The occasion was the celebration of the 247th anniversary of the founding of St. John’s Church. St. John’s church was, in fact a part of the Anglican Diocese of Antigua (Our Diocese) until 1920, when the churches of St. Croix and St. Thomas became affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, after the USA had bought the islands from Denmark.

The choir arrived in St. Croix to find that it was raining. It rained in fact from Friday until Monday morning just before the time of departure from St. Croix. This however did not dampen the spirits of the members, and there were loud peals of laughter throughout the visit.

On Friday evening the choir members were guests at the Celebratory Dinner, a happy and filling affair; and the state of our spirit was evidenced by the fact that five of our men volunteered to push out the car of a lady which was stuck in the mud and clay. For their efforts, the men were covered from head to toe with clay, and much laughter ensued as the other dinner guests caught sight of them. It is alleged the Priest laughed loudest and longest.

It was good-natured laughter, however. For the lady took all of the suits and had them cleaned by noon the next day. Incidentally, four of the five men and their chauffer, while still in their sodden state, also got lost among the winding roads of St. Croix, and did not get to their place of abode until quite late.

The choir attended rehearsal with the St. Croix Deanery choir on Saturday morning and after that did its own rehearsing. The evening recital was affected by the steady downpour of rain. Many persons from the areas outside of Christiansted did not venture out, and there were persons who would have travelled over from St. Thomas, who could not come because the Seaplanes could not fly.

The performance of the choir, supported as they were by Dr. Louisa Lawrence and Mrs Raita Sawyer, was close to faultless, and the moderately-sized audience gave evidence of much satisfaction with every item.

On Sunday morning the congregations of all of the Episcopal churches gathered at St. John’s for the Eucharist and massed for the singing of the hymns, the psalm, the Te Deum and the anthem “O How Amiable are thy dwellings”. The President and Preacher was The Rt. Rev. E. Ambrose Gumbs, D.D., Bishop of the Virgin Islands. St. George’s choir was asked to re-render two items: Noel Dexter’s “O Praise Ye the Lord”; and Beery’s “My peace I Give unto you” to the music of Beethoven’s Sonata No 8.

The congregation and choirs were treated to refreshment after the Eucharist, and St. George’s members were free to do as they pleased until the time of departure on Monday. Some pieces of luggage were delayed during the travel both going and coming, but all were recovered safely and the tour was not adversely affected by this.

The members of the choir bring to Archdeacon and Mrs. Hodge and the entire clergy and congregation, the greetings and best wishes of His Lordship the Bishop, of Fr. and Mrs Daniel, and of the various congregations on St. Croix. The visit was expensive for the choir and the rain affected the size of the turnout, but it is expected that when all is counted, all expenses would have been met.

We, the members of the choir wish to thank all of you who gave encouragement and hope to us; and who supported us physically, psychologically or otherwise as we prepared for this, our most ambitious outing thus far.


Ian Hodge
Choirmaster