Stamps for Le Centenaire de La Société Jersiaise (1973)

Stamps for Le Centenaire de La Société Jersiaise (1973)

La Société Jersiaise exists to preserve and to record as much as possible of Jersey's archaeology, history and natural history. With a membership now approaching 2,000, it celebrates its centenary in January 1973. In St. Helier, it has a large Museum containing many exhibits, an art gallery and a well stocked library which is available to students and to Members of La Société. Excursions to places of archaeological and historical interest and lectures for Members are also arranged. La Société owns La Hougue Bie, one of the finest Neolithic Tombs in Western Europe which is surmounted by two medieval chapels and whose grounds contain an Agricultural Museum and also one relating to the German Occupation of the Island 1940-1945.

2 ½ p stamp - Jersey Silver Wine Cup and Christening Cup

Jersey made silver carries no hall mark, date stamp or sovereign's head. It generally shows a maker's mark, though not always, usually incorporating his initials. Most of it was made in the eighteenth century, and up to about 1820, and it now has great rarity value in world markets.

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1695, which caused the flight from France of hundreds of thousands of French Protestants in search of religious toleration, brought many silversmiths to Jersey and Guernsey, and they were mainly the makers of our fine Island silver.

The wine cup shown is of a type designed for use in Church, but which also appeared in private houses. The so-called christening cup is of a pattern unique to Jersey.

3p stamp - Gold Torque

The gold torque of Jersey is among the finest found in the British Isles, second only to the great torque of Tara in Ireland. It is 141 cm, or 4' 72" long, with a diameter of 1.5 cm, and weighs 24 ozs. (Troy). It is of nearly pure gold, cruciform and twisted in cross section. When found it was loosely coiled, and it may have been worn in this form, and was probably the ceremonial belt or collar of a Bronze Age Chief, in about 1,000 B.C. It was dug up in St. Helier in 1 889 when foundations for a house were being made. It is unlikely that it was made in Jersey.

7 ½ p stamp - Royal Seal of Charles II

Charles I was executed on January 30th 1649, the news being confirmed in Jersey on February 17th. Sir George de Carteret, Bailiff and Lieutenant-Governor, immediately ordered that Charles II be proclaimed King. The proclamation, signed by twenty-five Jerseymen, was read in the Market Place.

Later that year, Charles II, recognised as King only in Jersey, visited Elizabeth Castle, and whilst there he signed various documents, some carrying his Great Seal, examples of which are almost unknown outside Jersey at this date. The impression shown is on a contract selling to Helier de Carteret the fief "qui fut a l'Eveque d'Avranches". This fief, which is land on which the Seigneur could claim certain rights and dues, is situated in the parishes of Trinity and St. Mary.

It is interesting to know that the Charles II Royal Seal bears the date 1648 although Charles I was executed in January 1649. This is because until 1751 when it was changed by Act of Parliament to January 1st the year in both England and Jersey began on March 25th. The actual proclamation of Charles II in Jersey is dated 1648.

9p stamp - Armorican Bronze Coins

Gauls fleeing from the advancing Romans in Armorica (Brittany) in about 55 B.C. brought their wealth in coins and buried it in Jersey, usually on high ground. Several hoards have been dug up on widely dispersed sites, numbering in all many thousand coins. Most of them are made of bronze with some incidental silver content, some of silver and some of gold. All carry on the obverse an impressionistic profile of the head of Apollo, as derived from the gold stater of Philip of Macedon.

The reverse shows various treatments of a winged victory, chariot and charioteer, from the reverse of the same gold stater.

Technical Details

Printed on white unwatermarked paper with coloured silk fibres and special gumming for tropical climates by the photogravure process of Courvoisiers, La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. Stamp size: the format will be 26 mm by 37.5 mm and the perforation size 112 by 114. Printed in sheets of 50, 5 stamps per row and 10 rows. Artwork designs produced by Gordon Drummond of Bognor Regis.

Printed at The House of Questa, London, England.

