The Church of the Redeemer is the oldest
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
building in
Kingston,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, and houses a congregation of the
Jamaican province of the Moravian Church. It was opened in 1918. The name, which is unusual for a Moravian church, was bestowed by its builder Jonathan Reinke "because he did not want people to speak of ''Reinke's church''".
History
First building
Kingston's first Moravian Church (at 23 Hanover Street) was a large house which was adapted for the purpose and consecrated on 1893-04-14.
[.] This building and the Mission House next door (at 25 Hanover Street) were destroyed in
1907 by an earthquake.
[.] Two shed's were erected to replace them while a new Church building was constructed.
Present building
The building at the corner of North Street and Duke Street was consecrated by Bishop Westphal on 1918-05-08.
The total cost of the building, site and out buildings was £3,124.
[.]
Manse
A new manse, on the north side of North Street a block to the east, was completed in 1927 at a cost of £921.
The manse site was sold to the
Gleaner Company
The Gleaner Company Ltd. is a newspaper publishing enterprise in Jamaica. Established in 1834 by Joshua and Jacob De Cordova, the company's primary product is ''The Gleaner'', a morning broadsheet published six days each week. It also publishes ...
for £4,000 in 1949
and a new manse purchased in Antrim Road, Vineyard Town.
[.]
Hall
![Mary Morris-Knibb Hall 1963](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Mary_Morris-Knibb_Hall_1963.png)
A church hall was opened on 1930-12-30 by
Lady Stubbs, wife of the Governor. This was destroyed by the
hurricane of 1951.
[.] A replacement hall was opened in 1962-02-28 at a cost of £16,000.
[.]
Organ
A
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
was installed in 1932, reconstructed in 1945 and destroyed during the
1951 hurricane.
A replacement was installed in 1953 at a cost of over £3,000.
[.]
Clergy
Notes and references
Bibliography
External links
Aerial view of the churchAerial view of the site of the 1927 manseAerial view of the site of the 1949 manse
{{Moravian Church in Jamaica
Congregations of Jamaica Province of the Moravian Church
Moravian churches in Jamaica
1918 establishments in the British Empire
Churches completed in 1918