08/25/2004: "Moravian anniversary, Canadian connection"

I thought my Moravian brethren would be interested in this:

Why would the dean of Toronto, Canada, feel it necessary to write a Moravian congregation in Christ Church, Barbados, to say happy 40th anniversary?

Because he has a connection with them? Yes. A very special connection.

And Dr Douglas A. Stoute, the dean, recalled that linkage in his letter read during a thanksgiving service the Bethlehem congregation held on August 15 to mark their 40th anniversary.

Members were very thrilled as Stoute, now stationed at the Cathedral Church of St James, reflected on how his association with the Moravians began through Rev. Cuthbert Pilgrim when he was the minister of Mount Tabor, St John.

"I was beginning my active journey of faith and I was invited to attend his Monday night Bible study by David and Angela Bradley."

Stoute said it was at the invitation of Pilgrim that he delivered his first sermon in a "house church" at the residence of the Williams family at Belle Haven.

The Bethlehem church at Maxwell grew out of those "house church" meetings and Stoute said: "It was from these beginnings that I was led to my vocation as a priest in the Anglican Church. I owe Bethlehem and Mr Pilgrim a deep sense of gratitude."

Bethlehem's beginnings date back to August 13, 1962, when 16 people met at the Gall Hill Social Centre in a service to discuss the establishment of a congregation in Christ Church.

Exactly two years later�August 13, 1964�the group of worshippers received formal recognition as a congregation of the Moravian Church.

And congratulations from North Carolina to the Bethlehem congregation on their anniversary.

(Hat tip: Binky)