 

Guernsey in 1974 – Part 6

Guernsey in 1974 – Part 6

This is an extract from Peter Haining’s guide book of 1974, which is as much interest today for the historian as to the tourist, as many of the places and industries described in his book have long vanished. Please do not take it as a current guide. Modern day differences are also given in italics.

Bays for bathing – Part 2

Petit Bot: A very popular and picturesque beach which has two beautiful, wooded valleys converging almost on its beach. There are three actual roads to the shore which provide a variety of views, but for those in a hurry there is a Mini-bus service from the main bus route. The beach is pebbly at full tide, but as this recedes sandy areas are revealed. Bathing is excellent. The main “‘sight”’ in the area is on the Route de la Fallaise—an old farmhouse whose occupiers had the job of keeping watch for the approach of pirates. On the shore is a tearoom, the Old Mill and floats and deck chairs for hire. For the explorer there is the unusually shaped cavern known as “Dog Cave”.

Today, standard vehicular access is essentially via narrow, winding lanes descending into the valley. To manage traffic in the summer, the main descent route operates on a strict one-way system. Furthermore, there is no dedicated mini-bus service to the shore. Visitors using public transit must take standard Guernsey bus routes (such as routes 91, 92, 93, 94, or 95), exit at the main road stop at La Bourg or near the Forest Stores, and walk approximately 1.5 km down the steep hill to the beach.

The Petit Bôt Tea Room still operates right by the slipway and serves as a popular stop for drinks, ice cream, and light lunches. It occupies a building with deep historic roots as a former mill (remnants of the old stream and waterwheel structure can still be seen nearby). However, commercial hires for beach floats and deck chairs are no longer standard operational facilities on the shore; modern visitors generally bring their own gear or rent paddleboards/kayaks during peak summer operations.

Portelet: This is a typical fisherman’s harbour, but it also has a stretch of sand which provides good bathing for all including the very young. The rocks in the cove are ideal for the pool fisherman. The harbour itself is not very old and has never been much used except by a few small boats and by seamen seeking that Channel Island delicacy, the ormer. The Hanois Lighthouse on Petit Hanois is just round the coast from Portelet and when erected in 1862 prevented many ships from going to their doom—as they had in the past—on the treacherous rocks around Pleinmont Point. Among those who praised the building of the lighthouse was Victor Hugo who mentions it at some length in Toilers of the Sea.

This is completely true. During his 15-year exile on Guernsey, Victor Hugo was a passionate campaigner for social and maritime safety. He publicly advocated for the construction of Les Hanois Lighthouse to stop the frequent shipwrecks. He heavily featured the lighthouse, Pleinmont, and the treacherous reefs in his 1866 novel Toilers of the Sea (Les Travailleurs de la mer), even using the Hanois rocks as a focal setting for a deliberate shipwreck plot point in the book.

Rocquaine Bay: A wide sweep of bay liberally scattered with rocks which make bathing only really safe when the tide is in. The road runs along the shore and there are many suitable spots for parking and numerous cafes. Because much of the land is low-lying, dykes have been built and during the winter months these take a tremendous pounding from the westerly gales. Just off Les Paysans Road there is an interesting 12-foot-high pillar of granite called la Longue Roque. It is in fact and ancient menhir and there is a legend that it is frequented by fairies. Until quite recently, the local people burned a Guy at its base every November 5th. Witchcraft is also associated with the bay, and the centre for this was the white tower of Fort Grey which stands on its own lonely promontory. The area is also dotted with gun sites built by the Germans during their occupation.

Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church: A Comment

Robin Gill and John Craven of The Centre for Anglican History and Theology at the Universities of Kent and Christ Church Canterbury have published this report:

Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church: A Report on the Church of England

I think one of the key statements is this:

"In the 21st century dioceses in the Church of England almost doubled their number of administrators (including some 220 on safeguarding alone), while the number of parish clergy almost halved, and churchgoing continued to decline."

But the same trend can be seen in the public sector, with the growth of administrative roles compared to front-line staff:

Economists and public policy experts point to several systemic drivers that mimic the trends seen in the Church of England. 

