A Historical Review of Amazing Grace SDA Church
" Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see." (John Newton 1725 - 1807)
These are the sentiments of the members of the Amazing Grace Seventh-day Adventist church. The youngest SDA church on the island of Barbados was born out of the Good News Crusade, held off Spring Garden Highway, June 12- July 10, 2004. A committed team of Bible workers achieved this dynamic evangelical work, pray warriors, ushers, management personnel and the evangelist Claudius Morgan.
Despite the heavy and persistent rains, a total of 214 persons surrendered their souls to Jesus Christ. As the good news of salvation was proclaimed, entire families were led by the Holy Spirit to give it all to Jesus. The good news crusade was all about putting things right and as a result, two marriages took place under the tent on the final Sabbath of crusade.
The decision was made not to separate the new babes in Christ, but to keep this new church family together in one place, the net result being the Amazing Grace SDA church. These new converts were in need of strong leadership if they were to grow into a mighty workforce for the Lord Jesus Christ, and a strong leadership team was indeed identified. The six leaders selected accepted the call of the East Caribbean Conference of SDA and more importantly, the call of God Almighty.
As members of the City North district, the church was under the leadership of Pastor Colin Thorne and Associate, Pastor Jason Peters. Those persons selected to sit on the Executive Church Board were Elder Corbin, Bro Wayne Morgan and Sis Clevon Corbin, as 1st Elder, Youth Leader and Children’s Division Leader respectively. These three were borrowed from the Advent Avenue Church. Elder & Sis Rayside from the Breath of Life Church took up positions of Personal Ministries Leader and Hospitality Director respectively. The office of Treasurer was later added to the portfolio of Sis Betty Rayside. Sis. Almida Blenman from the Ebenezer Church took responsibility for the Community Services Department. And Elder Trevor Blenman from the King Street church serves as Sabbath School Leader.
It was quickly realized that a name was required to identify this new group. The name was arrived at in democratic fashion, with suggested names being voted on by the church body. Many powerful, and in some instances near comical names, were suggested, but at the end of the tally, Amazing Grace was the congregational preference. The group of new believers journeyed from Spring Garden to Deacons Road and set up temporary residence with Post office Box 981E, Eagle Hall as the mailing address.
It is now eleven months later, and does Amazing Grace SDA Church have a history to report. The single most outstanding feature of this Amazing church is its ability to create history. Today, June 4, 2005, the latest 1st time accomplishment is underway. The Amazing Grace SDA Church is the first group in the East Caribbean Conference to graduate from group status to church status in less than one year. You are free to clap for that.
As we like to say the doors of Amazing Grace are always open. Therefore, all are welcome to come to the altar, to read the word of God, and or spend time talking with the Lord at anytime. If it is fellowship one is seeking, services are held Sabbaths 9:15 a.m., 4:15 p.m., Sundays at 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday nights at 7:15. Bible Study is conducted on Friday nights at 7:15 p.m.
It continues to be the practice of Amazing Grace to offer members and visitors alike the opportunity to be together all day Sabbath. The recognition of the challenge of Sabbath observance in non-Adventist homes of some members has lead the leadership to ensure that lunch is provided every Sabbath by the various food groups in the church so that returning home is not necessary. Also, there is an after lunch Bible Study as well as the opportunity for smaller group interaction and fellowship after lunch along with fieldwork.
With a current membership of 183, just what has Amazing Grace been up to for the past eleven months. The 1st church service took place Sunday, July 11th 2004. The tent was removed from Brandons and pitched in Deacons on Sunday, July 11th and was ready for services, complete with platform and lighting. From the beginning, the church was off to an Amazing start.
The decision was taken to explain to the new converts in detail exactly what the church they were now members of is all about. As such the regular lesson quarterly was not the study undertaken by the church in the initial months of the group’s existence. Instead, a study of the fundamental beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists was entered into. The church was divided into seven classes by the final Sabbath of July 2004 as the beginning Sabbaths were used to familiarise members with the general expectations, code of conduct and protocol of Adventism. Members are encouraged to study their Sabbath School Lesson and to have a daily relationship with Christ, as this is vital to the life of a Christian.
It was recognized early that members of Amazing Grace are music lovers, who believe in expressing their appreciation for God with wave offerings, amens, hallelujahs, hand clapping, lively singing and ever-present smiles. Hence, the raising of $1700 plus for the church’s drum set was quickly raised and Amazing Grace became proud owners of a Pearl 5-piece Drum Set. The church band, led by the skillful playing of Julian Lynch, is a vital part of the worship here at Amazing Grace and it is customary for visiting musicians to walk with their instruments and join in the fellowship. The music ministry continues to grow with the development of an adult and children’s choir, a praise team, unity men’s group and the latest singing group being Blossoms, a five member all girl primary class group.
