The Tribune

THIS SUNDAY, the Church of the Holy Spirit will celebrate its 75th Anniversary of Dedication with a Pontifical Mass of Thanksgiving.

The service will be held at the church grounds on Howard Street, Chippingham, beginning at 9 am.

The Celebrant will be the Rt Rev Laish Boyd, Bishop of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands; the Rector of the Parish, Canon Peter Scott and the Associate Priest, Fr Joseph Myclewhyte will be con-celebrants.
Dignitaries expected to attend include Governor-General Sir Arthur Foulkes and Lady Foulkes.

The service will be taped for TV broadcast by ZNS and aired on Sunday, January 26 at 11 am. Following the service, the parish family will move to the church’s parking lot for a grand family brunch to continue the celebrations.
Holy Spirit Church was dedicated and opened on January 1, 1939 as a mission church under the Parish of St. Mary the Virgin and was the brainchild of the late Canon E.W. G Holmes, who saw the need for a church in the growing Chippingham area, so persons would not have to walk the distance to St. Mary’s. The little church was painted red and white and was nicknamed the “little lipstick church” by Canon Holmes.

Since its humble beginnings in 1939, the little lipstick church, which today still retains its red and white colouring, has grown and flourished, and underwent extensive renovations and expansion in 1977-78 under the then rector, the late Fr. Dunstan Burrows. Today, the Parish has around 250 regular members and many ministries in the church, including ACW, ACM, CYM, young adults, singing and serving choirs, the Holy Spirit chorale, praise team, usher guild, pastoral and evangelism teams, and an active outreach program which feeds over 50 families in the surrounding community with food packages on a monthly basis.

Over the years, under past rectors, the parish acquired much of the surrounding property near the church, and now spans almost the entire block from Dunmore Street to Providence Ave. Future plans include changing the lighting in the church to more modern and energy efficient fixtures as well a long standing dream to expand and renovate the Parish Activity Centre, located next to the church.

All in all, the family of the Church of the Holy Spirit says it has a lot to give God thanks for over the past 75 years. The church has been not only a place of worship for countless members, many of whom have since moved onto their rest, but also a beacon of hope and love to the Chippingham community, both physically and spiritually from 1939.

“As we celebrate this milestone, we honour those faithful warriors who laboured in the parish from 1939 until now, including past rectors and priests who ministered here, Canon Holmes, Fr Glendon Brant, Canon Neil Roach, Fr. Dunstan Burrows, Canon Samuel Sturrup, Fr. Patrick Johnson, Canon Sebastian Campbell, Fr. James Moultrie, Canon Harry Ward and Fr Enrique McCartney,” said a church statement.