(1) Modern governments face immense regulatory, legal, and risk-management pressures. Just as the Church added roughly 220 roles dedicated strictly to safeguarding, public sector agencies must continuously hire staff for compliance, equity, audit, health and safety, and data protection (e.g., GDPR)

(2) In what researchers call the “New Public Bureaucracy,” internal organizational changes frequently concentrate new hiring in advisory, policymaking, and accountability-facing functions. Frontline workers (like teachers, nurses, or police officers) are increasingly managed by expanding layers of coordinators and corporate planners

How can this be changed?

Church governing bodies (such as the Church of England’s General Synod) can pass legislation that legally caps the percentage of church income that can be spent on central diocesan staff, human resources, and non-parochial officers. By enforcing an institutional “frontline-first” spending ratio, money is legally protected for local rectories, curates, and neighborhood outreach programs.

Advocacy groups like Save the Parish point out that the Church of England effectively replicates its legal, financial, HR, and safeguarding structures 42 times over—once for each individual diocese. This duplication creates a massive administrative overhead, costing an aggregate of over £150 million annually across the dioceses.

Instead of 42 separate HR payroll systems, 42 IT infrastructures, and 42 distinct legal teams, the Church could operate 4 or 5 regional administrative hubs. The savings could be instantly redirected toward funding frontline parish priests.

Proofs and Refutations in Historical Jesus Research – Part 5

Proofs and Refutations in Historical Jesus Research – Part 5

Dale Allison Jr.

The evolution of the "later" Dale Allison Jr. ,crystallized in books like Constructing Jesus (2010), The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus (2009), and his culmination of thoughts in Interpreting Jesus (2025), presents the most methodologically honest journey in the field

If early Allison was a strict, hyper-focused textual surgeon defending Albert Schweitzer’s apocalyptic Jesus, the later Allison has stepped back to look at the entire landscape through the lens of cognitive science, psychology, and cross-cultural anthropology.

A Lakatosian critic looking at the later Dale Allison would point to three key transformations that define his modern framework:

The Dynamic "Lemma-Incorporation" of Cognitive Psychology

Early in his career, Allison used traditional text-critical tools to test verses. But then he did something very un-academic: he aggressively looked at outside fields to test his own assumptions. He immersed himself in the scientific study of human memory, eye-witness testimonies, and trauma psychology.

Instead of abandoning his historical project when memory studies proved that humans constantly distort details, Allison used lemma-incorporation to completely redesign his research blueprint:

• The New Blueprint: He conceded that the Gospels are full of "made-believe" details, misremembered sequences, and altered quotes. But instead of falling into the ultra-literary camp’s view that it’s all a fictional riddle, he argued that human memory is highly reliable at preserving the "gist" or the broad impression of an impactful person.

• The Lakatosian Shift: He shifted his "Hard Core" from “We can know exactly what Jesus said on a Tuesday” to “We can know the recurring macro-patterns that run through the whole tradition.” If the "gist" of an apocalyptic prophet, an intense exorcist, and a radical boundary-breaker repeatedly shows up across all layers, that is where history resides.

Moving from "Rigid" to "Contingent" Eschatology

The defining hallmark of early Allison (Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet) was that Jesus confidently predicted a literal, cosmic, supernatural end to history within his generation.

When confronted with various Gospel texts where Jesus talks about the Kingdom growing slowly like a seed, or implying an indefinite delay, early Allison tended to "monster-bar" those texts as late fabrications by a disappointed church trying to cope with the delay

In Interpreting Jesus (2025), later Allison elegantly adjusted his "protective belt" by introducing "contingent eschatology":

• He realized that 1st-century Jewish prophets didn't always operate with fixed, robotic timelines.

• He argued that Jesus initially expected an immediate cosmic climax, but when Israel largely rejected his message, Jesus’s own expectations modified over time. He began to foresee a tragic interim period where he would have to suffer and die before the final climax arrived. By moving from rigid dogmatism to a fluid, evolving human psychology for Jesus, his theory became vastly more realistic and harder to falsify.

