Bishop Edward Feild (1878), and of the first Bishop of Bermuda, Arthur Heber Brown (1948). The graves of the bishops lie with that of Governor Laffan (1882) just south of the tower.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-245\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-8-1.jpg\" alt=\"Chapter 8 -1\" width=\"699\" height=\"370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-8-1.jpg 699w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-8-1-300x159.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 699px) 100vw, 699px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"rectory\">The Rectory and other property<\/h3>\n<p>The Pembroke glebe was the original property\u00a0which provided revenue to support the\u00a0rectors and to maintain the church. It\u00a0comprised two shares (or fifty acres) and\u00a0stretched from the North Shore to Crow lane harbour\u00a0where Bond&#8217;s Bay is today, named after the Rector,\u00a0Sampson Bond. On it, south of the marsh, the\u00a0rectory was built at a very early date. What is now\u00a0Parson&#8217;s Road was a path which led westward to St.\u00a0John&#8217;s, and eastward, connecting across the fields\u00a0with Parson&#8217;s Lane, to Devonshire Church, both\u00a0churches being included in the rector&#8217;s living. The\u00a0early records show that money was collected to\u00a0repair or rebuild the house in 1690, which was\u00a0apparently not completed or not paid for until 1698.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-244\" src=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-9-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Chapter 9 -1\" width=\"699\" height=\"370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-9-1-1.jpg 699w, https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Chapter-9-1-1-300x159.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 699px) 100vw, 699px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Repairs to the rectory were a frequent subject of\u00a0discussion in the parish meetings throughout the\u00a0eighteenth century, and generally the costs were\u00a0equally shared with Devonshire. A milk-house was\u00a0added in 1709 and a kitchen was added in 1726, but\u00a0the record does not indicate how the rectors prepared\u00a0meals before this date! The kitchen was replaced in\u00a01750. Major repairs were undertaken in 1804, and\u00a0in 1832 two rooms were added to accommodate\u00a0Lightbourn&#8217;s burgeoning family.<\/p>\n<p>In 185 7, the rector, Lightbourn, made the\u00a0request of the vestry that he be permitted to move\u00a0from the rectory and live in the town of Hamilton.\u00a0At that time, Hamilton was a residential town. The\u00a0vestry, however, refused Lightbourn&#8217;s request, stating\u00a0that it understood that he was required to live on the\u00a0glebe land. However in 1871, a committee searching\u00a0for a building suitable for a poorhouse recommended\u00a0that the rectory be used, and, with the\u00a0consent of the rector, this recommendation was\u00a0accepted, and the rector was compensated by an\u00a0annual rental with which he was free to engage a\u00a0residence elsewhere. Thus, the Rev. Mark James,\u00a0Lightbourn&#8217;s successor, took the house &#8216;Fenchurch&#8217;\u00a0at the west end of Laffan Street.<\/p>\n<p>In 1880 Pembroke Church received the house and property, &#8216;Westfield&#8217;, off the Pitts Bay Road, as a bequest from the estate of Samuel Saltus, long an active member of the church . It, with a further neighbouring cottage and land, known as &#8216;Guests&#8217;, was left to the Rev. MarkJames and his successors, with the provisos that if a later rector should deem it unsuitable, it could be rented, or, with the vestry&#8217;s concurrence, it could be sold and the proceeds of the sale devoted to the purchase of a more suitable property. It was used as the rectory until 1926 when the parishioners sold &#8216;Westfield&#8217; and purchased from R.C. Hollis Hallett most of the remaining part of the Hall estate, the Maria&#8217;s Hill property. This included the old house and enough land to provide an extension of the graveyard to the north of the church, as well as land to the south and east which was subsequently sold to the Marsh Reclamation Commissioners, and a part to the government for the Marsh Folly Road which was cut in 1934. In 1962, one-and-a-half acres of the land was sold to the Pembroke Sunday School for the erection of new premises.<\/p>\n<p>The old house, after refurbishment,\u00a0became the Rectory and continues in that use. In 1959, the church vestry bought the remaining part of\u00a0the Hall estate from the estate of R. C . Hollis Hallett\u00a0comprising the triangular piece of land north of\u00a0Langton Hill. On it, the vestry constructed the two\u00a0houses as residences for curates and to provide\u00a0income for the church.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the earlier years, the glebe served\u00a0as a source of revenue for the rector. Some rectors\u00a0actually planted it themselves, or leased it to tenants\u00a0and collected the rents. When the Rev. James Barker\u00a0died in 1791, his estate claimed a crop of cotton\u00a0which he had planted on the glebe in response to an\u00a0act of the legislature encouraging the growth of that\u00a0crop and offering a bounty for those that prepared it\u00a0for market abroad. This delayed the entering into\u00a0posession of his successor, the Rev. Alexander Ewing.<\/p>\n<p>A further complication arose because Barker&#8217;s estate\u00a0also claimed the cedar trees growing on the glebe,\u00a0and the vestry had to go to the courts to remove this\u00a0claim. The cedar trees growing on the glebe were\u00a0always a source of contention between the rector and\u00a0the parishioners ever since Thomas Abercrombie, the\u00a0rector of Hamilton and Smith&#8217;s had quietly cut and\u00a0sold a large number of cedars on the Hamilton parish\u00a0glebe in 1664. The Bermuda Company soundly berated him for this act, and altered their form of\u00a0contract for succeeding ministers so as to exclude the\u00a0cedar trees from the rector&#8217;s rights to the produce of\u00a0the glebe.