The Church of God in the Cayman Islands emerged from the humblest of beginnings. By all indications, Rev. George Olson was the first Church of God missionary to visit the Cayman Islands circa 1911. Rev. Olson and other missionaries made several other visits. However no congregation was established at that time.
God’s work with the Church began in Cayman Brac and goes back to 1917 when Mr. William M. Coe from Grand Cayman went to the Brac to hold revival services. Many people were converted and one of these converts, Mr. Jacob Tibbetts, became the first Pastor. The church worshipped at this time in a small building with a thatch roof at West End. The affiliation to the Church of God took place around 1930. Shortly afterwards a building at Cotton Tree Bay was erected and then dedicated in 1932.
The Church of God in Grand Cayman was started through an invitation of Capt. Darrell Hunter. Capt. Hunter invited Rev. Harold Andrews, an associate of Rev. Olson, to Grand Cayman from Jamaica in 1933 . During his time here Bro. Andrews conducted revival services at the “Full Gospel Hall” in George Town , which resulted in the largest spiritual revival the Island has ever experienced.
The new converts under the ministry of Rev. Andrews formed into a congregation and met for services in a building belonging to the Latter Day Saints. Shortly thereafter, a sanctuary was erected on a property purchased from Mrs. Charlotte
Emeline “Cissy” Coe, widow of Bro. William Mearns Coe. The dedication of the sanctuary took place on December 8,1934. The first convention was held for two days only – December 3 and 4, 1935 under the theme “Consecration Convention.”
During the next decade the Church of God in Grand Cayman grew by the grace of God as Rev. Andrews reached out to small holiness movements that had started in Bodden Town and West Bay. A young preacher, Calvin Ebanks, who had started a small independent group in Boatswain Bay, West Bay, and a trio of committed Christian women, Sis Enna Ebanks, Sis. Chrissie Banker, and Sis Elsie Rivers approached Bro. Andrews and asked for help to establish a congregation. In May of 1938, the Church in West Bay was organized. Bro. Orrie Merren, Jr. provided the funds and in 1948 the church moved to its own building. The Bodden Town congregation followed through the efforts of Bro. Orren Merren Jr. and Sis. Glandore Solomon with a church being built in 1942 on property donated by Nathaniel Carter. The Church in Old Man Bay, North Side, was started by
Rev. and Sis. Kluge in the 1950s. Services were first held at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Linton Whittaker. Mrs. Maggie Bodden graciously gave the property on which the sanctuary was built in the Old Man Bay. All of these churches were entirely self-supporting, except for a small part of the pastor’s salary, which was being supplied by the Anderson Missionary Board.
One of the major accomplishments of the Church of God in the Cayman Islands was the establishment of a school in the fall of 1941. Leslie and Nina Ratzlaff were sent by the Anderson Missionary Board to replace the vacancy left by Rev. Andrews. While Rev. Ratzlaff served as Minister to the George Town congregation,
Mrs. Ratzlaff served as principal and teacher and classes were held first in a small building attached to the court house, then “Aunt Marrie’s Porch” and finally its first real home in the breezeway and Sunday school rooms of George Town church. Triple C School became the first organized school offering both elementary and
secondary instruction in Grand Cayman and still continues to provide a Christian education today. Two further locations served the school. Today the school has one of the finest school faciliies on the island.
Though space does not permit the recognition of all persons both locally and overseas who contributed and sacrificed to the building of the Church, we thank them for their service in spreading the Word of God to the people of
these Islands.