In an extraordinary and inaugural move, Brooklyn\u2019s Trinity Methodist Church has honored 21 senior members who have worked \u201cextremely hard\u201d to support the ministry.\n<\/p>\n
Some members were honored posthumously.\n<\/p>\n
Among the 20 female and one male honoree, at the church at 1142-1148 Eastern Parkway, near Utica Avenue, were: Frances Pitt, Doris Bonadie, Sarah E.L. Payne Brown, Rublylyn Baker, Icilina Tucker, Mary Murray, Noreen Charles, Eulalee Fearon, Mavis Bramble, Alishia Raguette, Agnetta Pascol, Vivienne Barriffe, Jean Mason.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a member of Trinity for many years, I have observed the members working extremely hard to support the ministry,\u201d\u00a0Elder Cecelia Beach, the Vincentian-born organizer of the ceremony, told Caribbean Life. \u201cSome did so by doing what was called \u2018coffee hour.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI observed how hard these folks worked,\u201d she added.\u00a0 \u201cI decided that it was time for the church to recognize those hard-working seniors, as well as the other seniors in the church.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt very satisfied to see how much joy was on the faces of our seniors,\u201d Beach continued. \u201cThey are all over 80 years. Congratulations to all of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pitt, who is Guyanese-born, said she was completely surprised by the honor.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel so blessed to have been honored by my church community,\u201d she said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Bonadie, a former member of the church\u2019s Trustee Board, said she was ecstatic about receiving the award.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never experienced anything like this before in my life,\u201d she said. \u201cI am over the moon that my church even thought to honor me.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Montserrat native Payne Brown was an active member of the Gospel Choir, Pastor\u2019s Aide Auxiliary, Board of Stewards & Stewardesses, Building Committee and Trustee Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baker, who was born in St. Vincent in the Grenadines, said Trinity Methodist Church, formerly Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, has \u201ctruly become my home away from home \u2014 a place where my faith has grown stronger, and my heart feels at peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel honored and overjoyed to be a part of this church family, and I pray that the Lord continues to bless and keep each of us,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Murray, another Vincentian native, said that being honored means more to her \u201cthan words can express.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply grateful and thankful to God and to my church family for their love, support, and encouragement,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is a blessing to serve.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincentian Charles, 91, has been residing in Brooklyn for over 50 years.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Fearon thanked the officers and members of Trinity Methodist Church for honoring her.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cGod gave them a sign of my hard work from back home; and so, they decided to honor me,\u201d she said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Bramble, who was born Nov. 10, 1938, said she joined Trinity Methodist Church in 1976 soon after migrating to Brooklyn.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still an active member after being there for 50 years,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt proud that I was chosen to be honored. I really love worshipping at Trinity Methodist Church.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Raguette said she was \u201cso grateful to be honored as a senior member of the church.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not expect it, but it only comes from a woman with a good heart who loves and cares for people, always looking out for the elderly and putting every one first,\u201d she said. \u201cThat woman is Elder Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElder Beach you are a God-fearing person and whatever you do will not go unpaid, not by man but by the love of God,\u201d she added. \u201cMay the Lord Bless and keep you. May your breadbasket never be empty. May you live long in good all the days of your life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pascol, who was born in Grenada in 1941, said she joined Trinity Methodist Church in the mid-1990s and was \u201chappy to be honored by her church.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Jamaican Barriffee said she has been a member of Trinity for over 25 years, serving on the women\u2019s league, senior prayer group and Christian education committees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she was \u201chonored to be a part of the honorees at Trinity Methodist Church.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Vincentian-born Mason said she finds \u201cjoy and fulfillment\u201d in her faith, spending her days in worship and praise, and grounded in her love for God.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Her family said she continues to be \u201ca shining light, graceful, compassionate mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who is deeply loved by all who encounter her.\u201d<\/p>\n
History of Trinity Methodist Church\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Beach said Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church had its beginning in August 1928 when a small group of people loyal to tradition, custom, and usages of Wesleyan Methodism met together at the homes of V.H. Williams, F. Maloney, Emily Rolle, Miraim George, Eary Swoen, Viola Maloney, William Wylie, Alicia Lewis, Francis Williams, Arthur King, Jonathan Greaves, M. Fraser, and Richard Samuels.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the suggestion of one of the founding members, Beach said the name Trinity was proposed as a suitable title for the church.\n<\/p>\n
In April 1940, the church purchased its first home at 1609 Pacific Street, Brooklyn.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
After years of faithful service, Beach said Rev. Maloney was forced to resign due to ill-health.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
She said Rev. Williams \u201cably served without an assistant\u201d until the appointment of the young Rev. Robert Humphrey in 1968.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Beach said Rev. Humphrey served as pastor until his resignation in 1973.\u00a0 He was succeeded by the Rev. Grafton Forbes, with \u00a0 Rev. Hutson McAllister as assistant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Rev. Forbes\u2019 resignation, Rev. McAllister succeeded him.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHis appointment to the pastorate brought a new wind of spirituality to Trinity,\u201d Beach said. \u201cHis teachings of dedication and faith, tempered with love and service to God and his fellow men, instilled new life into the congregation.\u00a0 He and his wife, Sis. Vera, served for four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the ill-health of Rev. McAllister\u2019s wife, the beloved Sis. Vera McAllister, forced the resignation of this hard-working servant of God,\u201d she added. \u201cHe returned to Barbados with his wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beach said Rev. McAllister was succeeded by Rev. T.J. Francis.\n<\/p>\n
She said other pastors \u201cwho have served ably\u201d are Dr. Hugh Forde, Rev. Valentine Williams and Rev. Terrence Gilbert.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now shepherded by Pastor Derwin Grant, an anointed and dynamic servant of God,\u201d Beach said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an extraordinary and inaugural move, Brooklyn\u2019s Trinity Methodist Church has honored 21 senior members who have worked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-252309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}