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| Brown's Town Baptist Church |
John Moore Bee was born in
London, England in 1905. Converted at age 19, he later became an officer in the
British Merchant Marine Service.
In 1925, while he was serving in Australia, he experienced a call to the Christian ministry and enlisted for training in an Australian institution. He interrupted his training to answer a call from BMS to serve in the Solomon Islands, a group of more than 21 islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean. This is a region where earthquakes routinely occur. BMS ordained and commissioned Bee and he served in the country for 8 years.
He started his ministry in Makira, now the third most populous island in the Solomon Islands chain. He resided in a fishing village on the coast of that South Sea Island. Already, he had completed three years of service when, one quiet Sunday morning, a severe earthquake rocked Makira leading to what Bee described as “pre-creation chaos.” Bee shared the story in an issue of the popular magazine, Caribbean Challenge.
After the few minutes that the earthquake lasted, Bee realized that his house, which was 35 metres from the sea and 137 yards from the barrier reef, was badly damaged. He climbed up to what was had been his upstairs veranda and looked out toward the sea and saw that a “tidal wave, some thirty feet high was tearing headlong toward [his] house." He also saw "panic-stricken people screaming as they fled for their lives down the one track that led to the hills surrounding the village" where he lived.
Bee wondered whether the enormous tsunami would wipe out the church and the mission. He reported, “I was rolled … tossed through barbed wire fences … dashed against innumerable trees … swallowed what seemed like the ocean and a sand pit combined. I was accompanied by all my household goods, my bicycle and even my cow… Finally, I was swept to the top of a tree and miraculously was able to get a hold of its topmost branches.”
When the tidal wave reached the foot of the hills, it immediately retraced its path to its ocean home. The suction was terrific and I was drawn out at right angles to the tree.”
A fairly deep natural depression between the foreshore and the foothills became an inland salt water lake. This is where Bee and others were deposited, their life being saved. A few days later, they discovered that the lake was populated by “several species of fish, including some fine large specimens of the shark family.” But they had already retreated from the lake. God had spared their life.
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| Bee's Post-tsunami Residence |
In 1935, the Bees came to Jamaica in response to an invitation from the Christian Alliance Church (now the Missionary Church in Jamaica) to partner with them in Christian service.
When John and Mary Bee arrived in the country, their first assignment was to help develop a church plant in Old Harbour. The Bees suffered a break in at their home during which some of their personal effects were stolen. These included a gold watch belonging to Mrs. Bee, a fountain pen and a cash pan containing about three shillings. John Bee, or Jack Bee, as he was affectionately called, having served the Missionary Church’s effort over less than two years, recognized that the church plant was not thriving. Meanwhile, he was receiving preaching invitations from churches in several denominations. When the Mt Herman Baptist Church in Riversdale, St Catherine, under Rev Edmund Greaves’ leadership, marked its centenary in August 1936, Rev John Bee of Old Harbour one of the speakers in the celebratory services. Shortly after that event, Bees considered whether to accept the call to serve as pastor of Brown’s Town Baptist Church.
In 1936, the Bees responded favourably to the invitation and commenced service in Brown’s Town, St. Ann. Four years later, on February 21, 1940, John Bee received the right hand of fellowship and gained recognition as an accredited minister at the JBU Assembly in the Hanover Street Baptist Church. Before that, in February 1939, Bee had been one of the two speakers chosen to address the closing meeting of the JBU Assembly in Falmouth. He spoke about his experience in Solomon Islands and the joy of seeing former cannibals serving as deacons in the church.
Like two of his predecessors in Brown’s Town – John Clark, who spent 55 years and George Henderson – 40 years as the church’s pastor, John Bee completed 37 years of service in the Brown’s Town circuit – 50 years!
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| John M. Bee
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A man with multiple gifts which he was ready and eager to employ in the Lord’s service, Bee was well loved by his parishioners and performed an exemplary ministry in Brown’s Town. He made peace with the leaders of the Brown’s Town Tabernacle Church, which had emerged out of a schism at the Brown’s Town Baptist Church. Afterwards, Bee led in the revival of vibrant ecumenical relations in the town.
