Bishop Vergil Aiken was a great man of God

Cecelia Campbell-Livingston

Monday, February 03, 2014    

BISHOP Vergil Aiken was laid to rest on Saturday, January 25 following a moving remembrance service in which he was eulogised as a great man of God with a heart full of compassion.

“He started well and finished well,” Minister Will Edwards told the capacity congregation at the Church of God of Prophecy in Clarendon. “He was a hard worker in the parish of Clarendon [and] will always be remembered as a monument of south Clarendon.”

Aiken, who pastored 13 churches in the parish, was also remembered for his commitment to service, his capacity to listen and quick wit.

Colleague ministers, family and friends also recalled that he didn’t flinch from speaking the truth.

Rita McKenzie, speaking on behalf of the Woodhall community where Aiken lived, described him as “a man of the flag”, referring the late bishop’s habit of waving his Church of God of Prophecy Flag wherever he went.

Aiken converted to Christianity in 1961 and never diverted from the faith. According to McKenzie, he helped in building the Woodhall Church of God of Prophecy.

“God used him to mentor a lot of us,” she said, noting that many of them became ministers.

But what stood out most for her was how Aiken taught the men in the church to love and cherish their wives and how he loved his wife, Zebulah, whom he affectionately called ‘Birdie’.

Bishop Aiken was also a farmer who could be counted on to represent his fellow farmers who were not bold enough to speak about their issues in town hall meetings.

The national headquarters of Church of God of Prophecy representative Bishop Winston Leith said Aiken was a man who served the Lord and the church with distinction. “He served loyally and unselfishly. He will be saluted as one of those unsung heroes,” said Bishop Leith.

In delivering the sermon, Bishop Les Graham spoke of a day of rest for believers.

He urged the congregation to emulate the late Bishop’s life, saying that they, too, can find eternal rest.

He praised Bishop Aiken for the way he dealt with his illness, never complaining, but instead holding firm to his faith in God.

There were several inspirational musical tributes throughout the three-hour-long service. Members of Rectory Land Church of God of Prophecy sang The Holy City; the Clarendon Police Choir gave a powerful rendition of Never Lost My Praise, while Aiken’s Miracle Tabernacle Free Town Church of God of Prophecy Choir sang Last Move For Me.

Born to Bazila Reid and Gerald Aiken, Vergil Aiken attended Woodhall Elementary School before learning masonry and eventually going into farming.

Under the mentorship of the late Elder Craig, he became a budding evangelist, eventually marrying the love of his life, Zebulah Bent, in 1969.

Bishop Aiken, who passed away on December 22, 2013 is survived by six children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He was interred at the family plot in Woodhall, Clarendon.

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Bishop Vergil Aiken was a great man of God

Bishop denies rejecting Orange invite

28 July 2013 Last updated at 05:30 ET Restrictions were placed on bands playing outside St Patrick’s Church The Catholic Church has denied that a bishop refused to meet the Protestant Orange Order to discuss the controversy over a parade passing a church.

There has been no resolution to a dispute over marches past St Patrick’s Church in Donegall Street.

The Parades Commission has placed restrictions on loyal order parades in the area.

The Orange Order asked the Bishop of Down and Connor to visit its headquarters, but he has not as yet.

Talks took place last September to try to resolve tensions in the area, the church said, ahead of an Ulster Covenant commemoration parade.

Father Eddie McGee told the BBC’s Sunday Sequence programme that the invitation was not for face-to-face talks involving Bishop Noel Treanor.

He said an unsigned, open letter was issued by the Orange Order and reported the following day in local media.

“Over the past number of weeks the portrayal and presentation of this invitation to a covenant exhibition has morphed or changed into what some people believe is that Bishop Treanor has refused or rebuffed or even deferred face to face talks with the Orange Order,” he said.

‘Mutual understanding’

“This is entirely inaccurate because Bishop Treanor has not received any invitation to face-to-face talks around parades. He has received no private communication from the Orange Order so there’s no invitation to defer.”

However, Reverend Mervyn Gibson from the Orange Order said the invitation still stands.

“That invitation still stands and is open, whether it was declined, deferred or whatever it hasn’t taken place but the invitation is still there,” he said.

He said the Orange Order had intended that any conversations would have built “mutual understanding around many issues but particularly around parades”.

He said if it required a personal invitation to that bishop “that would be followed up”.

The controversy surrounding the church first arose on 12 July 2012, when a loyalist band taking part in the annual Orange parade in Belfast was filmed marching in circles outside St Patrick’s filmed playing a contentious song.

Since then, the Parades Commission has placed restrictions on loyalist parades passing St Patrick’s.

Public disorder followed a Royal Black Preceptory march past the church on last August and there were three consecutive nights of rioting after a republican band parade in the nearby area last September.

However, a major Orange Order parade to mark the centenary of the Ulster Covenant passed St Patrick’s peacefully later that month.

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Bishop denies rejecting Orange invite