IT was not quite business as usual at the 121st Bermuda annual AME conference presided over by the Rt. Rev. Richard F. Norris at the Fairmont Southampton Princess Hotel. It was unusual, to say the least, in that the spiritual dynamism overshadowed the business elements, as significant as the latter were. Very often at church conferences the business overshadows everything else.

The five-day conference came to a climatic end on Sunday with the amphitheatre of the hotel, noted for its lively secular and cultural extravaganzas, rocking like never before with powerful preaching, congregational and chorale singing, liturgical dancing and instrumental music.

That was the Commissioning Service at which Bishop Norris evidently gave a vote of confidence to Presiding Elder Malcolm Eve and pastors of the 11 local churches by re-appointing them to their charges.

Not to be overlooked was the enthusiastic responses from segments of the congregation as each appointment singled out.

Bishop Norris is the prelate of the First Episcopal District of the AME Church, a district that includes Bermuda, New Jersey, Delaware, New England, New York, Western New York and Philadelphia.

Traditionally, the Bermuda Conference is the first of the annual conferences in the district; and it was attended by several dignitaries from various parts of the US who participated in the conference.

The Bishop demonstrated his satisfaction with the work that had been accomplished all along the line during the conference year. He noted it at the dedication of the impressive new parsonage at Pembroke West for St. Paul AME Church, Hamilton, where the pastor is the Rev. Lanel Guyton.

He also said he plans to return to Bermuda in April to give further attention to the estimated $8-million wing planned for the Matilda Smith Williams Residence; and he smilingly told the Rev. Yvonne Thompson that he’s looking forward next year to dedicating the new parsonage under way at the AME church in Bailey’s Bay, where she is pastor.ANOTHER high point of the 121st Bermuda Annual Conference was the service of ordination. It took place at noon on Saturday at Mount Zion AME Church in Southampton West, where the Rev. Dr. Wilbur Lowe is pastor. Although there were only three ordinates, there was something extraordinary about them as a group and individually. It was the husband and wife team of Rev. Joyce and Rev. Gilbert Hayward, JP; and the Rev. Cyril S. Simmons. He is the son of the Rev. Conway Simmons, the veteran pastor of Richard Allen AME Church, St. George’s, and a nephew of Rev. Dr. Erskine Simmons

Rev. Gilbert Hayward is one of the six children of the late Rev. Sam Hayward and his wife Edith. Most significantly, four of the Hayward siblings have become ministers of the gospel, together with one of another of their spouses; and the other two siblings are lay ministers. Rev. Joyce Hayward, in her other professional life, is Bermuda’s Accountant General.

Preacher at the ordination service was the oldest of the Hayward siblings, the Rev. Samuel Eugene Hayward. He is pastor of Hemingway Memorial AME Church in Washington, DC, together with his wife Rev. Althea Lambert Hayward, daughter of Mrs. Helen Lambert and the late Reuben Lambert of Somerset.

Rev. Hayward was obviously emotionally charged as he began his sermon. He noted that the ordination of his brother as an itinerant deacon was taking place on exactly the 14th anniversary of the death of their mother. And, furthermore, it was in the impressive new Mount Zion edifice that their father had built during his pastorate there.

Five of the six siblings attended the service. Youngest brother, Rev. Keith Hayward, who is pastor of an AME Church in Philadelphia, was unable to be present because ofprior commitments abroad.

Siblings sharing in the experience were Rev. Carolyn Armstrong, wife of Rev. Henry Armstrong of the Rhema Ministries, as well as Rev. Blanch Hayward Burchall, pastor of Glory Temple, Southside, St. David’s, and sister Kathydell Ming, wife of Bro. Brian Ming, lay ministers in the Greater Smith Hill Church.

Rev. Joyce Hayward is also a doctoral student, and daughter of James and Eva Chesley of Indiana Head, Maryland. Her only sibling is Dr. James Chesley, MD. Joyce and Gilbert married seven years ago, following the passing of his first wife, Mrs. Cherrie Hayward, who was mother to sons Jarroeau Hayward, a graduate of Dalhousie University, and Jeremie Hayward, soon to graduate from the University of Toronto. Photos: Top left are who we might call the ‘ordinates inordinate’ at Mt. Zion AME Church, where Bishop Richard Norris (right back row) conducted the Ordination Service part of the 121st Bermuda Annual Conference. He was assisted by Presiding Elder Malcolm Eve, who is partially hidden on the left. Others from the right are veteran pastor Rev. Dr. Conway Simmons with his son; Rev. Gilbert S. Hayward with his wife Rev. Joyce Hayward (who is Bermuda’s Accountant General); and the most senior of the ‘Sam Hayward clan’ of ordained ministers, Rev. Samuel Eugene Hayward. He is pastor of Hemingway Memorial AME Church, Washington, DC. Other pictures show the conference in session at Mt. Zion and at Fairmont Southampton Princess Hotel, with minister of the local churches at the Commissioning Service.