My Mister found this while we were walking around
Nassau…
We quickly learned that the quilt show was
displayed in the downstairs hall of a very old Methodist church. Trinity
Methodist Church is celebrating its 150th birthday this year.
I took this little description from The Bahamas
Conference of the Methodist Church website.
Foundation stone was laid August 21st 1861 and opened April 2nd
1865. Destroyed by hurricane in 1938. The present, organ installed in 1964 and
stained glass windows in 1973.
On 21st August 1961 the cornerstone was laid by His Honour
Charles Nesbitt, Lieutenant Governor, acting in the absence of the Governor of
the Bahamas, Governor Bayley.
The Church was built to accommodate about eight hundred persons
(seated) at a cost of L6, 200.00. After many difficulties encountered in the
construction of the building, it was completed in 1865 and a special dedication
service was held on 2nd April of that year!!!
On 30th September 1866 the building was demolished by what was
later termed “the notorious 66 gale”. The hurricane sprang up whiled the Rev.
Hilton Cheeseborough was in the middle of his sermon at the evening service of
September 30th.
By 1869, before Rev. Cheeseborough left the colony, the Church
was completely rebuilt from funds recovered from the insurance of the building.
A large elegant gallery ran from wall to wall on the western end of the Church.
On September 1928 the church was again extensively damaged by
hurricane, during which time the gallery and much of the end were completely
flattened. The remains of the beautiful Pipe Organ were found in the basement.
The building was soon restored under the able leadership of the
rev. Walter H. Richards. However, the gallery was not replaced but the eastern
end of the building was designed that it could accommodate the choir.
In the 1929 hurricane the building did not sustain much damage
except for the steps which separated from the eastern end of the building.
In 1963 a beautiful tree-manual wicks Pipe Organ from Illinois
replace the Hall Organ from Connecticut, which had been installed in 1929.
In 1973 the members thought it would be a good idea to replace
the plain windows with beautiful stained windows, each of which bears a
message.
In 1989 the roof of the present building was completely
reshingled, at a cost of $128,000.00.
Trinity is proud of its rich heritage and its members continue to
keep the torch of Jesus burning. We trust that God will enable her to serve the
community for many years to come.
I love old buildings and wish I could have taken
pictures of the amazing stained glass windows but, being a Sunday, there was a
service in progress. The windows were
designed and manufactured by G. Maile and Son of Canterbury, England.
Here some photos of the outside.
This is the hall door, entry to the quilt show
Free books just inside the door
Stepping Stones Quilt Guild has displayed their quilt show in
this church for 25 years, free of charge.
The guild made this huge quilt and presented it to the church as a thank
you and also a birthday gift.
These are
the nice guild members that were hosting the day I was there.
As soon as I walked in the door, one lady announced “we have a
quilter.” Much to my surprise, they were
looking at me. Then I realized I was
carrying my Just Jane bag…dead giveaway J You can
read about my Just Jane here.
One lady took pictures and wrote down all of the information
on how she could get her own copy of Stephanie’s book Uncommonly Corduroy. (Yes, I took a picture of her taking a
picture!)
Check back for Part 3. I promise there will be few words but a lot of quilty goodness from the show.
