BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 9, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Founder of the Charlestown-based Shiloh Baptist Church, Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard, was on Sunday August 8 celebrated for his fifty years of ministry to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis and the wider Caribbean.
At a special morning worship service held at the church in Charlestown, Nevis, which was attended by Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, Federal Minister of Health the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, and Commissioner of Police Mr Hilroy Brandy among others, Pastor Eric and Mrs Marilyn Maynard were honoured exactly fifty years to the day when the ministry was started on Sunday August 8, 1971.
“We are very grateful for the Prime Minister and his delegation who came over in honour of this special day,” said Pastor Wayne Maynard, who is the son of Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard. “We are so grateful and delighted that you took the time out of your busy schedule to come across the Narrows, and to be here with us.”
The younger Pastor Maynard added that the Shiloh Baptist Church was officially started on October 22, 1974. Sermon was delivered by Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard.
When invited to make brief remarks, Prime Minister Harris gave God thanks for having created churches like the Shiloh Baptist Church, and for providing pastors like Senior Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard who has shepherded God’s flock and has brought people together to magnify God and to continue His work, noting that fifty years is not like fifty days.
“It is wonderful when we have good messengers of God who by their stability of spiritual work, who by their own example help encourage us the weaker ones to come see a man called Jesus,” said Prime Minister Harris. “As we celebrate your fiftieth anniversary, I bring heartiest congratulations from myself, from the government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis for a wonderful job and encourage you to continue to praise God.”
He commended the leadership of the church for being as welcoming as it has always been, for being as diversified as it is in its membership, for its outreach to the young people, and in its outreach to the womenfolk in particular.
The church was further commended for the special appreciation day that it has introduced for non-nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Prime Minister noted that it reminded “us that we all are one – we all are one people with one God to serve, and together in unity we can build a stronger St. Kitts and Nevis.”
The Prime Minister requested Pastor Emeritus Eric Maynard to continue to stay close to God, continue to pray for the leaders of the country, and to continue to pray for him (Prime Minister). In further thanking Pastor Maynard he said that there were times he used to call him from St. Kitts and ask for his prayers, and the pastor would reply and say that he had been praying for him and that he would say a special prayer for him.
While leadership is a blessing, Dr Harris pointed out that it is tough. He noted that there are so many times when leaders must do what they expect their own membership and fellowship to do, which is the true sense of leading by example. He added that the Shiloh Baptist Church has shown a good example and that something good is happening in the church as leadership was transferred from father to son, which is a blessing.
In his conclusion, Prime Minister Harris observed that it had rained early morning in St. Kitts and fearing that the waters might be too choppy for travel, he called Commissioner of Police Mr Hilroy Bandy who advised it was okay to travel, “and so we have come in thankfulness to let you know that at the highest level of the government, we hold you in deep appreciation.”
