Church History
About Us
On a Sabbath morning in the year of our Lord, 1948, a small group of believers huddled together under a lime tree in the yard of Adolphus and Imogene Nembhard, in the small community of Caledonia, now known as Hanbury, to experience their first pentecostal encounter. This small group of believers formed the nucleus of what is known today as the Mandeville Seventh-day Adventist Church.
On January 13, 1949, the first fifteen (15) persons were baptized and, later that same year, a church was officially organized. The lime tree soon became too small for the rapidly growing membership so a “bamboo booth” was constructed using coconut boughs and bamboo.
This structure could accommodate some one hundred and fifty (150) persons.
On September 17, 1951, Hurricane Charlie demolished the “bamboo booth”.
The congregation was growing and needed a larger building but the land space at the current location was inadequate, therefore the church was rebuilt at Hazel Rigg, a premises on Waltham Road, Mandeville. This structure was made from lumber and zinc, with hinges on the top so that the sides could be pushed open to allow for proper ventilation. After some nine (9) years at this location, the building became uncomfortably small again.
In the mid-fifties, a piece of land was bought at 13a Caledonia Road, to build accommodation for Central Jamaica Conference but a decision was taken to site the Conference headquarters instead in Spanish Town.
A church building was therefore erected on the piece of land and this became the Mandeville Seventh-day Adventist Church. The church has been at this location since then.
During 1988, the decision was taken to remodel the church and in November of that year, a ground breaking ceremony was held. During the remodeling period, church services were held in the church hall, which was built as a junior church, but used instead for recreational purposes.
The new structure was dedicated on the weekend of December 21 - 23, 2007.
The Mandeville SDA church has spawned several daughters. These include: Spur Tree, Kendal, Dunsinane, Three Chains and Grove Place.