The church at inception instituted prayer partners. Geared towards strong Christian fellowship and friendship, each member was assigned another member who would keep tabs on them, help them stay motivated through daily pray. Prayer partners continue to be a strong source of spiritual growth within the Amazing Grace family.
The fun-loving nature of this group is also clearly evident in their social activities. Thus far, the group has enjoyed two picnics at the King George V Memorial Park, which included devotional time, rounders, cricket, football, board games and the reading of books. As expected the children enjoyed the play park and others simply enjoyed the outdoors.
There were also socials. The more famous being the back-in-times social for our Independence Celebrations to which the entire district was invited and competed in a totally Bajan Buss-ya-Brain quiz. At another, the intended video night became a board game night when the video failed to function. Birthdays were also celebrated by those born in October 2004, with hats, hooters, candles, cake and lots of eats.
A special feature we have instituted at Amazing Grace is our Family Time on Sabbaths. In that session news is shared from the conference, zone, district and church level, visiting friends are welcomed, birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated and outstanding members are recognized with a pat-on-the-back. Hands are stretched across the sanctuary as we asked God to continually bind us together with cords that cannot be broken.
Along with the music ministry, there is personal ministry, drama, a cricket team, fitness club, hospitality ministry and 7 strong Lay Preachers team . Our Lay preachers have completed their training course and are already proclaiming the word of God.
The members of the oldest Seventh-day Adventist Church are no strangers to the youngest Seventh-day Adventist church family. During the ingathering campaign, King Street and Amazing Grace got together for singing band on a number of occasions. This relationship also led to a joint open-air meeting in the New Orleans area.
Another first for Amazing Grace was becoming the first church to reach its ingathering goal of $300 in one night. It was later surpassed to a record-breaking total of $22,220.00, the highest in the East Caribbean Conference.
Seeking the lost is a major priority for the Amazing Grace church and hence evangelism and witnessing are paramount. Open-air services are held twice a month in the surrounding environs of Ferniehurst, Rosemont and Deacons Farm. The Christmas season was fully utilized by taking the story of Jesus, His birth, death and resurrection in song to the community on December 19th in a caroling evening, where over 300 gifts in the form of books and children items were given, to most appreciate communities.
Sunday-morning devotion is also another arm of the evangelistic campaigns where sea bathers are extended the opportunity to join in or simply observe. This session is usually followed by an exercise session and social interaction while sea bathing.
Amazing Grace also keeps special services in accordance with the conference calendar. Our first Community Guest Day was on September 4, 2004. Our first Youth Day on September 25, 2004, which carried the Potter’s House theme. To-date, there has been two children’s days, December 4, 2004 and May 28, 2005. Our first Communion Service was on November 20, 2004. Church Leaders Appreciation January 15, 2005. Services are well attended by visitors and members alike, and it must be noted that every service since inception was attended by at least one visitor.
Another strong arm of Amazing Grace is the Community Services Department. Over 200 food and clothing items have been distributed as a result of the community services survey carried out August 28, 2004 and subsequent fieldwork. On May 14, 2005, the entire church visited the Psychiatric Hospital with the program hosted by the Community Services.
The recently held district crusade “Jesus Now”, was a perfect opportunity for the new converts to use their various spiritual gifts to win souls. The ushers and prayer warriors did an exceptional work in their African print and black and white uniforms on a nightly basis.
On three occasions over the past eleven months, the tent succumbed to heavy rains and winds. And on each occasion, the membership and friends band together and pitched the tent over again. On one such occasion, at the break of Wednesday morning the tent was flat. By prayer and testimony service at 7:15 the same day, worship was in session. Tent up and chairs cleaned and all.
As we all know, God loves a cheerful giver, and as the song says, press down, shaken together and running over has been the experience of Amazing Grace. As a result of faithful tithe returns and freewill offerings, the church has been able to become the owners of many items vital to the spreading of the gospel. Along with purchases, a number of donations were also made to the church, and the church in turn was able and continues to share the overflow with others.
Amazing Grace is an energetic, proactive, community-centered and focused group, now church. The potential of this church is astronomical, and the sky is literally the limit. What else can be said about this church, except, we are simply Amazing.
