Methodism was brought to Alderney in March 1787
by Adam Clarke, a red-headed Irishman who had been sent as a preacher to Guernsey by John Wesley.
Hearing that the people of Alderney could speak English he managed to
get smugglers to bring him to the island in their boat, landing him at Hannaine Bay. He stayed for just three days,
preaching at the Marais Square
and at Braye. After he left, a Jerseyman
called Jean de Quetteville, came to continue Adam’s work, eventually spending
over sixty years working between the islands and France.
Later that year John Wesley came
to Alderney, being blown off course when en route to Guernsey. With his companions who included Adam Clarke,
he slept at the Inn which is now The Divers
and preached on the beach at Braye.
Within three years the first church was built on a site behind the
present Central Garage in Victoria
Street.
Very soon the growing band of Methodists faced a severe challenge. It was compulsory for all men to take part in
military exercises on Sundays, as a precaution against the threat from nearby France. The Methodists refused to attend on a Sunday
and were severely persecuted.
Eventually, after intervention by King George lll in person, they gained
the right to parade on a week day and were nick-named Gideon’s Army
One of the children who heard
Adam preach was Amice Olivier who later became the first Alderney-born man to
be ordained as a Methodist minister. The first Church building became too small
and so another was opened in 1814 in Church
Street; this was known as the French Church
as Services were conducted in French.
The present building at Butes opened in 1852 but Services continued in
both the French and English churches. So
many English speaking people had come to Alderney
at that time, involved in building the forts which were to be defences against
Napoleon lll, that not only was a new Methodist church needed but a new
Anglican church was built; Roman
Catholic and Presbyterian Churches were also constructed on the island at that
same period. By 1860, when the breakwater
and government works were nearing completion, the membership of the Methodist
church was 162, the population being nearly 5,000. A Wesleyan day school thrived as well as
Sunday schools but when the workforce left
the church membership inevitably dropped. There was a strong missionary zeal among the congregation
and both men and women went to work in France
and Haiti. One of these missionaries, Jean-William
Herivel, died of yellow fever only two years after reaching Haiti.
At the end of the nineteenth
century the population and church membership again rose as the British government
had a garrison stationed in Alderney. When
this was withdrawn , membership fell again.
On June 23rd 1940 almost all of the population was evacuated
and the island was occupied by German forces.
Our Church at Butes was used by the occupying forces as a place of
worship. Special Services and gatherings
organised by churches on the mainland, through Channel Island Societies, helped
to keep Alderney people in touch with each other. Those who returned after the war had not only
their own homes to rebuild but neglected church properties to restore. The cost of maintenance eventually proved too
much, so apart from the Church and schoolroom at Butes and the manse, the rest
was sold. In 1983 there was a time when Butes
was left without a minister. The membership
fell to eight and there was a possibility of closure. However, under the
inspired leadership of Margaret Cosby and Alistair Carter the church survived
and a pastor was appointed. When the 200th
anniversary of Wesley’s visit to the islands was celebrated a time capsule was
placed under the church steps.
Although numerically small, Alderney Methodist Church
is still large in spirit and aims to keep in tune with the expectations and
challenges of modern living. Butes
became one of the first churches to be on the internet; a cyber-café was run in
its recently refurbished School hall.
Women have been appointed as Lay workers- Irene Day being the present
one in that position. Good ecumenical
relations with the other churches has been a strong feature of island life for
many years and this has been extended since the signing of the Covenant between
the Anglican and Methodist churches. A
joint Sunday school is now in operation and also a luncheon club for the
lonely. Joint Lenten discussions and
regular sharing in services at the parish church by both choir members and Lay
worker have become a feature. A retired
Alderney-born Methodist Minister, Rev Arthur Mignot was appointed by the Bishop
as Associate Minister at St Anne’s and he preaches regularly in that Church.
When Jean de Quetteville
explored the possibility of continuing the work begun by Adam Clarke, he said
that if ten people could be found who would join the Church, then he would
become their Minister. Ten did come
forward to confess their faith in Christ, and over 200 years later the
Christian message is still being proclaimed and practised at Butes Methodist
Church in Alderney.