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Sint Maarten

By Royston Philbert, and Nichole Fraser

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Royston Philbert

Nichole Fraser, M.Ed. (Framingham State University, Framingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.), is chair of the department of teacher education at the University of Southern Caribbean. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Education from The University of Trinidad and Tobago. She has been an educator for 25 years with experience at both the secondary and tertiary levels. She has also served as an English as a Second Language teacher facilitating the learning of English by students from Latin America, the Netherlands, and the French speaking territories in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.  

First Published: October 24, 2024

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The twin-nation island of Saint Martin is in the northeastern Caribbean. In this island split roughly 60:40, the northern half is a collectivity of the French Republic called the Collectivity of Saint Martin (Saint-Martin), and the southern half is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands called Sint Maarten.1 Adventist churches on the French side (Saint-Martin) are in the territory of French Antilles-Guiana Union Conference, and those on the Dutch side (Sint Maarten) are in the territory of Caribbean Union Conference.2

Pioneer Work

Two Anguillan pioneers, Eddy Hodge and Atkins Rogers, brought the Adventist message to Sint Maarten in 1940. That year, Eddy Hodge made inroads in Saint-Martin, where he worked in Marigot with his family, the Hunt family from French Cul-de-Sac, and Brother Javois. Subsequently, Rogers, an Adventist colporteur, came to Sint Maarten from Anguilla.3 There, in Philipsburg, he met Charles Payne, a little carpenter shop operator from St. Kitts. Atkins spread the message from door to door while Payne conducted Bible studies in his workshop on Backstreet. That is how the Seventh-day Adventist work began on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten. Eight people were baptized, and the first Sabbath was celebrated in December 1950.4

The French brethren Sister Angel Hunt, Sister Joe, Brother Jean Hunt, Sister Alfonseen Carty and her children, Brother Simon Jeffrey, and several others heard about Payne and Rogers and came to meet them. Payne married Miss Fleming, and they began their own Bible studies. They were later joined by Sister Armanda Landeford, a teacher of 50 years, and Mrs. Payne’s daughter, Rose Melanie. Then Sister Maria Cannegieter-Berkel and her husband, Reginald Cannegieter, came from Sint Eustatius. Reginald Cannegieter’s mother, Ethel Cannegieter, came up from Aruba and joined them.

The small group later relocated from Payne’s workshop to a building very close to the Methodist Church on Front Street, where they met with some protest from the Methodist minister. Soon, two Methodist members and their son were baptized and joined the small Adventist group.

Construction of Church Buildings

A church was built in Marigot in 1967 and another in Cole Bay in 1976. A third church was built in Zagers Gut (now Philipsburg SDA Church), and a fourth church in Grand Case.5 The Cole Bay church later moved to the Orange Grove area in 1984, and they held their first Sabbath worship in December of that year.6

In 1976, Sint Maarten became part of North Caribbean Conference, and the Cole Bay church was dedicated on May 23. Before this, Pastor E. F. Malone from Philipsburg had a full church with no space for expansion. The need for a new church became evident after an evangelistic crusade in Cole Bay, during which 60 new members were baptized. The new church was built with a seating capacity of 250.7 The census for that same year listed a membership of 244 Seventh-day Adventists on the island.8

Further Adventist Growth in Sint Maarten

A crusade held by Peter Aaron in 1980 increased the membership on the island by 33.9 Membership growth and evangelistic efforts increased. In 1995, the Cole Bay Church started a primary school on its grounds. However, both the school and the church grew exponentially, resulting in the need for a larger property. The new construction began on January 25, 1998, and was completed and dedicated in February 2001.10 The “first-ever” historic pastoral ordination service on Sint Maarten was held and organized by Pastor Jansen Trotman (the conference president) and his team.11

Sint Maarten became a hub of activity for the North Caribbean Conference by the 1990s. Health Councils drew participants and health professionals from all over the Caribbean, including the Port of Spain Adventist Hospital, Davis Memorial Hospital, and Caribbean Union College (now University of the Southern Caribbean). Sint Maarten’s government health officials also attended these functions as distinguished guest speakers.12

The same was true for the Pathfinder ministry staff training programs, which attracted local law enforcement. In 1992, it was written: “At the Anguilla-St. Eustatius-St. Maarten Congressoree held in St. Maarten… After addressing the pathfinders, Police Commissioner Kramers volunteered to march the entire parade route with them.”13 Ministerial Councils and preaching seminars were also held in Sint Maarten. In addition, given its ideal tropical characteristics, Sint Maarten became one of the destinations of many Seventh-day Adventists who embarked on “personal spiritual growth” cruises.14

The Seventh-day Adventist Church of Philipsburg’s Sabbath church program of August 10, 2018, stated that St. Peter’s Seventh-day Adventist Church was dedicated in August 2018.15 According to the members, the church took 16 years to be built, but the congregation was initially started in 1999. The two-story building seats 300 and has a baptismal pool. The Sint Maarten Seventh-day Adventist School located in Cole Bay educates students ages 4 to 12 “in harmony with Seventh-day Adventist philosophy of education.”16

As of 2023, the population of Sint Maarten was estimated at 58,477, of which 6.62% were registered as Seventh-day Adventists (roughly 3,870).17 The Seventh-day Adventist churches in Sint Maarten are named: Philipsburg, Cole Bay, St. Peter’s, Bethel (Franco-Haitian), Horeb (Franco-Haitian), New Bethany (Spanish), Maranatha Group, Ephesus, and Good News.18

Sources

“About Us: A Brief History.” Seventh-day Adventist Church – Cole Bay. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://colebaysdachurch.interamerica.org/a-brief-history.

