A Minister Bought a House and Made It a Chapel: Stony Hill Methodists Mark 200 Years

• In 1823 the Methodist Mission picked Stony Hill as the site for a new society
• Rev Robert Young bought a house and turned it into a chapel and minister’s residence
• About 300 people attended the first service on May 2, 1824
• The congregation planned to rededicate its chapel in May 2024

The Methodist congregation at Stony Hill in St Andrew began a year of bicentenary celebrations in 2023, the Gleaner reported on February 26. Its story starts with a property purchase.

In 1823 the Methodist Mission identified Stony Hill as an ideal place for a new society. It sat halfway between Kingston and Grateful Hill, served soldiers stationed at the nearby barracks and was home to a large farming community of thousands of people. Rev Robert Young began the mission in late 1823. He bought a house and converted it into a chapel that also served as the minister’s residence. The first service there, on May 2, 1824, drew about 300 people.

The celebrations were to open on May 29, 2023, with leaders of several denominations and members of the community, followed by outreach, youth and family events, Easter and Christmas observances and heritage activities linked to Labour Day and Heritage Month. The church planned to rededicate its chapel in May 2024. “God has kept us thus far, and we want to leave footprints of our presence and service so that generations to come will be inspired,” said Rev Dr Wayneford McFarlane, superintendent minister of the Western St Andrew Circuit.

The chapel stands at the corner of Christopher and Old Stony Hill Roads. Stony Hill is one of seven congregations in the Western St Andrew Circuit, one of 27 Methodist circuits in Jamaica.

Stony Hill’s founding is a textbook example of how early Jamaican churches got started: find a well-placed site on a busy route, buy an existing house and adapt it for worship and a minister’s home. Two hundred years later the congregation is still on its corner. For congregations today, buying and converting an existing building is often still the fastest and cheapest route to a permanent home. Choosing a location with lasting value is what lets a church stay put for two centuries.

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