Brothers And Sisters Around The World will be sad to learn that the Plain Truth Tabernacle, the assembly hall of the Port Antonio, Jamaica, ecclesia, is no more. It was demolished by the government to make way for some new port development on the waterfront.
The Tabernacle was one of the most remarkable Christadelphian meeting places in the world. In the ‘socialist’ years of the 1970’s, the Parish Council granted permission for sister Jemima Hall, then nearly one hundred years old, to build a “Tabernacle to the glory of God” on a piece of government-owned land literally worth millions of dollars in the very centre of town. It became well known for the vigorous preaching of her son, our late Bro. Edgar Hall, former mayor of Port Antonio. The deed of gift stated that the building should be the home of the Christadelphians “as long as they continue to preach the Truth,” a caveat which the Parish Council later found rather difficult to interpret! It was Jemima herself who insisted on the name “Plain Truth Tabernacle.” It was a name we loved, although occasionally we would have to explain that we had no connection with a one-time religious magazine called Plain Truth. Tourists were often seen photographing the Tabernacle, and a popular picture postcard which sold all over Jamaica carried a biblical message worldwide.
The Tabernacle held one hundred and fifty comfortably, and sometimes at campaigns and fraternal gatherings it was well filled. There were some windows right on the main street, and sometimes there would be more interested friends looking in than sitting down. There was always a lot of traffic noise, but we were at least prominent, and our two leading evangelists, Bre. Edgar Hall and Peter James, used a powerful amplifier to very good effect. Between them they delivered more than two thousand powerful testimonies to the Truth from the Tabernacle. Bro. Edgar was also a fine musician, and used the beautiful organ most effectively. For a few years we had a choir which sang musical items which he composed.
And now it is gone. Very many citizens of this town are sad at losing one of Port Antonio’s landmark buildings. More grievously, a great light stand has lost its stand, but — while we live — not its light.
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