Marjorie Prentice "Madge" Saunders (25 February 1913 – 2 March 2009) was a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n Christian minister and community worker. She was the first woman in the

United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands is a united church formed on 1 December 1965 as the "United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman" by bringing the Protestant denominations "Presbyterian Church in Jamaica" and "Congregational Union ...

to serve as a parish minister. Saunders grew up in Galina, Saint Mary Parish, the sixth of seven children born to Ida (née Myers) and Walter E. Saunders. Her mother died when she was young, while her father worked as a

wharfinger Wharfinger (pronounced ''wor-fin-jer)'' is an archaic term for a person who is the keeper or owner of a wharf. The wharfinger takes custody of and is responsible for goods delivered to the wharf, typically has an office on the wharf or dock, and ...

. Saunders attended Free Hill School in

Port Maria Port Maria () is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, Saint Mary. Originally named "Puerto Santa Maria", it was the second town established by Spanish settlers in Jamaica. The ruins of Fort Haldane, built 1759, ...

, and began working as

pupil-teacher Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...

in Galina at the age of 14. She went on to study teaching at

Bethlehem Moravian College Bethlehem Moravian College (formerly Bethlehem Teacher Training College) is a college located in Malvern, Jamaica Malvern is a village in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Jamaica's St. Elizabeth parish. It is the site of Munro College (a boys' ...

, and then worked as a primary school teacher.Marjorie Prentice Saunders (1913-2009)
National Library of Jamaica. Retrieved 29 November 2017. Saunders was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, and eventually decided to pursue the ministry. From 1965 to 1968 she studied at St Colm's College in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, and on her return to Jamaica was made a

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

and employed as the church's first full-time youth organiser. In that capacity she travelled around the country, establishing several new schools including Mona Preparatory and Meadowbrook High School, and also made visits to the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

and

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

.Born to serve: the pioneering ministry of Marjorie Prentice Saunders
''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 18 September 2005. Retrieved 29 November 2017. In 1965, Saunders accepted an invitation from the

Presbyterian Church of England The Presbyterian Church of England was a late-19th-century and 20th-century Presbyterianism, Presbyterian denomination in England. The church's origins lay in the 1876 merger of the English congregations of the chiefly Scottish United Presbyterian ...

to serve a mission in England, becoming associate minister of St. James Presbyterian Church,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. The city had a large

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

population, particularly in the area around Burngreave where she lived. Saunders established various programs to help new arrivals, and authored a book, ''Living in Britain'', which was subsequently translated into Gujarati and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. She also served as a spokesperson for the West Indian community, appearing several times on BBC Radio Sheffield. Saunders returned to Jamaica in 1975 and was ordained as a minister in the new United Church (into which the Presbyterian Church had merged). She was assigned to the Salem United Church in Saint Mary, the first woman to take charge of an entire congregation –

Adlyn White Adlyn White (1929 – 24 January 2017) was a Jamaican educator and Christian minister who was the first woman to be ordained by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. She was also the first woman to head the church, serving as its m ...

had been ordained in 1973, but worked in administrative roles. A biography of Saunders, ''Born to Serve'', was published in 2005. She died in March 2009, aged 96.Thanksgiving service for Madge Saunders today
''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the Western Hemisphere. Original ...

'', 21 March 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Madge 1913 births 2009 deaths Jamaican clergy Jamaican Protestants People from Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica 20th-century Jamaican women Women Christian clergy