Located in George Town, Grand Cayman the present Elmslie Memorial Church was constructed during the 1920’s by Captain Rayal Bodden who being a naval architect designed the roof to resemble a ship’s hull turned upside down. The Presbyterian community however actually dates back to 1845 when the Presbyterian Church of Jamaica sent forth a ship of Missionaries intended to preach the Gospel in Africa, but instead ended up wrecked on the Cayman Islands reef. Discovering the islands had no organized church, Reverend Hope Waddell who led the Missionaries appealed to ministerial officials to establish a presence on the Caymans. The following year Reverend James Elmslie volunteered to go when it seemed no other would building the church in George Town upon the site of the former Anglican Church that was destroyed by a hurricane in 1838 and spent almost twenty years traveling the islands spreading his faith until returning to Scotland in 1863.

Related Posts