“The Chapel at the Valley is finished, at least so far as to be consecrated to Divine Worship. It was opened on Sunday July 25th 1830. Several weeks previous, notice had been given and great interest was excited in the minds of our dear people, and in the colony generally.
My most sanguine expectations were excited, but the events of the day happily more than exceeded them all. The day was delightfully cool and pleasant and at an early hour in the morning the people were seen in every direction bending their course to the sacred edifice.
Long before the time appointed for the commencement of the service, the cool commodious building was crowded to excess. Such congregations were never before witnessed on any occasion in this colony, and their behaviour throughout was marked with the greatest possible decorum and seriousness.” (Extract from a Journal written by the Rev Henry Britten who was a Minister in Anguilla at the time.)
It was a great day for Methodism here and it was very likely the climax of the ministry of Rev Britten who left Anguilla the following year.
He had come to Anguilla in February 1828 to replace John Hodge who had brought Methodism to Anguilla in 1813, and whose legacy the Methodist Church in Anguilla this year celebrates 200 years.
The first Methodist Chapel in Anguilla was built in The Valley in 1815, just east of this edifice, but this soon proved too small and on arrival in Anguilla in 1828 Britten’s major task was to build a new chapel to house over 500 members, the vast majority of them being slaves.
The 25th of July 1830 must therefore have been a rewarding day not only to Britten, who persisted despite many challenges, but to the hundreds of slaves who had sacrificed to make the building possible. To them, it was a labour of love.
The construction of the chapel meant that the children who were previously excluded from the morning service could now be accommodated.
According to the “St Christopher Advertiser and Weekly Intelligence” of 3rd August 1830:
On Sunday 25th July a new Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was solemnly dedicated to the worship of the Almighty God in The Valley Division of the island. It is a real and substantial stone building in dimensions 74 feet by 36- with an end gallery for the accommodation of 200 children.
The very liberal manner in which the inhabitants of the colony had aided in the erection of this chapel is recorded to their credit with grateful acknowledgements and evidences their attachment to that system of doctrine and discipline, which has happily proved to many of them “the power of God to salvation”.
[The St Christopher Advertiser and Weekly Intelligence said that the collections of the services of the day amounted to $355. It added that,] “our pious people had some time previously been pleading with God for his special blessing in the dedication of his house – and the unparalleled liberality and success of the day is attributed to the gracious answer of their prayers.
During the recitations of the children, the audience was several times affected to tears, particularly when a lad of about thirteen years of age repeated in a most impressive manner Cardinal Woolsey’s commendation of his fall at the closing stanza.
“Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my King, he would not in my old age have left me naked to mine enemies.”
The congregation wept aloud and the lad sat down amidst the sighs and tears of nearly all present.”
Britten was replaced by Rev Matthew Banks in 1831 and he commented that the roof was not properly built and could not withstand a hurricane which he said “were frequent in these islands.”
In 1837 a hurricane did hit Anguilla, St Martin, St Barths and the BVI. Banks was proved right – the roof of the new chapel in The Valley was destroyed. Things were difficult in Anguilla at the time. In fact there was no preacher stationed here as Anguilla could not support one.
The report of the storm came from a visiting preacher who came to assess the damage. Rev James Walton in August 1837, said “as soon as the weather would permit, I felt it to be my duty to visit the island of Anguilla, and there alas, I witnessed similar devastation and ruin. The roof of our fine chapel at The Valley is carried off and destroyed.” (The chapel roof suffered a similar fate with Hurricane Luis in September 1995.)
Rev Walton in his report said the chapel cannot be repaired under 90 sterling. “My soul truly grieved for the poor people in that island, the society flocked round me in a manner I shall never forget, and offered to give the last thing they had in the world, if the chapel roof may be replaced.” A gentleman unconnected with the island offered 50 pounds if it may be done for them. Yet the poor residents, now free men went about in love and restored the chapel they had come to love.
On the completion of Ebenezer, the first Chapel built in Anguilla was then converted into a Manse. This building was destroyed by fire in 1910. (The ruin was visible up to very recently near the almond tree east of the Ebenezer Chapel.) This site is now marked by a memorial to Rev. John Hodge.
The fire, which destroyed the Manse in 1910, also caused damage to the roof and belfry of the Ebenezer Chapel. The repairs were carried out by Daddy Carter and Ernest Banks after some years.
The exterior walls of the chapel were plastered over in the 1960’s to the dismay of many. In 1986, during the construction of the vestry, some of this plaster was removed revealing once again the handiwork of the slaves that could now be seen and touched by their modern-day descendants. This thought excited the minds of the men of the congregation, and in 1994 it was finally decided to remove all the plaster from the wall, again to the dismay of many.
But the stories handed down still circulate about the teams of devoted men, women and children who brought the wood on their heads up the hill from Crocus Bay where it was landed. These artisans created elaborate details which have over the years captivated the wandering eyes of many young churchgoers.
The chapel rafters caught the roving eyes of many, including little boys like John Adolphus Gumbs, Franklin Adolphus Roberts, Cecil O A Weekes, Joseph R Lloyd and Egbert Dunstan Richardson, as they dreamed and later answered the call into full time ministry. Between them they have served for a combined total of 272 years of ministry.
By God’s grace they have all returned after serving faithfully, and with distinction, in many parts of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas. They still call Ebenezer home.
This Chapel still stands as a monument to the hard work, dedication and faith of the Wesleyan Missionaries, the slaves and the poor free Negroes and others who, through trials and tribulations, sacrificed to build and maintain this sacred edifice, reportedly the oldest Methodist building in the Caribbean still in use in its original form.
Our beloved Ebenezer is the product of a Vision God planted in the hearts of his people over 183 years ago. Today, she stands as a Beacon to the present generation touching and transforming lives by the power of the Holy Spirit, She will forever be a Heritage to future generations.
Happy Birthday Ebenezer!
