Methodist Church Records

Source pic: Malaki Z. Croes (AUA)

Methodism & The Methodist Church in Sint Maarten N.A. located in Frontstreet are important aspects in the VR-research.
Many members of the van Romondt family were members of the church and registered in the birth, death or marriage records.

Source pic: Malaki Z. Croes (AUA)

Diederik Johannes van Romondt served as Governor of St. Maarten from 1820 to 1840. He entertained Prince William Henry on his visit to St. Maarten in 1835. He was the first member of the House of Orange to pay a visit to the "Beach Island."

Governor Diederik Johannes van Romondt was a Methodist and it was during his administration that Methodism made rapid progress. Not having descended from plantation owners he was in a position to take a more objective view on the need to educate the slaves in the teachings of the Bible. At the same time he opened the way for the white aristocracy to join the Methodist Church which many had looked on as a church for slaves only.

Source pic: Malaki Z. Croes (AUA)


In his book Memories of Saint Martin (Netherland Part), the late Josiah Charles Waymouth includes a letter from the Reverend Tregaskis who wrote:

Source pic: Malaki Z. Croes (AUA)

You will be sorry to learn that His Excellency the ex-Governor van Romondt died on April 20th. Having arrived from Holland about the year 1800, he filled in that time important offices until in 1820 he was appointed governor. He was created Chevalier of the Order of the Netherlands Lion and in 1840 obtained his honourable discharge and pension and had the additional gratification of seeing his eldest son Governor J. W. van Romondt succeed him. Our Missionary Society was much indebted to this gentleman at the time when his official influence served to frustrate the projects of open and secret foes such as Methodism has encountered in almost every place at its beginning. Source: For The Love of Sint Maarten, Will Johnson.

Source pic: Malaki Z. Croes (AUA)

We can inform you today many VR-descendants are Methodists and visit the Methodist Church in Sint Maarten, Aruba, Curacao and other countries for the church services.

What is Methodism?

About The Methodist Church

The Methodist Church is a worldwide Christian Protestant Church. There are about 300,000 Methodists in the UK and over 6,000 churches/chapels. There are over 70 million Methodists worldwide and the Methodist Church is growing by a million members annually.

The Methodist Church grew out of the Methodist Movement which was part or the revival of the Anglican Church in the Eighteenth Century led by John Wesley, his brother Charles Wesley and George Whitfield. All three men were Anglican priests. The Methodist Movement was very successful particularly among those who felt excluded from the Anglican Church in London, the Midlands, the North East of England and the South West of England. John Wesley was a great organiser, encouraging people to form local societies which would meet regularly for prayer and bible study. He encouraged the building of preaching houses where the societies could meet and provided support for them by appointing preachers to visit the societies on a regular basis.

Soon after the Death of John Wesley in 1791, the Methodist Movement separated from the Anglican Church and became known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Various disagreements caused Methodism to fragment. The Methodist New Connexion was formed in 1797, the Primitive Methodists in 1807, the Bible Christians in 1815, the Protestant Methodist in 1827 and the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1836. The two latter groups amalgamated in 1857 to form the United Methodist Free Church. The Methodist New Connexion, the Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Church came together in 1907 to form the United Methodist Church. In 1932 the United Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodists and the Wesleyan Methodists combined and became the Methodist Church.

The name Methodist derives from a derisory nickname given to John Wesley and a group of friends at Oxford University who met regularly for Bible study, prayer and Holy Communion, as well as working among the underprivileged members of the community. Wesley encouraged people to embrace religion from the heart as this would make a real difference in how they lived their lives. By meeting together for worship, prayer and Bible study in a regular and methodical way, Methodists still seek to help all who seek for a spiritual meaning in life and to overcome the major social evils of human rights abuse, misuse of the Earth’s resources and Third World Debt. As followers of Jesus, Methodists seek to reduce poverty and suffering in the World and encourage their followers to get involved in local and national politics.

Methodism's activities, both alone and with ecumenical and secular partners, are based on four aims known as
Our Calling:

· To increase awareness of God's presence and to celebrate God's love
· To help people to grow and learn as Christians through mutual support and care
· To be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice
· To make more followers of Jesus Christ.

Methodist Central Hall Westminster Source:http://www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk