A capacity congregation comprising members of the Hilltop Baptist Church at Island Harbour, Pastors from various other churches in Anguilla and their members, came together on Sunday, April 13, to honour retired Pastor Davis Lloyd and his wife, Mrs Matile Lloyd. Both of them, who commanded a great deal of respect and leadership in the community over the years, are now in their eighties.
As the invitation card stated, the special service was to honour “the life and legacy of Pastor and Sister Lloyd for 45 years of unbroken service [and Pastor Lloyd] as the founding Pastor and 51 years of Christian witness and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.”
The service was called to order by Pastor Gareth Hodge, son-in-law of Pastor and Mrs Lloyd, who once served in a leadership role at the Hilltop Baptist Church before transitioning to his own ministry at Destiny Church, in The Valley, which he established. It was revealed at the service that Pastor Hodge, who later delivered the sermon, is now winding up that ministry to return to the Hilltop Baptist Church as its new Pastor in succession to Pastor Lloyd.
During the service, a number of Pastors, some of whom had their early upbringing at the Hilltop Baptist Church, paid glowering tribute to Pastor and Mrs Lloyd for their ministry, social work and kindness to the Island Harbour community. The speakers included Pastor John Gumbs of the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church; Pastor Cecil Richardson of Central Baptist Church; Pastor Elliott Harrigan, an Anguillian residing in St Maarten; and Pastor Ambrose Richardson of the Christian Fellowship Church. Reverend Menes Hodge of the Anglican Church, and Minister Timothy Hodge of Destiny Church, both of whom were unable to attend, sent written messages.
In addition to their religious leadership, Pastor and Mrs Lloyd are owners of the long-serving Harbour View Supermarket which is still in existence. In earlier life, Pastor Lloyd was an avid boat-builder, racing boat owner and a man of various other skills. He was a leading activist in the Anguilla Revolution. He was also one of five persons named to the first Social Security Board when the social security system was established in 1981.
Mr Kennedy Hodge, who has had a long association with the Hilltop Baptist Church and the Lloyds, spoke at length of the early life of Pastor Lloyd in particular. He recalled the conversion of Pastor Lloyd and Mrs Lloyd one night in 1962 under the ministry of the late Pastor Freeman Goodge, an Irish Evangelist, who had established the first Baptist ministry in Anguilla and later took up residence at Island Harbour – as well as built the now defunct Island Harbour Baptist Church on the bayside.
Mr Hodge said in part, in his historical narrative: “Both Pastor Lloyd and his wife knew they received the Lord as their personal Saviour that night and there was an immediate change in their lives. The same night, upon returning home from the service, the first thing that he [Davis Lloyd] did was to tear down the sign on his shop that said ‘Licenced to sell Liquor by retail’. Mr Lloyd destroyed all the liquor he had in his shop. He opened all the rum barrels and let the cask rum out on the ground. He destroyed all the cigarettes and tore up all the credit books as they contained the list of people who owed for liquor and groceries. All the creditors received forgiveness of their debt. The next morning he went to his building that housed his dance hall and the tore the guts out of the duke box and threw it in the sea.
“When the [startled] neighbours asked why he couldn’t give them the liquor, and speaker from the juke box, he said if it is poison for me, it is poison for you. From that day the Lord richly blessed them [the Lloyds] financially as they committed themselves and their resources to his ministry. The Harbour View Supermarket grew from strength to strength and has served Island Harbour and surrounding communities for decades.”
Mr Hodge noted that on April 9, 1969, the Hilltop Baptist Church was dedicated. It “soon became a leader in evangelism on the island and became popular for its evangelistic preaching and its lively style of West Indian choruses and hymn-singing.” He continued: “Pastor Lloyd never had any doubt about his calling and has always said that he wanted to go on with the work until he could not go on anymore. He believes that the time has come and has completely retired from active ministry and pastoring. This is after 51 years of preaching the message of the Gospel, and 45 years of unbroken service as the founding pastor of the Hilltop Baptist Church. He is now Pastor Emeritus.”
According to Kennedy Hodge, “the Hilltop Baptist Church has turned out many Christian workers and leaders”. He named some of them as being Pastor John Gumbs, Pastor Quincy Gumbs, Pastor James Richardson, Pastor Gareth Hodge, Minister Timothy Hodge, Sister Mary Martin-Isley (a local/International Missionary, who served in Europe and Central America), Pastor Leman Johnson and Pastor Dwayne Adams.
About Mrs Lloyd, Mr Hodge said in part: “She had the gift of witnessing and was mightily used of the Lord in leading hundreds of people to Him…She was a great singer and her voice became the hallmark of the church’s worship service as she was always carrying the singing much louder than the rest of the congregation. Her amens and hallelujahs were always there to encourage all the preachers. She was a great encourager with her words, infectious smile and distinctive laugh.”
The service was interspersed by some dynamic singing, by several groups, which called to memory “the lively style of West Indian choruses and hymn-singing” to which Mr Hodge alluded.
The service ended with a response from Pastor Lloyd on behalf of himself and his wife. He was appreciative of, and grateful to, all who attended the special event and those who spoke about the contributions by him and his wife to the ministry and the community. Though retired, he pledged to support the work of the church and was pleased that his son-in-law, Pastor Gareth Hodge, and his wife, Mrs Joan Lloyd-Hodge, were taking over the ministry of the Hilltop Baptist Church.
