It is Palm Sunday in Hope Town. At 11 AM, the bells of St. James Methodist Church call the faithful to worship. Pastor Marie, a Black Bahamian circuit rider minister, addresses an audience that is 99% Caucasian. As we enter, she is pinning large pointed ears to a child’s toy horse as a prop for her Palm Sunday sermon. Large plate glass windows behind the pulpit offer a panoramic view of the white sand beach and the ocean beyond. It is unusual to peer out at Sunday morning snorkelers hovering over the reef and bikini-clad women strolling along the beach during a worship service. These distractions do not hold a candle to Pastor Marie’s extemporaneous and inspirational message.[caption id="attachment_3405" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Worship with a view of the beach"]
[/caption]In the Bahamas, there is a shortage of ministers that are willing or able to serve small out island congregations. Pastor Marie travels from the island of Eleuthera, 75 miles to the south to conduct today’s worship service. She divides her time amongst three churches in Abaco. The parishioners of St. James Methodist are treated to her sermons only once every three weeks. In the intervening Sundays, Vernon Malone, the town grocer, delivers the Sunday morning sermon.
[caption id="attachment_3409" align="alignright" width="235" caption="Vernon Malone"]
[/caption]Vernon assists in the worship service and is an accomplished speaker in his own right. We are customers at his grocery store, as are all of the other residents and visitors in Hope Town. Above his cash register at the grocery is an official proclamation signed by Queen Elizabeth acknowledging his human service contribution to residents of the Bahamas. Vernon is recognized by the Bahamian Methodist Church as a lay minister. When not officiating at his home church in Hope Town, he volunteers his services to facilitate worship services at other churches throughout Abaco and beyond. In his grocery store, however, he is casually dressed in shorts and a t shirt, baking coconut bread and entertaining his customers. In addition to operating the grocery store, Vernon also functions as Hope Town’s Justice of the Peace and Marriage Officer.
[caption id="attachment_3408" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Poolside lunch at Hopetown Harbor Lodge"]
[/caption]Following the service, we pause for an ocean-side lunch on the terrace at Hopetown Harbour Lodge. In the afternoon, it is off to the laundry in the dinghy with our sack of dirty clothes. Sundays are quiet days in Hope Town, as most of the businesses are closed. At dusk, we relax in the cockpit of Cutter Loose to witness the daily lighting of the lighthouse for the final time during our stay in Abaco.
[caption id="attachment_3410" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Cutter Loose at the Sugar Loaves"]
[/caption]Monday brings yet another day of settled weather to the Hub of Abaco with winds less than 10 knots. Cutter Loose is underway from Hopetown Harbor on a rising tide, bound for an overnight anchorage at the Sugar Loaves, a series of craggy mounds protruding from the aquamarine water. Cutter Loose is alone in this spot. There is not another vessel in sight. With just a hint of a breeze, the Sea of Abaco is perfectly flat. The reassuring rythym of the Elbow Cay Reef Light is visible on the southeast horizon…five one-second flash intervals followed by five seconds of darkness. The temperature is perfect for an evening of relaxation in the cockpit spent stargazing, absorbing this peaceful setting and listening to Dvorak’s Czech Suite. Already, we are enjoying sweet memories of the Sugar Loaves.
No comments:
Post a Comment