The year-long celebration of the 140th anniversary Emmanuel Methodist Church in Southampton West was fittingly culminated Saturday night with a sumptuous banquet at the Pompano Beach Resort. It was a banquet with a difference, in that there was no speech making, no toasts, only a blessing on the food and the good fellowship that followed.

Pastor of the church, the Rev. Judy Bowman summed up Emmanuel aptly when she stated Emmanuel is a church with a worthy past, and a future worthy of its past!

Situated across from the junction of the main road to Somerset and the entrance to Whale Bay, it is a landmark with its distinctive belfry and neat graveyard that could not be missed. It had to be passed by generations of travellers to and from the West End, whether by train, horse and buggy, bus or bicycle or simply on foot.

Pastor Bowman who hails from Ontario, Canada, has only been in her post since January of this year. But she credits her tremendous grasp on Emmanuel history to the excellent record keeping and minuting by church stalwarts such as the late Dawson Gibson and recollections of others like J.O.L. Spurling, Bertram Sibley and Gordon Kendall.

In her 140th Anniversary sermon to the packed congregation at Emmanuel, Pastor Bowman referred to John Wesley and the rise of Methodism in England how the spirit of Wesley had swirled to new horizons.

She related how in 1748, George Whitefield, a classmate of Wesley's set out to bring Methodism to Bermuda. It was not an easy go. He was shocked by the immorality of the Bermudians but the Church of England parishes were closed to his preaching.

The second Methodist preacher to come here was Rev. John Stephenson from Ireland — who ended up in jail for being a too cordial to the slave population.

The third, Rev. Wm. Black from Nova Scotia never made it off the dock in New York City. When the crew of the Bermuda vessel on which he had booked passage realised he was a preacher they took off without him.

By the time the fourth arrived, Rev. Joshua Marsden, there was only one Methodist left on the island, Peter Pallus who was pretty well burned out. But filled with the power of the spirit Rev. Marsden got to work, preaching from St. George's to Somerset and establishing little societies of Methodists whose desire was to live moral, Christian lives. By 1825 one of these societies had been formed in the cottages at Port Royal in Southampton under the leadership of Capt. Boaz Bell. His society consisted of himself and the six members of his family but as time passed the numbers of believers grew and in 1869 the cornerstone of Emmanuel was laid.

Farm workers made up much of the population of Port Royal — many of whom had migrated from Portugal. . The railway had not yet been built. For those who were devout Methodists the only way they could get to the nearest church — at Long Bay Road — was to walk — pretty exhausting for those who worked outdoors from dawn to dusk. So they built this church and true to Wesleyan Methodist beliefs the church was fully integrated racially from the beginning.

When the doors opened here — even though there were no seats or furnishings — they must have felt as if the day of salvation had come!

They named the church — Emmanuel — God with us — and they believed it — as have the many followers who have attended this church for 140 years. Not only did they bring to Emmanuel their strong sense of the spirit, they brought their work ethic, their creativity, their belief that all are equal in God's sight and their faithfulness to the church.

Rev. Bowman said one of Emmanuel's oldest members, Lydia Madeiros, remembers how hard her father worked in the fields and yet, everyday he found the time to sit down to read the Bible and Sundays to see the children got to church. Her nephew Graham Madeiros remembered the fun they had a social gatherings.

Minutes show how when they wanted to add a fellowship hall and couldn't expand because of the rock on which the edifice stood, Maurice Terceira came up with a plan to dig out the basement, by shovel. He headed an excavation team. While digging a hurricane struck and knocked off part of the roof that was restored via its insurance. When ever a property adjacent was available, the church found a way to purchase it for a graveyard and a parsonage to be built.

In more recent years strong women from Emmanuel in the spirit of Susana Wesley assumed leadership roles in the church. Jennifer Shepherd became a candidate for the ministry and was ordained; Dr. Norma Hendrickson assumed a double role of chair of the national board and spiritual interest committee as well as chair of the Bermuda synod. Ann Maule and her mother before her Adah Spurling have given strong leadership in the music department.

"I realise I am only touching the tip of the iceberg," said Pastor Bowman, adding "I apologise for all I have left out. But I want to make the point about the worthy past and recent past, that we have to consider as we build for the future.

"The year 2009 has been a double anniversary for us at Emmanuel celebrating our 140th anniversary as Bermuda celebrates its 400th year. Following this year of hard work and celebration we are on solid ground to move forward. The Spirit of God is speaking to the world today just as it did to our ancestors. May we listen for the Spirit's bidding and have the courage to respond."