Glenmuir High School Choir singing in Emancipation Square
The annual Cathedral Sunday Service held on November 23 at the Cathedral of St. Jago de la Vega, Spanish Town was a special celebration in music and the spoken word, as representatives of congregations and Diocesan educational institutions commemorated the 350th Anniversary of Anglican Ministry in Jamaica. The Cathedral was the first Anglican Church established on the island following the conquest by the British in 1655; and its first recorded Rector, the Rev. John Henry Hauser, was appointed in October 1664.
A highlight of the Anniversary celebrations was a Choir Festival, the first part of which was held in the historic Emancipation Square and featured choirs from Church Teachers College and Glenmuir High School. The uniformed All Saints Church Marching Band gave a lively display and later led the procession, which included representatives of Diocesan organizations carrying their colourful banners, to the Cathedral for the second part of the afternoon’s programme.
This was a solemn evensong which was enriched by the choirs from Kingston College,
De Carteret College, Bishop Gibson High School, St James Preparatory School, and St Hilda’s Diocesan High School. Students from St Jago High School and St James Preparatory School read the lessons, while the choral speaking group from the Queen’s School offered dramatic presentations of Psalm 139 and James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation,” based on the Biblical account in Genesis 1 and 2. The Recorder Group from St. Jago Cathedral Preparatory School and the Sign Language Choir from Ocho Rios High School also performed.
The sermon was delivered by the Rt. Rev Leon Golding, the Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay. He pointed to the theme of the 2014 Cathedral Sunday celebrations – “Cathedral Renaissance: Rebirth, Renewal, Revival” and he charged that any renaissance must begin with people. “You and I as the people of God. We must become the place where God dwells.”
He said that a dwelling place for God suggested a relationship with God built around common prayer and unity among members, who are willing to give of their best to the glory of God. Bishop Golding stated that a cathedral renaissance must be a movement forward, a call to change and a new vision under God, with the Church serving as the “prophetic voice and moral consciousness of the nation….We must reach out, touching the lives of the community, of the nation and the Diocese in the name of Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” he asserted.
(Please click here for the full text of Bishop Golding’s Sermon)
Additional Photos
Students take their place in the procession
Representatives from St. David’s, Yallahs, one of the oldest churches
Strong participation from the BSA
St. James Preparatory School, from Montego Bay, sang with all their heart
The Queen’s School Choral Speaking Choir …”and it was good.”
