President Donald Ramotar extended felicitations to the pastor and congregation of Smith Memorial Congre-gational Church for their service to the needy at the church’s 170th anniversary service on Sunday.
The anniversary service was held under the theme ‘Maintaining our relationship with God as initiated by our forefathers,’ a report from the Government Information Agency said. It was officiated by Pastor Olsen Small.
The church was built in honour of missionary Reverend John Smith, who travelled from London to Guyana, to preach the message of the gospel to enslaved Africans. Smith died in 1824 in incarceration while awaiting word that he had received a pardon, after being accused by colonisers of inciting the 1823 Demerara rebellion. Reverend Edwin Angel Walbridge, a London Missionary Society Minister sanctified the church in Smith’s honour in November, 1843.
The president lauded the church for its efforts to educate underprivileged persons and appealed to them to continue to emulate Smith’s example as well as those who fought against slavery by doing God’s work and bringing good to persons facing social challenges. Ramotar also requested the church’s support to eradicate domestic violence, identifying it as a national problem that every social organisation must unite to fight.
Opposition coalition leader David Granger and Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green also attended the service.
