St. David's Angelican Church

The Primate of Wales, Archbishop the Most Revd. Barry Morgan, presided at the Eucharist and preached at St. David’s Church, Yallahs, on Sunday 10th May. The Archbishop was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Hilary Morgan, along with two visitors from Dunedin in New Zealand, Dr. and Mrs. Anthony Fitchett, all of whom were in Jamaica as delegates (or spouses of delegates) to the 14th. Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) Meeting held in Kingston between the 1st and 12th May.

Mrs. Morgan delighted the congregation by reading the Gospel in Welsh followed by the English version while the Rural Dean of St. Thomas, the Very Revd. Lenworth Haughton, led the intercessory prayers.  

The Welsh guests presented a replica of the Diocesan flag from St. David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, to the priest-in-charge, the  Revd. Jean Fairweather-Wilson, while Dr. Fitchett presented a plaque commemorating the ACC meeting in Kingston. In return the guests were given stained glass crosses hand made by Mrs. Charmaine Thompson, the wife of the Bishop of Kingston, the Rt. Revd. Dr. Robert Thompson.

The members of St. David’s had been preparing for the visit by cleaning and repainting the three hundred and forty-five year old Church and enthusiastically welcomed the foreign visitors. A special marquee was erected to hold the overflow congregation, the members of St. David’s being joined by members of the other churches in the cure – Holy Trinity, Trinityville, St. John’s, Woburn Lawn and All Saints’, the Abbey, Llandewey.

In comments to the congregation following a lunch break, Archbishop Morgan remarked on the strong community spirit and the warmth of the people of the Yallahs-Trinityville Cure. Despite common challenges for Anglicans in Wales and Jamaica the Archbishop saw a great potential for worship. Dr. Fitchett commented on the multi-cultural dimensions of the Anglican faith in New Zealand and saw similarities in the Jamaican situation.