By Lesroy W. Williams
Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts)—Rudyard Kipling, the British writer and poet, in his poem “If” wrote in essence that one should be able to talk with crowds and keep their virtue and walk with kings but not lose the common touch. Archdeacon Valentine Hodge, Rector of St. George’s Parish Church and Archdeacon of St. Kitts, knows this very well. He has talked with crowds and walked with kings, yet kept his virtue and common touch. His simplicity could camouflage his profound wisdom on the bread-and-butter issues of today, but make no mistake. This man of the cloth loves the grassroots level.
When I met Archdeacon Hodge, he was busy heading to St. George’s Parish Church to open it for the tourists who were in town that day to visit. One of the first things he told me was that his church was celebrating
150 years this year since being consecrated. He said it with much pride.
Archdeacon Valentine Hodge was born in Anguilla in 1945. He and his Barbadian wife Ouida have been married for thirty four years. Their marriage produced a son, David, who was born in St. Kitts and a daughter, Diana, who was born in Antigua. He received his primary and secondary schooling in Anguilla. After leaving the Valley Secondary School (now the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School) he taught for two years (1962-64) in St. Kitts at the St. Johnson’s Village School, what is now the Dr. William Connor Primary School. After this brief stint in teaching in St. Kitts, he left for Antigua to attend the Leeward Islands Teacher’s Training College for two years (1964-66).
He returned to St. Kitts and then moved on to Anguilla where he taught at The Road School from 1966-68. From 1968 to 1971, he attended Codrington College in Barbados where he received his theological training in preparation for the Anglican priesthood. He completed a licentiate in Theology at Codrington College. From 1971 to 1973, he continued his theological formation at the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) with its affiliation to The University of the West Indies (UWI), where he read for the Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. He was ordained to the diaconate in his final year of studies in Jamaica.
After his studies in Jamaica, he returned to the Diocese of North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba and was ordained to the sacred priesthood on the 17th July, 1973 in Anguilla, along with Deacon William Lake. He served as Curate at St. George’s in 1973 and then moved on to the St. Ann’s Anglican Church, Sandy point as Pastor. He served at St.Ann’s and other Churches in that parish for six and a half years. In August 1979 he was stationed in Antigua at St. Phillip’s Parish Church and St. Luke’s Parish Church. He served inAntigua for 24 years before returning to St.Kitts in September, 2003 to be the Rector of St. George’s Parish Church and Archdeacon of St.Kitts. As Archdeacon, he superintends St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Maarten, St. Barths, Anguilla and Aruba.
St.George’s Parish Church celebrates 150 years this year. On the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1858, the new Parish Church of St. George was consecrated by Bishop Rigaud, Bishop of Antigua (1858-59. It is a massive stone building accommodating more than 1,000 worshippers. It had been designed by William Slater, a prominent Gothic Revival architect who with his more famous partner Richard Cromwell Carpenter, had been responsible for many fine Victorian Churches both in England and in the colonies. St. George’s Parish Church is the third church on the particular site. The other two churches were destroyed by earthquake and fire. On the 30th March, Bishop Errol Brookes, Bishop of the Diocese of North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba was the preacher and chief celebrant at a Mass at St. George’s to open its year-long 150 years celebrations.
Asked about membership at his Church, Archdeacon Hodge said that there are 450 families on the books. He said at peak times of the Church’s year such as Easter, Christmas and Harvest, church attendance is about 350 persons. At regular times it is about 150 persons. St. George’s Parish Church has a daughter church by the name of St. Barnabas. About 50 persons attend this Church.
There are several Church groups. The main ones are The Mother’s Union, The Brotherhood of St.Andrew, The Anglican Christian Women Association (A.C.W.A.), The Anglican Young People’s Association (A.Y.P.A.), The
Junior and Senior Choirs, The Culture Club, The Altar Servers Team, The Altar Guild, and The Social Outreach Group. They are in the process of forming a Grief and Loss Support Group. All of these groups that make up the life of St.George’s work together as one single body in the building up the Church.
The Mother’s Union, The Social Outreach Group and the Brother’s Union are to lesser or greater degrees involved in visiting the elderly, praying with them, taking packages to them, visiting the sick and shut-ins and Her Majesty’s Prison. Archdeacon Hodge is Chaplain to Her Majesty’s prison and visits one Sunday a month.
According to Reverend Hodge, the Church has a responsibility to make a positive impact on the society. “The Church continues the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the world. There is a certain responsibility laid on Church members who have been baptized to influence society,” he said. The Church he said has the work of reconciling love in the world.
The Church according to him has a ministry to lift of the Resurrected Christ and to make His life shine in the world. “We cannot be sitting on the fence. We have to be prophetic. We must denounce injustice and evil in all its forms. We must not be afraid,” he said.
Reverend Hodge believes that the Church has a right to speak out on political matters that affect the livelihood of people. The Gospel he said is a Social Gospel that has at its heart the poor, oppressed and marginalized of society. This is quite different to being embroiled in party politics. “The danger in this country is that there is too much talk about party politics, the dirty kind of politics that doesn’t get you anywhere but is only promoting a single ideology,” he said. What should interest us are the bread-and-butter issues and not party politics, he said.
With reference to the sexual promiscuity and spread of H.I.V. in our society, Reverend Hodge says that there is an Abstinence Group at St. George’s that meets on a regular basis. There are discussions on Drug Abuse and Sexually Transmitted Infections. Reverend Hodge says that abstinence must become a way of life. It must become a culture, he said.
On the issue of crime, he doesn’t feel that enough is being done. The Church must do more than just speak, he said. As part of their 150 years celebration, St. George’s will host a night of poetry entitled
“Slaying the Dragon of Crime.”
Archdeacon Hodge believes that his ministry is relevant today. People continue to look to the Church for guidance he says especially at crisis times such as birth, baptism, marriage, death and disasters. He feels that what he is doing has its place and wish that he could touch more lives.
There are a number of challenges that he faces in his ministry. He feels that people in his congregation are too pre-occupied with political tribalism. “The glory of the parties seems to be taking over from the glory of God,” he said. Another challenge he faces is that of the ministry of parents. “Parents are no longer assuming their responsibilities. This poses a great challenge for the Church,” he said. Lack of sound parenting leads to young people in our society being recalcitrant. Also posing a challenge to him is that
politicians are not doing enough to unite the society.
“My own impression is that the adage of divide and rule still dominates. There is not much of a change in that from Colonial days. National unity must be the way forward. There is a lack of national pride,” he stated. He would like to empower and equip more people for ministry and says that for many, coming to Church is still a one day a week affair.
The Pastoral Plan for the next five years for the Diocese was inaugurated in February of this year. This plan will focus on building strong Christian families.
“Family life is key to everything we are doing in society. Strong family life will reduce crime,” he said.
His motto as a Pastor he said is promoting the welfare of men and women in the world and helping them to live the way God wants them to live. When asked what makes his church special, he said that the one word that comes to mind is communion. Our Church, he said, can absorb many of the social problems that exist. “We want to be able to continue to recognize that God loves the sinner but hates the sin. We want to be true to the Biblical tradition. Whenever we see people going out of line, we want to bring them back or talk about it and that makes my Church special. We are able to grapple with the issues. We agree to disagree without being disagreeable,” he said.
