Born
to Alfred William and Caroline Elizabeth Monkcom on May 22, 1916, Donald
Monkcom, an Englishman, arrived in Jamaica, with his wife Joyce in 1959, after serving in the pastorate of
Winchmore (now Winchmore Hill) Baptist Church in the London borough of Enfield.
While serving there, he was also a part-time lecturer at Spurgeon’s College in
London, of which he was a graduate. Sadly, this College closed its doors
earlier this year, 2025. Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) recruited Monkcom to
serve as one of their representatives in Jamaica with the assignment of the
presidency of Calabar Theological College.
Between the end of Keith Tucker’s term of service and the commencement of Monkcom’s, Rev. David Jelleyman acted as Calabar President, 1958-1959. During his presidency, Monkcom, like Tucker, recognized the academic potential of his students and opened doors for them to do graduate studies in England.
Monkcom with Joyce, his wife, and their two children, arrived in Jamaica in 1959 and immediately assumed the leadership role at Calabar College. During his years in Jamaica, Monkcom preached extensively in the Baptist churches in which he was highly regarded as a preacher. Horace Russell, writing in the Jamaica Baptist Reporter, portrayed Monkcom as a preacher, teacher, author and a person with a pastor’s heart. His firm belief in biblical truth, his love of the Saviour and his high estimate of his students, Russell said, had a positive impact on his students at Calabar and the churches that they went out to serve.
Monkcom took an interest in JBU’s publications. As editor of the Jamaica Baptist Reporter, he oversaw the redesign of the publication and the Reporter continued to enjoy high readership.
In an article he prepared for inclusion in the Missionary Herald, Monkcom wrote concerning Calabar College:
For over 100 years, the College has been the
responsibility of an autonomous Jamaica Baptist Union, though the closest links
have been maintained with the B.M.S. From the outset the Society has supplied
and maintained the college staff, but a noteworthy step was taken in 1958 when
the Union appointed as tutor the Rev. Horace O. Russell, M.A., B.D., a Jamaican
trained at Calabar and Regent’s Park College, Oxford[1]
Monkcom’s
contribution to education in Jamaica was not limited to the Baptist College. He
played a pivotal role and was the central figure among Baptists in the last
stage of the process whereby several ecclesiastical traditions united their seminaries to
create the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI). These
traditions were represented by the following participating Communions
– The [Anglican]
Church in Jamaica in the Province of the West Indies; The Jamaica Baptist Union;
The Disciples of Christ in Jamaica; The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana; The
Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas; The Moravian Church in Jamaica;
The Moravian Church, Eastern West Indian Province; The Guyana Presbyterian
Church; The Presbyterian Church in Trinidad and Grenada; and The United Church
of Jamaica and Grand Cayman.
Once UTCWI commenced operation, Monkcom served as its first Dean of Studies. In this capacity, Monkcom contributed to advances in the curriculum development process. He spearheaded the process leading to the approval of the Licentiate of Theology by the University of the West Indies. He was also a member of the Finance Committee of UTCWI.
Monkcom extended his service to education beyond Calabar and UTCWI. He occupied the position of chairman of the Board of Calabar High School and was a member of the Board of Governors of William Knibb Memorial High School. Monkcom also served as examiner in Religious Education for the Institute of Education.
An ecumenist, Monkcom was a member of the Kingston Keswick Council. He was also a regular contributor to programmes broadcast on the nation’s two existing local radio stations – Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion (RJR) and Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC).
Near the time when the Monkcom family were to depart Jamaica for England, Horace Russell prepared a tribute to them, which was published in the Jamaica Baptist Reporter. The Monkcoms and their two children departed Jamaica for England via United States after the JBU valedicted them. President Rev Albert Brown led a farewell service for them in Calabar Chapel on May 7, 1968. Four days before the Monkcoms’ departure from the country.
In 1983, when the Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) was celebrating the bicentenary celebration of Baptist witness in the country, Donald Monkcom was Chairman of the BMS. JBU invited him and his wife to join in the celebration. This was to be the Monkcoms’ last visit to Jamaica.
When I visited Mr. & Mrs. Monkcom at their home in Kent, just outside London, he was in his 80s. He eagerly enquired about several of his former Calabar and UTC students, whom he remembered by name, and shared happy memories of his time in Jamaica. He also ensured that I did not leave his home before taking some books from the library he had developed over the years but which, as he said, would soon be of no use to him. He seemed to have had a premonition of his death for in that same year, 1998, Monkcom earthly pilgrimage ended at Bexley, Kent, England and his mortal remains were interred at Bexleyheath in the London Metropolitan Area. He was 82.
[1]
(October 1963), 147-148.