More than 1,000 people are expected to turn out for the 30th anniversary celebration at the Anglican Cathedral tomorrow.

I always thought that the Anglican Church dated back to 16th century Britain and Henry VIII who broke with the Catholic church because it did not allow him to divorce. This very colourful view was almost shattered earlier this week when Bishop Ewen Ratteray asked me to write an article on the local church celebrating its 30th anniversary.

It didn?t hit me at first, but then I thought ?Wait a minute, this isn?t possible. The Anglican Church has been here since the first settlers or have I imagined my history??

Turns out I was not so imaginative. Bishop Ratteray writes in the May edition of Diocesan News: ?The Anglican Church has been a part of the history of these Islands of Bermuda from the days of the shipwreck of Sir George Somers? off the eastern end of Bermuda in 1609.

?Among those on board was a priest by the name of Richard Bucke, who was quick to offer prayers of thanksgiving upon landing on our shores.?

In fact, St. Peter?s Church in St. George?s can boast being the oldest Anglican Church in continuous use on this side of the Atlantic.

So why is it that the church is celebrating only its 30th anniversary? Is it miraculously growing younger through time or is it a ruse by the Anglicans to have a celebration?

Bishop Ratteray explained that the Church of England in Bermuda was dissolved by an Act of Parliament on March 8, 1975 and replaced with the Anglican Church of Bermuda.

Although the law change has had no material affect on the way the church runs, the Bishop explained that the move made the local church more relevant to parishioners.

?The Church of England is so far away, while people can identify with and relate to the Anglican Church of Bermuda in a meaningful way,? he said.

He said that other countries have done the same thing. ?Churches are indigenous,? he said, ?The Anglican Church of Canada used to be the Church of England in Canada.?

And the Anglican church in Bermuda has stood the test of time. While blacks were always accepted in the church from slavery through segregation the two races sat divided.

?The church has made considerable progress in terms of breaking down the barriers of race,? the Bishop wrote. ?Though sadly she followed the secular world rather than providing leadership in this area, particularly in the late 1950s and 60s. Thus she was slow to make the appropriate changes, and for that we have paid a price; we lost a lot of people because of our tardiness in this regard.?

Today the Bishop boasts a diverse ethnicity who sit anywhere they want in the local churches.

Although the festive event will be held a few months after the actual 30th anniversary (March 8), the Bishop said this was done by design.

He wrote: ?We celebrate this important event at Pentecost because it seems appropriate to do so, as this is the day, the Church?s birthday, when the Holy Spirit came with power upon the first Christians.

?His coming gave them the incentive, courage and power to proclaim with conviction the great Good News of the Risen Christ.?

Tomorrow all parish churches will converge at the Cathedral, in a service at 10 a.m. The Bishop expects well over 1,000 to be in attendance.

He wrote: ?Our celebration at this time should include a measure of regret for any sins of the past that diminished the effectiveness of our witness and the proclamation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.?