Presbyterian elder lived life of caring

THE EDITOR: The Presbyterian Church of TT has lost one of its dedicated presiding elders whose work in some of the rural pastoral districts has won praise from the faithful.

Dennis Williams passed away a few days ago at a New York hospital at the age of 74. At the time Williams was assigned as a presiding elder in the Tableland Pastoral Region. He also doubled in the Nariva/Mayaro Pastoral Region.

Williams approached his assignments with the zeal of the early missionaries and was always ready to conduct prayer meetings, prayer vigils, hospital visits, night-wake services or to bury the dead. He answered calls to duty. whether they came day or night. He never turned down a request for his pastoral services, regardless of whatever part of the country it came from.

Williams was never too busy to listen to the distress of others or to offer advice. In several instances he would go out of his way to bring relief to those in need. His approach was so much like the current Presbyterian moderator, the Rt Rev Daniel Chance, whose concern and care for those on the margins of society influenced his work on the church’s Board of Social Responsibility. They, like others, have made the Presbyterian Church a noble institution.

Williams was born in the quiet agricultural district of Ecclesville near Rio Claro in 1949. He is from a staunch Presbyterian family and attended the Ecclesville Presbyterian School and Tagore Centenary College in Craignish, Princes Town.

After leaving college he began teaching at a private secondary school in Rio Claro before joining the staff at the Rio Claro Presbyterian School. Williams graduated from Naparima Teachers’ College and later was attached to the Princes Town Junior Secondary School where he taught Spanish. He retired from the teaching service at 60.

As an active member of the Ecclesville Presbyterian Church, Williams served as Sunday School teacher and on the local board and as an elder. His potential as a preacher was identified by Canadian missionary Rev Charles Kitney, who encouraged Williams to take up part-time studies at the St Andrew’s Theological College in San Fernando.

Kitney is reputed to have told Williams, “I want you to be a minister of the Word.” Williams said this declaration by Kitney had rested on his mind and influenced his decision to read for the Presiding Elder’s Order of the church.

The Presiding Elder’s Order is reserved for members of the laity who undergo special training. A presiding elder is assigned to assist an ordained minister in the administration of the sacraments. He is the only one who, in the absence of an ordained minister, is authorised to administer the sacraments subject to stated regulations. A presiding elder serves voluntarily.

Williams had a jovial disposition which was reflected in his interaction with both old and young. He once told of an incident while praying with an aged bedridden man in his home district. He said that while in deep prayer an owl, known for its notorious legend, flew over the house making a shrieking sound. He said the man interrupted the prayer session and shouted to the owl, “Wait nuh, you hurry or what?”

HARRY PARTAP

Tableland