Browne, Silton. “Youth Action in North Caribbean.” Inter-American Division News Flashes. No. 430, June 1992.

“Cole Bay Church Dedicated.” Inter-American News Flashes, no. 150, October 19, 1976.

Cress, James A. “Doing it right!” Ministry: International Journal for Pastors. February 1999.

“Evangelism: North Caribbean.” Inter-American News Flashes. No. 251, September 16, 1980.

“Exciting Personal Spiritual Growth.” Outlook: Mid-America Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Vol. 8, no. 10, October 1987.

“Find a Church: St. Maarten.” Seventh-day Adventist Church: North Caribbean Conference. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://northcaribbeanconference.org/find-a-church/st-maarten/.

Hartog, Johan. History of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin. Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles: Sint Maarten Jaycees, 1981.

“Hello, We Are Philipsburg SDA.” Philipsburg Seventh-day Adventist Church. Accessed October 22, 2024. http://www.philipsburgsdasxm.org/about-us/.

Honore, Elie. “Caribbean Union Holds Health Council.” Inter-American Division News Flashes. No. 428, April 1992.

“Our School.” St. Maarten Seventh-day Adventist School. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://www.sxmsda.com.

“Saint Martin (island).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Martin_(island).

Seventh-day Adventist Church: Philipsburg bulletin. August 10, 2018. Accessed October 22, 2024. http://www.philipsburgsdasxm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Bulletin-Philipsburg-Church-Bulletin-11th-Aug-2018.pdf.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

“Sint Maarten.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Maarten.

Notes

  1. “Saint Martin (island),” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed October 22, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Martin_(island).↩

  2. “Caribbean Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13961.; and “French Antilles-Guiana Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=14077.↩

  3. Johan Hartog, History of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin (Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles: Sint Maarten Jaycees, 1981), 117.↩

  4. “Hello, We Are Philipsburg SDA,” Philipsburg Seventh-day Adventist Church, accessed October 22, 2024, http://www.philipsburgsdasxm.org/about-us/.↩

  5. Hartog, Ibid.↩

  6. “About Us: A Brief History,” Seventh-day Adventist Church – Cole Bay, accessed October 22, 2024, https://colebaysdachurch.interamerica.org/a-brief-history.↩

  7. “Cole Bay Church Dedicated,” Inter-American News Flashes, no. 150, October 19, 1976, 2.↩

  8. Hartog, 120.↩

  9. “Evangelism: North Caribbean,” Inter-American News Flashes, no. 251, September 16, 1980, 1.↩

  10. “About Us: A Brief History,” Seventh-day Adventist Church – Cole Bay, accessed October 22, 2024, https://colebaysdachurch.interamerica.org/a-brief-history.↩

  11. James A. Cress, “Doing it right!,” Ministry: International Journal for Pastors, February 1999, 29.↩

  12. Elie Honore, “Caribbean Union Holds Health Council,” Inter-American Division News Flashes, no. 428, April 1992, 2-3.↩

  13. Silton Browne, “Youth Action in North Caribbean,” Inter-American Division News Flashes, no. 430, June 1992, 2.↩

  14. “Exciting Personal Spiritual Growth,” Outlook: Mid-America Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, vol. 8, no. 10, October 1987, 31.↩

  15. Seventh-day Adventist Church: Philipsburg bulletin, August 10, 2018, accessed October 22, 2024, http://www.philipsburgsdasxm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Bulletin-Philipsburg-Church-Bulletin-11th-Aug-2018.pdf.↩

  16. “Our School,” St. Maarten Seventh-day Adventist School, accessed October 22, 2024, https://www.sxmsda.com.↩

  17. “Sint Maarten,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed October 22, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Maarten.↩

  18. “Find a Church: St. Maarten,” Seventh-day Adventist Church: North Caribbean Conference, accessed October 22, 2024, https://northcaribbeanconference.org/find-a-church/st-maarten/.↩

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Philbert, Royston, Nichole Fraser. "Sint Maarten." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 24, 2024. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AC3J.

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Philbert, Royston, Nichole Fraser. "Sint Maarten." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 24, 2024. Date of access March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AC3J.

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Philbert, Royston, Nichole Fraser (2024, October 24). Sint Maarten. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AC3J.

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