A CHRONOLOGY OF PROTESTANT BEGINNINGS:
BERMUDA ISLANDS

by Dr. Clifton L. Holland

(last revised on June 9, 2003)

Historical Overview:

Settled by British colonists: 1609

Becomes a British dependency: 1684

Slavery Abolished: 1838

Becomes self-governing under British rule: 1968

Indicates European society*

Significant Protestant Beginnings or other Special Events:

1609 - *Settlement established by shipwrecked Anglicans from England; St. George’s Anglican Church, constructed in 1612, by Governor Richard Moore is the oldest Anglican Church in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere; the Church of England becomes the Established Church; now an extra provincial diocese directly under the Archbishop of Canterbury.

1612 - *Presbyterian settlers from the Church of Scotland arrived; Christ Church in Warwick becomes the oldest Presbyterian Church in the British Colonies.

1800s - *Missionaries of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Great Britain arrive; later joined by missionaries from the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the USA during the 20^th century.

1800s - Roman Catholic missionaries arrive from Canada; becomes an outpost of the Diocese of Halifax, Nova Scotia; in 1953 it was made a prefecture and three years later a vicariate; in 1957, the Diocese of Hamilton was created as a suffragan, subordinate to the Diocese of Kingston, Jamaica.

1905 - Church of God (Anderson, IN)

1966 - Southern Baptist Convention

Date of Origin Unknown:

Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada

Presbyterian Church of Canada

United Church of Canada

NOTES:

(1) Dates listed indicate the earliest recorded ministry or in case of discrepancies, the date most frequently indicated.

(2) North American Agencies include U.S. and Canadian.

SOURCES:

(1) PROLADES (Latin American Socio-religious Studies Program), international headquarters in San José, Costa Rica: www.prolades.com, prolades@racsa.co.cr

(2) J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, editors, Religions of the World (ABC-Clio Publishers, 2002)