Church of the Redeemer, Jamaica


The Church of the Redeemer is the oldest Moravian Church building in Kingston, Jamaica, 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 was a large house which was adapted for the purpose and consecrated on 1893-04-14. This building and the Mission House next door 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 for £4,000 in 1949 and a new manse purchased in Antrim Road, Vineyard Town.

Hall

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 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