<\/p>\n<p>Until Barker died, the parishioners had\u00a0retained fairly close control over the use of the cedars\u00a0on the glebe, cutting them only when timber was\u00a0needed to repair the church or the rectory. However,\u00a0Ewing, as Rector of Hamilton and Smith&#8217;s, as well as\u00a0of Pembroke and Devonshire, had the advantage also\u00a0of the profits of the Hamilton parish glebe which\u00a0now had grown a fine crop of good-sized trees after\u00a0Abercrombie&#8217;s earlier rape of the land. Ewing sold\u00a0these trees in 1796 to Major Andrew Durnford of the\u00a0Royal Engineers, who was in Bermuda to rebuild the\u00a0forts and took the opportunity to build himself a substantial residence in St. George&#8217;s which was\u00a0jocularly known as &#8216;the fifth fort&#8217;. The courts at this\u00a0time sided with Ewing against the Hamilton\u00a0parishioners and the sale was approved.<\/p>\n<p>In time, much of the glebe was divided into building lots which were initially taken by\u00a0individuals on an annual rental, but with the\u00a0separation of Devonshire and Pembroke into two\u00a0livings by the act of 1921, the glebe lands were\u00a0transferred to the synod which would approve all\u00a0disposals of land and divide the proceeds between\u00a0Pembroke and Devonshire.<\/p>\n<p>Private donations also added to the land held\u00a0by Pembroke church. At some unknown date, an acre of land in Spanish Point was left to the church\u00a0as a glebe, and its rental became part of the\u00a0emolument of the Rector of Pembroke. This land\u00a0was effectively purchased by the Government by an\u00a0act of 1835 and transferred to the Imperial\u00a0Government in London to form part of the Admiral&#8217;s\u00a0residential property at St. John&#8217;s Hill, the government\u00a0paying an annual rent to the rector. Under the will\u00a0of Samuel Saltus, the church also acquired in 1880 a\u00a0house called &#8216;Guests&#8217; and land to benefit the rectors\u00a0and the poor.<\/p>\n<p>A further donation was made by Mrs. Joseph Yates in 1898 of the triangular strip of land now lying\u00a0between St. John&#8217;s Road and Euclid Avenue opposite\u00a0the West Gate of the Churchyard. She had\u00a0purchased this when the &#8216;Woodlands&#8217; property was\u00a0being sold and gave it to the church with its stand of\u00a0cedar trees to remain as an oasis of shade.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"parish-life\">Parish Life in the Early Days<\/h3>\n<p>Today, we see the church used only for\u00a0services (and the occasional concert) and\u00a0the churchyard used only for the burial of\u00a0the dead. But until the Town Hall was built\u00a0in the new town of Hamilton, the church was used\u00a0for many other purposes as well. The church itself,\u00a0as the building which contained the only large meeting room in the parish, was used during the\u00a0week for many secular functions. It was the centre\u00a0of the parish, and there the parishioners met on\u00a0occasions to transact parish business, both\u00a0ecclesiastical and civil. Regularly in Easter week, the\u00a0parishioners met in the body of the church to choose\u00a0the parish officers.<\/p>\n<p>These were not only the two\u00a0churchwardens, but also the parish constables, the\u00a0surveyors or waywardens (whose duties were to\u00a0maintain the public paths and roads), the\u00a0poundkeeper, (who collected straying cattle, kept\u00a0them in a pound in the churchyard, and released\u00a0them to the owner only on the payment of a fee),\u00a0and such other officers as the necessities of the time\u00a0demanded. At other times, when called together, the\u00a0parishioners met to choose jurors to send to the\u00a0Assizes, to elect their representatives to the House of\u00a0Assembly, to settle on parish rates and approve parish\u00a0expenditures (including the salary of the rector), and\u00a0to transact such other business as was pressing.<\/p>\n<p>Although there was a requirement as early as 1627 to appoint members to be the vestry as the executive of the parish meeting, all parishes (except St. George&#8217;s) uniformly ignored this rule, preferring to retain control over parish affairs themselves through a parish meeting. This did not change in Pembroke until 1771 when vestry members were chosen. In 1777, however, the parishioners did not elect any officers or vestrymen until they were taken to task by Governor George James Bruere who declared that in Pembroke &#8216;a deep-rooted and remarkable obstinacy hath always prevailed&#8217; and insisted that officers be chosen. The parishioners obeyed and elected officers and vestrymen in August 1777.<\/p>\n<p>The act of\u00a01793 made it compulsory for every parish to choose\u00a0a vestry of &#8216;a number, not exceeding twelve, of fit and\u00a0able persons resident within the parish&#8217;.\u00a0The church was occasionally used as a school\u00a0from at least 1674 (and possibly before), but this was\u00a0not a successful experiment. The boisterous pupils\u00a0did damage, and although the parish tried to make\u00a0the schoolmaster responsible for damage to the\u00a0building and to its windows, schoolmasters appeared\u00a0to have been successful in evading this responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>Permission for the use of the church as a school was\u00a0withdrawn in 1725.