Anglican clergy in Barbados turned out in their numbers yesterday to lay one of their own to rest.
Retired Archdeacon James “Jimmy” Springer was accorded a burial with full rites following a requiem mass at St Leonard’s Church which he led for many years.
Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave and retired bishops Sir Wilfred Wood and Rufus Brome were present at the service at which Archbishop of the West Indies and Bishop of Barbados Dr John Holder praised the late priest for his long service.
Delivering the sermon, Holder said the diocese had been enriched by Springer’s ministry and that his labour “had not been in vain” – recognition of his impact on a number of priests in the congregation as a tutor at Codrington College.
The bishop encouraged the mourners to have hope in the Resurrection, stating that “as we gather here in this church to thank God for the life work and ministry of our brother Jimmy we are doing so in support of St Paul’s belief that our work in this world can connect to our hope for the world to come”.
Springer’s daughter, Carole Eno, described her father, who was 78, as the kind of father every child would want.
In her words of remembrance she said, “He gave us a firm foundation of faith, taught the importance of honesty, humility, making peace . . . and the power of prayer.”
She said her father was “a principled man” whom his children admired for his high moral standards.
“He never seemed to be ashamed to deal with his own weaknesses nor was never too proud to admit his mistakes,” she said.
Springer was interred in the St Leonard’s churchyard. (GC)
