Fancy Church History
A Brief History of the Development of the Seventh-day Adventist Message in Fancy
Fancy is a mountainous community in the extreme northern portion of St. Vincent. It is sixteen miles from Georgetown along the Windward side of the island; and thirty-seven miles from the capital Kingstown. The roads and trails leading to Fancy are quite challenging. Most people in Fancy make their living by farming, fishing and hunting. The population is about four hundred to five hundred.
In the early 1950s, a man named Gilchrist came to Fancy with the Sabbath Message and a considerable number initially accepted the message, but unfortunately, many left except Leonard Chance who persevered and held street meetings.
When Mr. Gilchrist left, Bro. William McDowall took the long rugged roads from Byrea, on donkey, to have fellowship with Bro. Chance's household; later Bro. McDowall moved to Sandy Bay and traveled from there to Fancy. After Bro. McDowall ceased his journeys to Fancy, Bro. Evans Nero (Soleyn) journeyed from Sandy Bay with two of his children to worship with Br. Chance and family in Fancy. However, Br. Chance later migrated from Fancy and the Sabbath Message became dormant.
In 1990, Pastor Erick Collins and Bro. Francis Lavia along with Sandy Adventist Church held a six weeks crusade at the Fancy playing field and 6 persons were baptized. They met downstairs of the clinic under the leadership of Br. David Nanton.
In 1991, Pastor Raulford Baptiste baptized five more. The following year Pastor Baptiste, aided by Bro. Francis Lavia, conducted a crusade which yielded 13 more. The growth of the church was paralleled by difficulties, as they were asked to vacate the downstairs of the clinic.
Brothers Augustus Lockhart and Moses Stay after much negotiating with the Representative of the area to purchase a particular piece of land were then directed to the actual owner of the land Mr. Cornelius Bowens. Mr. Bowens sold his 12' x 14' basement on May 20, 1992. Remains of the tent were set up on the basement to facilitate worship services. After the remains of the tent began to deteriorate many members dropped out.
Pastor Collin Thorne later was assigned to the district, which then had the congregations of Greggs, Lowmans (Windward), New Grounds, Colonarie, Georgetown and Sandy Bay. These congregations helped to start a building on the now current site in Fancy under Pastor Thorne's guidance.
Later, when Pastor Edward Smith came to the district, he had the land surveyed and paid for; the vestry area was also erected.
Pastor Samuel Joyles came and the roof was added as well as the windows and doors. He held a crusade in March 2001, which yielded 9 souls. The next year with the help of Pastor Smith 8 more souls were added.
However, up to this point the church had no bathroom facilities except for an outdoor pit. In mid-October 2003 Pastor Sheldon Brome became the district pastor. The much needed bathroom facilities and pastor's quarters were added under his orchestration with each of the three bathrooms having a shower. These were started in June 2004 and completed for dedication in April 2005; working mainly on Sundays. The current congregations of the district helped financially and particularly in labour. The Island Development Council (IDC) also helped tremendously in a monetary way.
(Presented at the Dedication in 2005)
(Minor editing by Ps. Nichols)