In addition to the Brown’s Town church, Bee served the Lime Tree Gardens, Mt Olivet, Sturge Town and Philadelphia Baptist Churches. He also planted the Baptist Churches in Retreat and Lilyfield. These two churches emerged out of the Kaiser Bauxite Company’s resettlement of the members who were associated previously with the Lime Tree Gardens Church.
Bee was a man with a heart for Christian mission – local and international. He encouraged several of the men in his congregation to attend Bible School and, once they completed the course of study, assigned them to different churches in hi circuit, delegating some leadership responsibilities to them. He supported members who volunteered to go on mission work in several places, included Haiti. In 1952, he reorganized and resuscitated Baptist work in British Honduras (Belize), where JBMS and BMS, in partnership, had engaged in pioneering work starting in 1822.
John Bee served the wider Jamaica Baptist Union in a several capacities. Over many years, Bee was a member of the JBU Executive Committee. In the 1940s, he was JBU treasurer and he served as such for eight years. He was elected JBU President for 1955-56 and was Jamaica Baptist Missionary (JBMS) Secretary, 1970-1971. Secretary, 1970-1971. In addition, he was an energetic Secretary of the Jamaica Baptist Missionary Society.
Bee was JBU’s education and building officer, who provided advice and guidance to churches planning to embark on a building programme. He was one of the three persons who were instrumental in JBU securing the Nutshell property in Duncans, Trelawny, where a camp site was established.
Beyond Baptist circles, Bee was active in ecumenical Christian work. The earliest manifestation of this commitment in Jamaica was seen in his participation in the Advent Testimony Preparation Movement (APTM), addressing branches of the APTM in several parishes. In addition, Bee was involved in the Mandeville Keswick Convention, serving faithfully on its Council. In 1955, Bee was among those who helped to establish the work of Scripture Union in Jamaica. He was also deeply involved in the Boys Brigade movement in Jamaica. Meanwhile, Bee granted space in the Brown’s Town Baptist Church for the use of the Brown’s Town branch of the Jamaica Youth for Christ, whose work he encouraged.
In 1965, he was elected chairman of the Inter-Church Committee of the St. Ann Council of Churches and, in 1974, Bee was Chairman of the Board of United Theological College.
It is noteworthy that, in addition to all he had to do, Bee found time to serve on several school boards. In 1941, Bee was chair of the Board of the Westwood High School in Stewart Town, Trelawny. He also chaired the Sturge Town school board and provided support for the Methodist-owned York Castle High School in Brown’s Town.
John Bee was a Christian with an unwavering devotion to his calling. He was also a family man, blessed to have had Mary Bee as his wife and partner in service to God. Mrs. Bee, who used her musical gifts to good effect in the Brown’s Town church, was known for the warm hospitality he extended to others. Both Mr. & Mrs. Bee loved the people they served and young people had a special place in their heart. They were deeply committed to the personal welfare and growth in Christ of the youth. Not surprisingly, the church members adored the four children in the Bee family – three boys and one girl.
When I was denied a leave of absence to sit the Entrance Examination for UTCWI, Mr. Bee kindly arranged with the JBU to send him the examination papers and starting at 4:00 a.m., on the day of the exams, he played invigilator as I completed the test in his office at the mission house in Brown’s Town. I will never forget this great servant of God.
On April 30, 1972, the Brown’s Town Baptist Church building had standing room only as people thronged to say farewell to the Bees. In a programme over which JBU President Senator C. Sam Reid presided, tributes were paid to Bee. He was described as “an indefatigable worker in every area of community development.” Rev Renford Maddix spoke on behalf of the St Ann Baptist Association of which he said, Bee was a founder. He called Bee “a man of constructive ideas” who applied the Gospel to everyday life. Rev John Alexander and Rev Osmond Harris said John and Mary Bee being to them like real parents, assisting them in every way for their life’s vocation. Regarding his contribution to JBU, Bee was described as “a man of vigorous personality, a broad mind and a brotherly heart. He served JBU as “a sagacious Treasurer, a keen negotiator and a competent administrator, never flagging in zeal as regards the church’s mission.”
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