DEVON, Manchester — Pastor Phillip Cardis recalls that when he took over at the Devon Missionary Church in 2019, the first thing he did was to reactivate a HEART Trust training programme.

As a direct result, more than 50 young people from Devon and surrounding communities received housekeeping skills training over a six-month period.

According to Cardis, over its 145-year history, dating back to 1875, people came to the Devon Missionary Church when they were “looking for a renaissance in religion” and spiritual growth. But also, the church has sought to help people be the best they can be, through training, mentorship and community leadership.

The church’s role is “definitely spiritual but material as well”, Cardis told the Jamaica Observer, recently.

In addition to retaining its partnership with the HEART Trust, Cardis spoke of “a vibrant mentorship programme that we believe helps towards reducing crime and in helping young people to find their purpose in life. We have a vibrant sports programme and on a Sunday evening (prior to the onset of COVID-19) more than 40 young people play football, basketball … others come out to watch…”

Such outreach programmes allow church leaders to “reason” with young people and “develop a rapport and to help and guide them”.

The church had also partnered with Devon Primary School in various programmes, Cardis said.

Back in October, the Devon Missionary Church, nestled in the rolling hills of farm-rich Devon, in northern Manchester, held a thanksgiving service to express gratitude and to review a proud, sometimes turbulent past.

A historical account published in its 145th anniversary programme told how the Devon Missionary Church first came about under the leadership of an ordained Baptist minister, George David Gayle. The latter had become “greatly discouraged by the then established churches and circumstances led to his licence being revoked”.

Gayle benefited from the donation of “a suitable corner lot” from a local land owner and built his first church not far from where the current structure now stands at what is often referred to locally as ‘Baptist Corner’.

But Gayle would have a falling out with his benefactor. What is described as a “severe misunderstanding” led to his imprisonment for three months. Gayle returned from prison to find the church land repossessed.

Undeterred, he built “a thatched booth” as a new place of worship on land where the Devon Missionary Church now stands. But Gayle’s troubles weren’t over. In a bizarre twist, he left Devon after locals accused him of “serving the sacraments without being licensed and sent for the police”.

Yet the church did not die. A small group kept it afloat despite severe difficulties. Enlightened leadership proved pivotal, including from Dr George Hargreaves, for whom the Hargreaves Memorial Hospital in Mandeville is named.

Setbacks were plentiful but the church grew, contributing to the birth and expansion of other churches including the Hepzibah Missionary Church in Coley Mountain.

Today, the historic Devon Missionary Church, developed in several phases down the decades, is located on about three acres of land which also includes an old manse now used as a tailor shop, a basket ball court and a cemetery with marked and unmarked tombs, some dating back well in excess of 100 years.

For Cardis, who spoke to the Sunday Observer in the presence of members of the Devon Missionary Church’s Executive Board, the church’s long, colourful history provides valuable guidance on how to remain relevant even in the unprecedented circumstances brought on by the novel coronavirus.

“COVID affected us severely,” said Cardis.

“In the first place (we) closed church …, then we started meeting in different small groups so it affected us socially, in terms of community gather. It affected the church financially in terms of budget. Instead of usual collections, church was forced to be giving back in term of care packages, assistance, etc, but we are not complaining [because] the Lord has been good in helping us… people have come on board and sponsored some of the care packages and so on,” he said.

Currently, church attendance on a Sunday is “approximately 40” compared to 50/60 previously, he said. There is strict adherence to recommended social distancing and other anti-virus protocols, Cardis said.

He sees adapting to the ‘new normal’ brought on by COVID-19 including the use of evolving technologies as critical to survival of institutions including his church, the wider missionary church and the Christian church as a whole.

“The keyword for the global village is pivoting,” he said.

“The church, like the global village is forced to wheel and come again; To look again at what are essentials and certainly crowd is not going to be one of those components … the use of social media and the Internet and technology is part of the way forward and we will have to revisit ministry such as Sunday school [and] youth ministry. It’s a pivoting, a rethinking and a reconstructing… It’s a call to look again, a work in progress, and to respond accordingly,” he said.

Also, Christians should ask themselves, “What would Jesus do? What would be his priority? And so, to care packages, encouragement, psychosocial support … those sort of things have to become the game changer that will interface and [be] used as tools…,” Cardis said.