The Revd Marjorie Prentice Saunders 1913-2009
Arriving in Sheffield in 1965
At home in Kingston, Jamaica, 2002
Outside Sheffield Cathedral, 1960sOrdained at St Mary, Jamaica, 1975
I heard from Kingston, Jamaica, this morning that Revd Madge Saunders died in her sleep last night. She was 96 years old having celebrated her birthday last week. Her funeral will be held on 21st March.
I meet her in Kingston in 2002.
Madge was one of those pioneers of whom we say such great things without really knowing the depth, height, and breadth of it all. I continue to stumble across connections to her life and ministry in the most unlikely places.
She did some of her training at St Colm's College, Edinburgh. Her signature survives in the chapel book against her birthday.
She served at St James Sheffield from 1965-1975 heving been the first and only black woman to be ordained at a deaconness in the Presbyterian Church of England. She took leadership of the congegation when her colleague, Revd Robert Gillespie, who had been instrumental in bringing her to Britain, died.
She returned to Jamaica to be the first ordained woman minister in the United Church of Jamaica and the Calyman Islands. Her long and active retirement saw the inauguration of the Madge Saunders Centre, a conference and youth training centre, on the north coast of the islands, as well as many other activities.
In 2002 folks from St James Sheffield visited her and paid tribute to her important ministry in Sheffield: her work for race relations and amongst young people, which had inspired three generations of Sheffielders.
Self givi
ng to the end, she sold a bigger house a few years ago to raise funds for school bursaries for young people to attend high school. She said she only needed a small house.
ng to the end, she sold a bigger house a few years ago to raise funds for school bursaries for young people to attend high school. She said she only needed a small house. Her story is told in part in Daughters of Dissent and in This is our story:
Free Church women's ministry. I'm sure we will continue to discover more about her.
Free Church women's ministry. I'm sure we will continue to discover more about her.Please remember her and the current work of the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands [http://www.unitedchurch.org.ky/]
8 comments:
have just posted to the WIM blog your email - will try to link to the Ecu women's blog. thanks so much for writing this - really good
It's women's history month - has daughters been reprinte`d?
We will remember Madge in our worship at St James URC on Sunday. I was one of those fortunate enough to meet her in Jamaice in 2002.
The words from the OT lection (the covenant between God, Abraham and Sarah) for this Sunday spoke to me about the person Madge was:
"Live always in my presence and be blameless." Genesis17:1b
Sounds like an amazing woman! Is it worth informing the Sheffield Star (does this still exist) so that a piece might be done on her?
God bless
Neil
Remembering Madge: St James URC 8th March 2009
Opening comment to provoke our sharing of memories:
“Everywhere we went people said, “Madge did this”, and Madge did that”. She is the most visionary woman.” (Full Circle, A Journey for Justice)
Madge the woman:
“She was a mixer - a trouble-maker like Jesus. She challenged the power structures; telling us how it is and how it should be.”
“She has left a legacy that will last through the generations.”
“She was a very gracious lady.”
Madge in Sheffield:
“In 1965 Mr Gillespie was working to ease the problems suffered by the West Indian people in Sheffield. The Church nationally asked the Church in Jamaica for someone to support them. The Church in Jamaica sent Madge.
We were expecting a man. It was always a man in those days.
But Madge arrived as a deaconess from the Church in Jamaica.”
“Madge must have had a dreadful shock on arrival in Sheffield. She had been a teacher and headteacher. She was used to a reasonable standard of living.
She would have been expecting her own place. But everyone forgot. The Council were to provide a flat but nothing was there for her. She lived with us for 3 months and then got a flat on Rock Street. It was a hovel-you wouldn't put a dog in it. Another flat was found in a house on Abbeyfield Road but that was just as unsuitable. Eventually the Council found her a flat. Then her work could begin properly.”
“Along with Mrs Greaves, Mr and Mrs Brown, she was involved in trying to get a place for the West Indian community in Sheffield. This was before SADACCA.”
“I first knew her from a children's group she ran in a small place on Oxford Street.”
“Madge liked to sing. She taught us children Jamaican songs. She took us as a group to sing in different places.”
Madge and our trip to Jamaica:
“I remember Madge sitting in that big chair (at King House) like the Queen Mother.”
“I remember meeting her in Kingston. We had tea with her. There were lots of guests, including someone from my own parish of Andover. We hadn't seen each other for years.”
“She got us an invitation to meet the Governor General at King House. The Governor General was an elder of her church. He looked up to her.”
“We were drinking tea in the same room where he had entertained the Queen a few weeks earlier.”
“Madge invited us to her home. We crammed into her small flat. It was so tiny: as we pushed someone in one end, someone came out the other.”
The Members of the Congregation
Hi there... are you absolutely sure about this? I have tried to find a reference in the Jamaica Gleaner... nothing to date.
I'm currently pursuing a course in Early Childhood Development, and the info would come in handy if it can be confirmed.
Dear Ruth
The funeral is on 21st March at 10am in Kingston. Information from the UCJCI office.
Thanks
Janet
Thanks a lot, Janet.
Blessings to you :)
A remarkable woman. Met her on the 2002 journey. Bright as a button and always upbeat.
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