The stained glass windows of the 1664 church shimmered in the Half Way Tree summer sun as history unfolded inside. For the first time in the Anglican Church in Jamaica this week, a dreadlocked male priest celebrated his first Eucharist. The event took place at St. Andrew Parish Church in Kingston.
Rev. Bertram Gayle, the easy-going and gentle dreadlocked Anglican priest with an engaging personality and a ready smile, administered his first communion to over a hundred worshippers on Tuesday evening.
Only days before, Gayle was ordained as an Anglican priest by the Most Rev. Bishop Howard Gregory at the Cathedral of St. Jago de la Vega in Spanish Town.
The hallmark of Gayle’s first Eucharist was the strong Jamaican flavor of the service. From the opening hymn, Enter Into Jerusalem, written by Father Richard Ho Lung with adaptations by Bertram Gayle, to the closing hymn, All Around are People Hurting, with words written by the evening’s celebrant, Rev. Gayle himself, the elements were richly indigenous. The music throughout the service was spirited and celebratory, with a revival rhythm for the Lord’s Prayer, Our Father Who Art in Zion. Much of the liturgy too was conducted in Jamaican Creole, including several sentences and readings from the Bible in Jamaican Creole. The mass setting was written by Daren Evans and Everton Clarke, both young Jamaican composers.
Rev. Gayle, a physical fitness devotee, was part of a team that translated the New Testament and the Psalms of David from the Bible into Jamaican Creole in 2012.
Before the service ended, Gayle thanked several members of the clergy for their unwavering support during his journey to priesthood, including Rev. Canon Serrano Kitson, rector of St. Andrew Parish Church, and Rev. Fr. Sean Major Campbell, rector of Christ Church in Vineyard Town. Other clergies in attendance include Rev. Deacon Javanie Byfield, Rev. Fr. Craig Mears, and Sis. Andrea Taylor-Smith. Mr. Audley Davidson pulled the stops on the Walker & Sons pipe organ, creating magic with the carefully selected music for the occasion. His organ playing for the service attracted online raves from as far away as India.
“I feel very privileged, blessed, and very humbled that I have been called to serve around God’s altar and to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Gayle stated in a post-communion chat. “In the spirit of peace and one love, I am excited about what the future holds,” he added. After nightfall, when the service ended, several church members and friends gathered in a nearby annex, undaunted by the many nearby graves, to share congratulatory greetings with Rev. Gayle. Some grabbed snapshots of his eye-popping ordination robe. The color red to celebrate the Holy Spirit is emblazoned with religious motifs and trimmed with bandana and hummingbirds.
Gayle hails from Darliston in Westmoreland, and he is one of four priests who were ordained last week. The others were Courtney
Carridice, Monnecia Duncan and Kamar Prendergast
and then 