Radical Cross-Cultural Heuristics

Later Allison has largely broken out of the insular sandbox of normal biblical studies. To test if his portrait of Jesus makes sense, he uses a cross-cultural comparative method. He stacks Jesus up against documented prophetic and millenarian movements from across modern history—Native American ghost dancers, Sudanese prophets, and charismatic millenarian groups.

A Lakatosian critic would praise this as a highly progressive move. Instead of keeping Jesus trapped in an academic museum, Allison uses real-world anthropological data to show that when human groups are gripped by intense apocalyptic expectations, they behave exactly like the early Jesus movement did: they abandon families, ditch economic security, practice radical asceticism, and experience shared visionary phenomena.

A Lakatosian critic would say that Dale Allison has built the most intellectually bulletproof and self-aware research program in the field today.

Unlike N.T. Wright, who uses Lakatosian defenses to ensure history always perfectly matches his orthodox faith, and unlike Walsh and Mills, who use special pleading to turn a messy oral text into an elite literary game, later Allison operates with a brutal, refreshing humility. He explicitly states that his reconstructions are just a "hypothesis" and a "thought experiment". 

By building fallibility, memory decay, and human psychological shifts directly into the core of his theory, he has created a model of the historical Jesus that is incredibly resilient, deeply human, and completely unaligned with any modern political or theological agenda.

Next week:

An Outlier: C.S. Lewis

The Pilot: An Anglican Alphabet: Grace

AN ANGLICAN ALPHABET: GRACE
By BARRY GILES
From The Pilot, 1991

THE LADY who looked after the unmarried curates in my first parish was named Grace. Generations of choirboys and young curates there had smiled, if not giggled, at the line, "Grace is stor'd in the font." I still think of her when grace is referred to in prayers and hymns.

But grace, that is God's grace, cannot be stored in that sense. It is not a substance. Grace is the favour which God shows to man. It is the touch of the Holy Spirit; His power at work in us. Grace is God's free gift to us. It is not something we can deserve, nor earn. Salvation, and all means of God's grace depend entirely upon the way in which God has worked out His Will. Unlike our own wish to achieve everything by our efforts, grace emphasises our total dependence upon another - God.

The Sacraments are means of grace. That means that we cannot simply plug in and receive all the power that God through His Holy Spirit will supply. The sacramental life, indeed the whole of our Christian life, is not passive but active. We need to rely on that power, not merely the outward and visible sign, but the inward and spiritual meaning whereby God's grace, and God's grace alone, can renew us, and help us grow, day by day, into what He would have us be. If we leave Him and His means of grace out our calculations, how can we possibly grow and develop as Christians? Nobody can deserve heaven, nor any reward from God. Whatever God gives us comes entirely from His free grace.

Clergy know that there is another meaning the word, grace. When invited to a meal -¬people's homes, or on official occasions - they asked to say "grace." They know why: and they know whether or not this is a regular occurrence in that household! Long before the Christian people have thanks - grace, from the Latin deo gratias - for their food. Many still do. Many do not (except when the vicar is there!). 

Given the present climate of publicity for those who hungry, perhaps it may be that more of us (w profess and call ourselves Anglicans) might reminded of our dependence upon God for our daily bread. After all graces do not have to be t solemn, or too long. One of the best is "Thank God for food." It is not so much what one says, but t reason one says it that makes all the difference all our prayer-life. Graces are prayers. There is a book, edited by Carolyn Mart called "A Book of Graces" which you may find helpful. But the best graces are those which come from the heart; and yours. Use them daily, and do not wait for next time your Rector is present!

Wintertide

Something of an evocation of  October time when winter has come upon us.

