A rich Bible heritageBahamas Focus: stories and photographs by UBS Photojournalist Larry Jerden With 2,700 churches, the Bahamas is a very ‘churched’ society with a long Christian history. Its first church, Christ Church Cathedral, was established in 1670. The Bible Society played a prominent role in building the islands’ early Christian culture. “The work dates back to the early days of the British and Foreign Bible Society, when it was conducted via Jamaica,” says Robert Sands, Bible Society Promoter. “A news item in the January 20, 1892 edition of The Nassau Guardian quoted the Very Rev Dean Young, Bible Society Auxiliary President and Chairman, as referring to Bible Society work in the Bahamas ‘60 years ago’.” In actual fact, however, Bible work on the islands began as early as 1816. While the emphasis of the Society’s work in the Bahamas has traditionally been on raising funds to support Bible work in other parts of the world, there are many opportunities for distribution on the islands and in serving the many churches. “With all of the churches here, there is one sense in which the Bahamas is not a mission field but people always need the Bible – there is no saturation point with the Bible,” says the Rev Dr J Emmette Weir, a Methodist pastor and, until recently, Chairman of the Bible Society Auxiliary. “Our greatest work is before us.” (WR 367/13 - 3.02) |