PART IX. ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS. [On account of the increasing size of the Handbook it has been necessary to leave out the interesting accounts of the early history of the Churches, for which the reader is referred to the Handbook of 1891.] THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN JAMAICA. THE early history of the Church of England in Jamaica from its establishment in 1662 under the Deputy Governorship of Sir Charles Lyttleton up to the year 1866, the time of the inauguration of Crown Government, has been published in previous numbers of the Jamaica Handbook, and to these the reader is referred for such information as he needs prior to the advent in Jamaica of Sir John Peter Grant. Law 30 of 1870, which was passed by the Legislative Council, "regulated the disestablishment and the gradual disendowment of the Church of England in this Island, and authorized a constitution to be formed for the future government of the Church on the voluntary principle; gave power to Her Majesty, whenever the proper time arrived, to incorporate by charter the duly appointed representatives of the Church Communion, after which incorporation the Governor would have the power to vest in such Corporate Body all Church property."* The Law also made provision "for the continuance of their stipends to those Clergymen upon the late Establishment who should continue in the due discharge of their ecclesiastical duties as members of the voluntary communion."* The Law was framed on the Canadian and Irish precedents. A constitution was then drawn up, in which it was provided that the government of the Church should be vested in a Synod to consist of a Bishop, the Clergy and the Representatives of the Laity chosen by the registered male Communicants and by such of the Non-communicant Members as might declare themselves to belong to no other religious denomination. All Representatives to Synod were to be themselves Communicants. Provision was also made for the annual appointment of a Diocesan Council to consist of twelve Clergymen and twelve Laymen, "to advise and assist the Bishop in all matters connected with the administration of the Diocese, not specially committed to the management of the Financial Board." The Diocesan Financial Board was "to administer such central funds as may be committed to its control, and the revenues of Church property, according to such rules as the Synod may approve," and was to consist of the Bishop, the Archdeacons and Commissaries, the members of the Corporate Body and 13 elected members, one of whom was annually to be chosen by the Synod as Chairman of such Board. The Corporate Body (or rather the Incorporated Lay Body of the Church of England in Jamaica) was to hold the property and funds of the Church and to exercise all the other rights and duties required of them under the Law of Disestablishment, and was to consist of four Communicant Lay-members of the Church to be appointed by the Synod. * Sir John Grant's Blue Book Report for 1870. The management of the parochial or local affairs of the Church was placed in the hands of Church Committees, elected by those qualified to vote for Lay Representatives, and to consist of not more than twelve members, twothirds of whom should be Communicants. The Clergyman of the Church to be served was given the power of nomination and was made Chairman of the Committee when in session. Two Churchwardens were to be appointed for each Church from the elected Church Committee-one to be chosen by the Incumbent, the other by the Church Committee itself-and their duties were the care of the Church Buildings, Churchyards, and other Church property, the allocation of pews and sittings, and the preservation of order in the Churches. Bishop Courtenay retired in April, 1879, after a connection of a quarter of a century with the Diocese, and Dr. Tozer, formerly Missionary Bishop of Eastern Africa, was appointed as his successor; but Bishop Tozer, after six months' service, had to retire on account of ill-health. On the 16th July, 1880, a Special Synod was held for the election of another Bishop. The Rev. Enos Nuttall, B.D., the Incumbent of St. George's Church, Kingston, was chosen and was subsequently consecrated in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, on 28th October, 1880. Dr. Nuttall returned to the Colony on the 20th November, 1880, and immediately assumed his duties as Bishop of Jamaica. At a Special Synod held on the 12th September, 1888, it was unanimously resolved "that the appointment of an Assistant Bishop was necessary to assist the Bishop of Jamaica, in consequence of the growth of the Diocese and the heavy work which its missionary character entails on him." The Synod thereupon proceeded to consider the appointment, and having received a nomination of the Venerable Archdeacon Charles Frederick Douet, M.A., from His Lordship the Bishop, the question as to the confirmation of the nomination was put and unanimously agreed to. Archdeacon Douet proceeded to England and was consecrated a Bishop in Westminster Abbey on the 30th November, His Lordship returned to Jamaica on the 29th December, 1888, and assumed the duties of his office. In regard to the finances of the Church for 1897* it may be interesting to know that the receipts of money for all purposes paid into the credit of the Diocesan Church Fund for that year amounted to £16,697. Under the head of Expenditure we find from the report of the Diocesan Financial Board that for Episcopal Supervision the amount was £1,305. The Diocesan Expenses Fund shows an expenditure of £1,429. This. fund has no endowment and the whole expenditure has to be met by assessments on the Churches. It should, however, be borne in mind that this fnnd contributes £100 to the Clergy Pension Fund and £17 10s. to a Special Clergy Pension Fund; £100 each for Removal Expenses of Clergy and Episcopal Travelling Allowance. The staff connected with the office, including Secretaries to the Bishop, Synod, Diocesan Council, Diocesan Financial Board, Diocesan Education Board, Diocesan Secretary, the Accountant, the Clerk, and the Auditor, cost £649, The contribution from this fund to the Jamaica Churchman" is £70. The other items of expenditure in this account comprise Law account, Printing, Postages, Stationery, Rent, Pension, Copying, Furniture, Books and Contingencies. The grants from the General Sustentation Fund to the Poor Churches amounted to £892 7s. 10d. Some portion of the money expended consists of grants made by societies * Later figures not yet available. in England which now pass through the books of the Diocesan Financial, Board, the appropriation of some of which is regulated by the Bishop of the Diocese. The great bulk of the expenditure goes to meet the salaries of the Clergy and Catechists and may roughly be stated at £12,000. The Capital Funds of the Church on 31st December, 1897, consisted of £47,700 in debentures, Jamaica Local Inscribed Stock £2,000, and Colonial Bishoprics Fund £1,500. Total, £51,200 Os. Od. STATISTICAL SYNOPSIS FIRST YEAR AFTER DISESTABLISHMENT, IN1880, 1890, 1896 & 1897. Most Rev. Enos Nuttall, D.D., Lord Archbishop of the West Indies, President. Hon. W. J. Ewen. T. L. Harvey, Esq., Legal Adviser. THE INCORPORATED LAY BODY. J. F. Cargill, M.D. E. Nuttall, Esq., Secretary. DIOCESAN COUNCIL. The Lord Archbishop, President. Nominated by the Bishop. Rev. G. W. Downer The Right Rev. the Assistant Bishop. Elected by the Synod. Rev. H. H. Kilburn Rev. J. W. Austin Rev. J. B. Ellis, Secretary. |