Wintertide

The year draws in, the nights grow long
It is now much darker in the dawn
One final time to mow the lawn
The birds migrate in happy throng

The owl sings out its ghostly song
The hedgehog creeps along the lawn
The year draws in, the nights grow long
It is now much darker in the dawn

Winds are whistling gale force song
The fire is lit, and the curtains drawn
I sip hot chocolate, and feel a yawn
The candles lit, their flame so strong
And I’m warm inside, where I belong
The year draws in, the nights grow long

TESSON CHAPEL: 1861 – 2001 – Part 2

TESSON CHAPEL: 1861 – 2001 – Part 2
By Richard and Gwyneth Syvret

THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

The buyer of the chapel in 1888 was Mr William Pellier. His daughter, Elsie Mary, who later became Mrs Pitts, inherited the chapel on his death in 1893. It is believed that Mr Pellier allowed the chapel to be used by a Mr. Gilley as a potato store for a time.

The year 1893 however also saw the birth of Miss Charlotte Luce, a niece of Mr Philip S Langlois — the daughter of his sister, Charlotte, and her husband, Francis Luce. Her recollections of early days lived at Tower Hill on the opposite side of the road to the chapel included in particular attendance at a day school in the chapel for about twenty boys and girls called 'The Vale School'. The only teacher was Miss Laura Laurens and it was remembered that in those years around the turn of the century the children sang to her organ music, were taught writing and sewing and sat at two long trestle tables. Drinking water was obtained from Miss Luce's home.

In 1904, when what is now St Lawrence Primary School was opened, the Vale School was closed and all the pupils transferred there. Miss Laurens took up a position in the new school.

The building however had been brought back into use also as a chapel in 1897. Sunday 18th July in that year saw the first of the fortnightly evangelistic services that were held at 3pm each Sunday afternoon. An advertisement in the 'Nouvelle Chronique' heralded the opening and the chapel was identified as 'proche le Moulin de Tesson' — near Tesson Mill. It must have been around this time however that it became known for a while as Rock Chapel.

Closure of the day school, it seemed, allowed the owner, Miss Pellier, to lease Rock Chapel to Mr Philip Sorsoleil Langlois from the summer of 1904 onwards. There is reference in the lease to strips of land to the north and east of the chapel and permission is given to build on those strips and to fix in the building "an ordinary fireplace or other heating apparatus". Mr Langlois' connection with the chapel was to continue until his death in 1933 and was to be extended through his daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren — and their spouses - to the present day.

THE BRETHREN CONNECTION

Mr Langlois had, prior to 1904, married Miss Ann Bichard. Husband and wife, principally through their friendship with Mr and Mrs Monet, had close connections with the Open Brethren meeting at Lyric Hall in Cattle Street, St Helier and later in Belmont Hall, Belmont Road, St Helier. Mr Monet, who was a leading figure with the Open Brethren in Jersey, was effectively a partner with Mr Langlois in the commencement and maintenance of an evangelical work at the chapel.

Not surprisingly therefore those attending the chapel came under the ministry of the lay speakers connected with that fellowship. Also, Mr Langlois was happy later to link Tesson Chapel, as it became known, to a Fellowship of Undenominational and Unattached Churches and Missions which included churches in Halkett Place (St Helier), and at Maufant (St Saviour), Les Tours (St Clement), Sion (St John) and Mitspa (Trinity). He preached himself, in both French and English, and was the superintendent of Tesson Chapel and of the meetings held there up until the time of his death in 1933.

It is recalled that in the years when Mr. Langlois headed the work Mr Harold Alexandre, Mr Stephen Bull and Mr W Horn (the latter two being sons-in-law of Mr Monet), amongst many others, preached at Tesson. An afternoon Sunday school was started in the mid-1920's by Mr and Mrs Beard, missionaries on furlough, and Hilda Langlois, Mr Langlois' elder daughter and her husband Mr George Querée took up that work which at one stage had around fifty children attending. Mr Hedley W Maillard also assisted for some time. The afternoon service was moved to the evening and Mrs Langlois took charge of the opening up of the chapel for the services.

