Celebrating 150 years
Bishop-elect honours rich heritage at Clumber Church service
THE Clumber Church 150th birthday celebrations were a bumper weekend of music, fellowship, honouring the memory of the Nottingham Party of 1820 Settlers and showcasing the marvellous restoration of the historic church building and grounds.
Hundreds of people came from far and wide to join in the festivities to mark the milestone occasion in the church’s history, which saw a 1 000-seater tent nearly filled to capacity for a music festival last Saturday, while members from all over the Methodist circuit and other churches joined the special service on Sunday led by bishop-elect for the Grahamstown district, Rev Jacob Freemantle. It was a little over a year ago that the tiny congregation of the rural church decided to step out in faith to embark on a major renovation project, starting with repairs to their leaking roof. They had no funds in their restoration account at the time, but created a website, clumberchurch.simdif.com and two Facebook pages to raise funds and document progress.
They ordered the roofing materials and began the work. By the time it was completed, the amount needed – R65 000 – had been donated. They moved onto other projects, like repairing the harmonium and piano, painting the interior and repairing the original floors and pews. They organised work parties to scrub and clean the gravestones dating back to the 1820 Settlers, as well as clearing shrubs and bush from the graves.
The congregation gave glory to God for providing the means and resources for the church being totally restored.
One of the project’s spearheads, Courteney George Bradfield, said the timing was so providential in light of the church’s 150th anniversary, for which each member pulled out all the stops to deliver an event worthy of the milestone.
At the special service marking the occasion on Sunday, Rev Freemantle said it was “a celebration of great heritage”.
“I thought the Uitenhage circuit was old, but when I read your history I thought, really, you are madalas in the circuit and the district.”
Freemantle recounted some of the history of the people who made up the Nottingham Party, who were the poorest of the poor among the 1820 Settlers.
With the Industrial Revolution shutting down cottage industries and soldiers returning from the Napoleonic Wars with no prospect of employment, the promise of a piece of land in a foreign country looked very appealing. They could not even afford the passage to South Africa, but the Duke of Newcastle raised sufficient funds to allow the 60 men, 26 women and 72 children to emigrate. The journey by sea was beset with severe weather and cramped conditions, and when they finally arrived at Algoa Bay they lived in tents before they could make the difficult journey by ox wagon till they finally reached Clumber and the hill they named Mount Mercy, on which they built the church.
These were people of faith, Freemantle said. “It could only be our gracious God who carried these people through hardships. They left all they were familiar with. They were pioneers, they took a leap of faith. These are the footsteps of our visionaries and missionaries”.
Freemantle took his Scripture reading from Revelation 12:11, “They triumphed over him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”.
And when they got to Clumber, there were still Frontier Wars to endure, Freemantle said. “But our struggle is not against flesh and blood. They saw their enemy in front of them but they knew their enemy is not people, but the devil”.
Looking out across the sea of faces in the tent, he said this was why, in the present, “we are preaching not just in a white church or a black church, but as the people of God”.
“Remain united as a circuit. Bind us together, Lord,” he said.
“It is time to invoke the prayers of the forefathers. We have never seen such corruption in the ANC as we see today. “They need not only our deriding and mockery but they need our prayers because they are carrying our lives in their hands. “We have never witnessed the abuse of children and the elderly as we do today,” he added.
He exhorted those present to feed the hungry, look after the elderly and educate the children.
On the previous day the church hosted a music festival with a diverse line-up of musicians, including the church’s 97-year-old organist/pianist Olive Pike, the Kentones singing group, Keiskamma Music Academy, organist/pianist Meryl Baker, Mnaba Choir, the Port Alfred Scottish dancers, Graeme College steel drum band, St Andrew’s College and DSG wind and brass orchestra, piper Graham Martens and the Full Gospel Church band.
South African radio and television personality Jeremy Mansfield was emcee for the music festival and also served as auctioneer at a fundraising auction for the church at the Pig ’n Whistle last Friday night which raised R106 800.