A short history of Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic (Part 2)

This is the second installment of my posts on the History of Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic (Part1), based upon conversations, and accounts I have heard while growing up… and also includes info. gathered from church literature such as Convocation Booklets, Programmes and the like.

Bishop Dunn comes to England

Bishop Dunn came to England in the 1950’s (c. 1955, based on our Church Golden Jubilee being held in 2005). In his own words, Bishop Dunn came to England for “two reasons… to pay down on a house and to get married”. The young Sydney Alexander Dunn had fallen for Chloe Effe Thomson while in Jamaica, when he approached Mother Christine Walsh (his pastor) for Chole’s hand in marriage she rebutted him with: “he hey, you have anywhere fi put her?”. At the time Sydney was living in the home of his Pastor while pursuing full time ministry as the Deputy Presiding Bishop for the Shiloh Apostolic Church of JA (the islands largest Apostolic organisation at the time). Thus Bishop Dunn went and prayed asking God to get him off the island using “a ship, a fish, anything”. He set sail for England telling Chloe that he was going to marry her soon.

Bishop Dunn’s voyage across the Atlantic

Sydney set sail for England, with many other immigrants in search of a better life, immorality was rampant on the ship.

Men and women who were either married or engaged were using the journey as an opportunity to sleep around. Bishop Dunn ever the preacher asked the captain if he could hold a service. His first message went something like… “I suppose some of you are married, or some of you are espoused to be married, I want to tell you something if you don’t stop playing around you going to come off this ship and when you get to England you going to be pregnant and can’t tell your husband the baby is not for him”. As Bishop preached a man piped up: “lef di people alone”, but another in the crowd responded: “preacher, preach you preach”. From that day no one publically acted immorally on the ship. I met once with a man who was not a Christian but happened to be on the ship with Bishop Dunn and he confirmed every word of the story, he remembered it as if it was yesterday.

On another occasion Sydney had to preach to the more distinguished guests on board including judges and high flyers. For the young Bishop this was daunting as he was not from such a background. After prayer the Lord gave him a message based on “Ephraim is a cake half turned”. Bishop expounded that society was ‘half baked’, well done on the secular and material side but under-cooked on the spiritual side. Society had created a ‘frankenstien monster’ Bishop preached. At the end of the sermon a judge asked him how he managed to preach such a moving message without notes? It is the Holy Ghost that gives inspiration.

Arriving in England

When Bishop arrived in England he headed for Birmingham to lodge with a sister from Jamacia. The sister knew Chloe well and when she heard Sydney was to marry Chloe she did not charge him rent – praise God!

Bishop Sydney Dunn was staying at a house near Handsworth Park called Holly Road. This road was adjacent to Gibson Road, which would become the first church of the Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic (UK). Other notable saints to live on Holly Road included Elder Leon Walrond, Assistant Pastor, Gibson Road, Deacon Burke, Bro & Sis Whitton and my grandparents too.

Searching for a ‘Pentecostal’ Church

Sydney began searching for a church in Birmingham, he found a Pentecostal Church in Hockley, the Elim Pentecostal Church. However, when Sydney enquired he found it was a ‘Trinitarian Pentecostal’ something he’d never heard of while in Jamaica (where Pentecostal was a synomnyn for Apostolic ‘Oneness’ Pentecostal). As he went out into the street outside the Hockley Pentecostal Church he began to cry out to God for somewhere to worship. It was then the Lord replied: “you are pregnant with the church, why don’t you give birth?” And so, services started in Bishop’s bedroom at Holly Road, attendance grew until Sydney had to take the door off the bedroom and preach standing halfway in the door of the bedroom and the landing.

It was time to start looking for a building… I shall continue the story in part 3 (soon to come…)