In 1931 there was a Sunday afternoon school at 3pm and a Sunday evening service at 6.30pm. The weeknight service was held at 7.30pm on a Wednesday. Sometimes services were held in the open-air just outside the chapel. Those who heard the good news of forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ in that way were the many French farm workers who came over year by year to help with the manual harvesting of the potato crops. One may have no doubt at all that the gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ was preached there throughout those years and that the teaching would have been based solely on the Bible as the Word of God and on the historic Protestant Christian faith.

Before his death Mr. Langlois organised the insertion in the west gable of a window designed to give light in the pulpit area. Mr Philip Le Sueur was the stonemason. The only occasions when those attending had an opportunity to give money was when it was wished to make chapel donations to missionary causes. At all other times there was a notice in the porch "All seats free - no collection". Most of the congregation walked to the chapel - often from two or three miles away - and heating was by paraffin stoves.

On 10th October 1925 a change of ownership of the chapel occurred when Mr Langlois purchased the freehold together with the adjacent cotil for £200. The freehold was therefore part of his estate when he died. The 'partage' which took place in 1933 between his two daughters, Mrs Hilda Ann Querée and Mrs Emily Rose Coutanche, resulted in the former inheriting the chapel.

Mrs Querée and her brother-in-law Mr Philip Coutanche watched over the fellowship that continued to gather. Mr and Mrs Querée had no children but the son and four daughters of Mr and Mrs. Coutanche were all brought up at the chapel. They and their respective marriage partners comprised a substantial part of the congregation during the remainder of the 1930s.

The preachers continued to be drawn mainly from the Belmont Hall Brethren Assembly and a number of new names from there appeared like Mr Lindsay Proudfoot and Mr William Perchard. In addition, from other churches, Mr Bert Renouf and his sister Susan, Mr John Langlois (who always spoke in French), Mr John Le Breton (who had married Phyllis, one of the daughters of Mr and Mrs Coutanche) and his father Mr J P Le Breton (who was a Wesleyan circuit preacher) came to preach and, in some cases regularly to attend.

Just before the Second World War Mrs Querée arranged and paid for an extension to the chapel behind the west gable and to the north. Mr Andre Jezequel undertook the carpentry work and Mr W Horn's building firm dealt with the blockwork. The extension comprised a small room for Sunday school activities plus a toilet reached from outside the building.

THE GERMAN OCCUPATION AND POST WAR YEARS

All through the occupation of Jersey by German armed forces the work at the chapel continued. The shortage of heating fuel in the early 1940s gave rise to the placing of a wood-burning stove in the centre of the chapel with long pipes reaching to the chimney in the north wall.

The main source of speakers during that time and the 1950s and 1960s remained the Belmont Hall Brethren Assembly and to those previously named were added Mr Ernest Le Breton. Mr William Proudfoot, Mr W Querée (a Wesleyan), Mr Richard Voisin, Mr Kenneth Lear, Mr Eric Colebrook, Mr Enoch Prosser, Mr James Colback, Mr Clifford Colback and others. The Coutanche grandchildren swelled the numbers attending after the occupation years, participating with others in the Sunday school and later as part of the fellowship. After the end of the Second World War it was decided to hold a Sunday morning service as well as the afternoon Sunday school, Sunday evening service and weeknight meeting and the chapel had taken on a full church role in the lives of its congregation.

Mrs Queree's ownership, Mr Coutanche's administration and their combined supervision of the fellowship at Tesson Chapel allowed the spiritual teaching ministry of Mr John ("Jack") Le Breton to have its full effect during all these years. Mr Le Breton, as mentioned earlier, had married Phyllis, one of Mr Coutanche's daughters and a niece therefore of Mrs Querée. He was an able preacher and teacher. It was perhaps not surprising therefore that on her death in 1970, Mrs. Hilda Querée bequeathed to him by will the property of the chapel and additionally of the car park that had been formed on her land in the meadow across the road.

With a view to the long term maintenance of a Christian testimony at Tesson Chapel, Mr Le Breton very quickly set about placing both the properties in the hands of trustees to be held for the purposes of undenominational meetings of evangelical Christians there.