<\/p>\n<p>The parish Justices of the Peace or Magistrates\u00a0held their quarter-sessions in the church, trying\u00a0hapless parishioners for various transgressions\u00a0against the law. Some were sent to be tried at the\u00a0Assizes in St. George&#8217;s for serious crimes, but many\u00a0were sentenced to whipping, or to spending some\u00a0time in the stocks or the cage. The whipping post or\u00a0pillory and the stocks were just outside the eastern\u00a0end of church in the churchyard; the stocks were\u00a0renewed in 1770. It is said that when two cedar trees\u00a0were taken down to make room for the building of\u00a0the chancel in 1914, they had marks on them where\u00a0the stocks had been fixed. Until 1797, the cross-road\u00a0from Crowlane Harbour (now Hamilton Harbour) to\u00a0the North Shore passed by the eastern end of the\u00a0church so that the stocks were readily visible to all\u00a0who used this path. In 1797, the vestry agreed that\u00a0this road be &#8216;stopped up&#8217; and the road be re-routed so\u00a0as to pass around the churchyard to the church&#8217;s\u00a0western gate (as it now does) and continue on to the\u00a0North Shore by what is now known as Langton Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Such roads, in those days, were the responsibility of\u00a0the tribe or parish in which they lay, and were\u00a0generally known as &#8216;Tribe Roads&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The ability of the parish meeting and its vestry to decide all things, both of the church and of parish government, gradually became eroded during the nineteenth century as the desire to centralise responsibilities in the Legislature began to grow. In 1867, an act of the Legislature divided the remaining responsibilities between two bodies: the Church vestry, and the Parish vestry (now called the Parish Council).<\/p>\n<p>The Parish vestry took over the responsibility of the poor, administered the licences for the sale of liquor, and collected parish taxes through the annual assessment. The Church vestry was left with purely church-related affairs, and its\u00a0major source of revenue lay in the collection of pew\u00a0rents, which continued to be levied until the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the functions of the Parish Council have been\u00a0severely reduced from what they had been, with the\u00a0growth of the enormous civil service, and the\u00a0removal of the control over parish affairs by the\u00a0people of the parish.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"references\">Acknowledgments &amp; References<\/h3>\n<p>The author is grateful to Mrs. Joyce Hall MEE for helpful discussions.<br \/>\nThanks are particularly due to Mr. Ifor Nesbit and to Mr. Wentworth Christopher\u00a0for providing the material for the chapters on St. Monica&#8217;s and St. Augustine&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>It was felt undesirable to encumber the text with references to give the origins of the statements made.\u00a0Suffice it to say that for the period up to 1826 references are to be found in the author&#8217;s\u00a0Chronicle o a Colonial Church 1612-1826: Bermuda Quniperhill Press, 1993).<\/p>\n<p>For the period from 1826 to the present, the major sources used have been the Vestry Minutes, the Service Books, and the Parish Newsletters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>History &#8211; St. Johns Church Table of Content Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church The Church Building Church Furniture Services of the Church Music in the Church The Churchyard The Rectory and other property Parish Life in the Early Days Acknowledgments &amp; References &nbsp; &nbsp; Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church Tradition says that Pembroke<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184\" class=\"themebutton\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[39,22],"class_list":["post-184","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-about","tag-history","tag-st-johns-church"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>History - St. Johns Church - Pembroke Family of Churches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"History - St. Johns Church - Pembroke Family of Churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"History &#8211; St. Johns Church Table of Content Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church The Church Building Church Furniture Services of the Church Music in the Church The Churchyard The Rectory and other property Parish Life in the Early Days Acknowledgments &amp; References &nbsp; &nbsp; Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church Tradition says that PembrokeRead More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pembroke Family of Churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-03T04:34:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"61 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184\",\"name\":\"History - St. Johns Church - Pembroke Family of Churches\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-29T04:40:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-03T04:34:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/?page_id=184#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"History &#8211; 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St. Johns Church Table of Content Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church The Church Building Church Furniture Services of the Church Music in the Church The Churchyard The Rectory and other property Parish Life in the Early Days Acknowledgments &amp; References &nbsp; &nbsp; Early Settlement-The Foundation of Pembroke Church Tradition says that PembrokeRead More","og_url":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184","og_site_name":"Pembroke Family of Churches","article_modified_time":"2021-05-03T04:34:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"61 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184","url":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184","name":"History - St. Johns Church - Pembroke Family of Churches","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-29T04:40:42+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-03T04:34:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/St.-Johns-Church-1024x791.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/?page_id=184#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pembrokefamilyofchurches.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"History &#8211; 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