A LIGHT IN THE CARIBBEAN

A Light In The Caribbean

Witclive Charles Hamilton was introduced to the plan of salvation by Bishop Howard Luther Chase. He was baptized at the age of 17 in 1931. He gravitated to the truth, taught by the man of God. It was not long after that Bishop Chase recognized that this young man was devoted to be a leader in Israel.

In 1938 he was ordainded to the gospel ministry as an Elder. He served the people of God with kindness and upheld the teachings of the Church of God and Saints of Christ with integrity. He moved through the ranks as an Evangelist and then as an Evangelist-At-Large.

As the health of his mentor and father in the gospel, Bishop Chase began to fail; he looked around for someone with the spiritual stamina and love for God to lead the church in Jamaica and the Caribbean Diocese. His spirit rested on the then Evangelist Hamilton and the baton was passed on to him with confidence in 1948. He was told by the man of God, “I know you will not change. Beautify the work, but do not change it.” With time it became clear that the evangelist had a special calling to serve. Under his leadership churches were established in the island in Bath, St. Thomas and Colgate, St. Ann with 8 Lockett Avenue in Kingston remaining as the headquaters until 1999.

“A Bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife.” He guided his family with wisdom. He and the wife of his youth, Sister Evangelist Albertine Hamilton gave birth to seven children, two of which preceded him in death. He led the people of God in the Island of Jamaica with love, patience, kindness, wisdom and skill that only the direction of the Spirit of God provides. He loved the saints. Many will attest to the fact that he answered their calls to address spiritual and natural concerns. Each week, at the end of the Sabbath, he would call all the children to his office and lovingly offered them coins.

One could always feel the spirit of God, when one came into his presence. He particularly demonstrated the spirit and power of God when he elevated any member to an office. In fact, he was known to suddenly stand during service, call a member to stand and stated clearly that the spirit of the Lord had guided him to elevate the member to a particular office. He was not guided by politics or the outward appearance. He kept the doctrine pure as he taught and led.

The enemy infiltrated the camps of Israel, when after the visit of a fraction from the United States of America in 1962, dissention developed and the group under the Bishop’s leadership was split due to doctrinal differences. Evangelist-at-Large Hamilton continued in the things which he was taught and the church began to grow. After a visit to the United States in 1964, he was consecrated to the office of Bishop by the late Bishop John Dickerson.

In Bishop Hamilton’s faithfulness, he brought forth much fruit. Scatterd on many continents and found as active participants in many congregrations where the great Church of God and Saints of Christ is located can be traced generational members whose forefathers were fathered and nurtured in the gospel in the island of Jamaica by this man of God. “And their works do follow them.”