Rivers of Water: A History of Seventh Day Adventism in Anguilla – Its Roots and the St John Shoot, written by Mrs Ivy Thompson Plank and her cousin, Mrs Tryphean St John Cornett, celebrates the development of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the United States and its spread throughout the world and particularly to Anguilla.
Rivers of Water can be rightly described as a treasure trove. For Adventists and non-Adventists alike, it will become a reference and a friend.
Part I contains two chapters which contain an exposé on the genesis and growth of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, its founders and developers – all of whom are characterized by deep commitment and steadfastness as well as a methodical pursuit of the construction of a solid church which has indeed functioned efficiently from thenceforth and gone from strength to strength.
Part II details almost every single event that has ever occurred in the life of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Anguilla. The authors begin by rectifying the prevailing uncorroborated version of the origins of the church here in Anguilla and replacing this version with a more authentic and verifiable account. They actually move the foundation of the Church from the western end of the island to the eastern end and they have solid evidence to justify this move.
Then each of the three churches is accorded its own section and its development chronicled from inception right up to the present moment.
The authors detail the growth of the church year by year and name by name. Simultaneously the spiritual history of the community becomes apparent.
At the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of Seventh Day Adventism in Anguilla, contemporary members were pleased to look back over the growth of the church from four baptisms in 1932 to three congregations and one Spanish-speaking group in 2007. Even since then the growth continues unchecked with the addition of yet another congregation as a result of recent crusades.
Part III of Rivers of Water is devoted to the St. John family – one of the charter families of the Seventh Day Adventist congregation in Long Bay. It is the family to which both of the authors belong.
Part III moves from the family’s guiding principles through its general religious devoutness to its particular devotion to Seventh Day Adventism both in Anguilla and beyond its shores.
Mrs Ann Maria Carty Fleming was already a grandmother when she became an Adventist. The poignancy of her story is heartfelt as Tryphean and Ivy speak of their great grandmother’s practical abandonment by her extended family – a situation rendered more dire when we put it in its context.
Older people did not work in those days – at least not for a salary. In fact, there was hardly work for young people to do. They depended on their families for sustenance. To some extent this familial support was withdrawn from Ann Maria and it is mentioned that one of her daughters “wrote her a farewell letter denouncing her the day she was baptized” (p 148).
But, as her descendants are pleased to show, she was “like a tree planted by the rivers of water”. She remained committed to her faith for the rest of her life.
Her faith brought forth fruit as her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great-grandchildren and great, great great-grandchildren were inspired to emulate her faith. In pages upon pages Ivy and Tryphean highlight the roles members of the St John family continue to play in furthering the mission and vision of their Church. As they do so they provide further insight into the Church’s precepts and its values.
The display of the family’s prowess in diverse ventures as well as in their spiritual qualities, complete with photos, render this section a veritable magazine of human interest stories.
There is no doubt that, particularly in today’s world the written word has superseded the oral tradition. How important it is then that Ivy and Tryphean have here established in print a record of the past for the present and for posterity – a work of reference with its own myriad references that would make challenging its veracity a fruitless venture indeed.
In addition to this, Rivers of Water provides inspiration of a spiritual nature as we find so many examples of commitment and faith within its pages.
Moreover, it is a perfect exemplar of a story told from the inside rather than from the outside. As we seek to increase our understanding and our control of our own world and our reality, it is important that more of our stories be told in our own voices.
For all these reasons, we congratulate Ivy and Tryphean for the production of this invaluable work. Kudos to them both!
Rita Celestine-Carty
October, 2012