THE TRUSTEES

In 1971 therefore the realty of Tesson Chapel was conveyed into the hands of nine trustees - three of these were sons-in-law of Mr Philip Coutanche, one a son, two were grandsons and one a grandson-in-law.

Mr Philip G Le Moignan who had been connected with the chapel since 1908 and who had been an organist there for many decades was also appointed, as was Dr David Carnegie, who at the time was a senior lecturer at London Bible College.

The trustees - at present six in number - are the appointed overseers of the work of the chapel, which functions as a non-denominational independent evangelical fellowship with a statement of Christian doctrinal position clearly set out in the Trust Deed under which the property was transferred to them. Of the present six, two are married to great grand children of the original Philip Sorsoleil Langlois.

THE LAST THREE DECADES OF THE 1990s

During the past thirty years, the chapel has been blessed with the Christian ministry of many visiting preachers. Not least among these has been Dr David Carnegie (the Chairman of the trustees), along with Mr Walter Boxall, Mr Neville Brooks, Mr Geoffrey Powell, Mr Clarence Schofield, Mr Douglas Dron, Mr John de la Haye, Mr Walter Clarke, Mr Ron Brint, Advocate Ian Le Marquand, Mr Brian Vibert, Dr Douglas Begg, Mr Brian Clarke, Mr Peter Gallaher, Rev David Le Seelleur, Dr William Taylor and many others.

A feature of these years too has been the significant prayer and financial support shown by the fellowship at the chapel towards evangelical missionary organisations engaged in various ways in the proclamation of the Christian gospel at home and abroad.

In 1986 the fellowship appointed as Pastor the Revd Clifford M Measday, who, for over twenty-one years, had been the minister of the Jersey Baptist Church in Vauxhall, St. Helier. He and his wife Doreen provided the congregation with a much-valued settled preaching and caring ministry for over ten years — and continue to support the fellowship in every way.

In 1997 however, the congregation, on Revd Measday's formal retirement, welcomed Revd Nigel Houillebecq as part-time pastor. Mr Houillebecq had been a Baptist pastor in the United Kingdom and returned then to the Island — his native home — until his emigration with his family to Canada in 1999.

In 1989 the car park was extended into land owned and donated by Mrs Joan Bisson, a granddaughter of Mr Philip S Langlois. In addition, the over-covering of the brook running by the roadside of the park was completed. The contracting firm owned by one of the trustees — Mr Stephen Hotton -undertook the work at a cost in excess of £7000.

In 1994 Clifford Measday's professional skills as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects came to the fore once again in his ministry and the fellowship embarked on a major building project under his guidance. The extension built in the 1930s was demolished and significant excavation of the rock face at the rear of the chapel cleared the space needed for a new large meeting room, kitchen, toilet, hall and other facilities. The building contracts were followed by refurbishment of the chapel itself and other external works to re-establish walls and boundaries. The main building contractor was H L Bertram & Co Ltd and the congregation met virtually all of the total cost, in excess of £65,000. Only an amount of just under £5,000 was provided from a small trust fund in the hands of the trustees.

The extension enabled the continuing Sunday school word to be undertaken, for the first time, during the time set aside for the Sunday morning services for the adult congregation.

Two meetings on a Sunday were held throughout these years— morning and evening - as well as a Wednesday evening time of prayer and Bible study.

In 1995, Mrs Doreen Measday started a fortnightly Thursday afternoon meeting for ladies and this proved to be very successful with well attended events being held in the new meeting room and Christians from a wide variety of occupations and backgrounds presenting different aspects of the Christian faith and gospel.

Many Christians during these years preached and had fellowship with the congregation at the chapel — and still do. They come from many different denominations — Baptist, Anglican, Methodist and others - reflecting the non-denominational Christian position of the chapel.

AN INVITATION

The present Trustees and the entire congregation extend to all an invitation to join them on the following occasions: [This has been updated to reflect current day services in 2026]

At the Chapel
Car Parking Opposite
Every Sunday at 10.30 am
Bibles provided

The apostle Paul in AD57 in a letter to the Christians in Corinth wrote: -

"What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve."