Montserratians and their Friends Give Thanks

Marcelle Riley

‘Thanks!’ was the sentiment echoed throughout the day at the 10th annual Montserratians and Friends SDA day of fellowship held on Sabbath the 29th of May 2010. Over 600 Montserratians and their friends gathered at the Mount Zion Community Church in Birmingham for this special day of worship and fellowship. The day’s theme was ‘How can I say Thanks...?’

Principal co-ordinator of the day, William B. Riley from the Breath of Life Seventh-day Adventist Church said of the event, “the Montserratians and Friends day of fellowship was born out of the desire to provide Montserratians and their friends living in the UK the opportunity to publicly give thanks to God for the protection of lives due to the ongoing volcanic crisis in Montserrat. The crisis commenced in July 1995 and the first quarter of this year witnessed a heightened increase in activity where some villages were completely destroyed. However, we still give thanks because our Almighty has continued to protect the lives of the inhabitants.”

Sabbath, 29th of May was indeed one of rich spiritual blessings. Shirley Ryner, the Sabbath School superintendent for the day planned the programme around the day’s theme. Dr Patrick Hebert led out in a thought provoking discussion on the topic of ‘Temperance’. During the Sabbath School period, Pastor C.A. Young, resident Pastor of the local Mount Zion Community Church warmly welcomed us into his church and offered a prayer on our behalf.

Immediately following the Sabbath School discussion, the attending congregation received greetings from Professor Sir Howard Fergus, former Speaker of the House in Montserrat as well former Acting Governor and resident tutor of the University of the West Indies. Mrs Janice Panton MBE, Head of the Montserrat Government UK office also conveyed regards on behalf of the Government and people of Montserrat. Thelma Gage and Caleb Greenaway led the congregation in a minute’s silence in recognition of their fathers (George Gage and Joseph Henry (Thomas) Greenaway respectively) who previously attended this event and were laid to rest this year.

The late Pastor Delroy Foster was also remembered during this time as he had been the main speaker in 2005. One of the regular features of this annual day of fellowship is an update of the growth of the Seventh-day Adventist work in Montserrat. An audio visual presentation captivated the attention of the congregation (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jUWcabseKc).

In his sermon entitled ‘It is well,’ Pastor Ian Sweeney, NEC president, delivered a very powerful message through which all were reassured that with God it is always well, regardless of the situation we face. The message was based on 2 Kings 4:8-26 where the Shunamite woman declared “It shall be well” in spite of the sorrow she was facing on losing her son.

Various musical renditions added their own unique flavour to the day. The London SDA Male Voice Choir is a regular feature. However, we were also uplifted by special items from the Camp Hill choir and Pearl Ryner. Calvin Riley also delivered a beautiful rendition of the song ‘How can I say thanks?’ just before the sermon by Pastor Sweeney.

Music was also the dominant feature of the afternoon’s programme. This included a solo piece on the harp.
A further highlight of the day, especially for the Montserratians was the presentation by Montserratian Evangelist Simon Farrell, who gave the audience a real taste of the Caribbean with two selections from his latest CD.

For the second consecutive year we were able to use the medium of technology to share the day of fellowship across the globe. The service was streamed live over the internet and in spite of the 5 hour time difference, according to reports, some individuals in Montserrat chose to share in this worship experience instead of congregating in their local churches. Reruns of the day can be viewed on http://www.justin.tv/mratuk/videos. You can also see photographs of the day’s event on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Mratuk-Day/100001191390779 as well as reruns from previous years.

The day climaxed with vespers by Pastor Sweeney and the attendees went away with the command to always offer praises to God as a sacrifice of thanksgiving ringing in their ears.