THE Smith Memorial Congregational Church located on Brickdam is celebrating its 173rd Anniversary this month and the occasion will be marked by an anniversary service on Sunday at 09.00h.At the service, visitors will be enlightened on the history of the historical church. The religious institution was opened on November 24, 1843 as a tribute to the work and suffering of the late Reverend John Smith who was sentenced to death. Smith, a London Missionary Society Minister, died by hanging for the role he allegedly played in the notorious East Coast Demerara Slave Insurrection in 1823, a release by the church said.

Smith died a prisoner on death row on February 6th 1824. He was referred to as the ‘Demerara Martyr’ as a result of the circumstances surrounding his death. As history has it, Reverend John Smith came to British Guiana in February, 1817 to succeed Reverend John Wray who was the pioneer missionary of the London Missionary Society at Bethel Chapel, Le Resouvenir, East Coast Demerara. It was recorded that Smith, gave instructions to the slaves and disobeyed the rules of the slave-owners by teaching their slaves to read the Bible and Catechism.

Other martyrs of the Bethel Chapel was Quamina, a slave and Senior Deacon and his son Jack Gladstone, who played a pivotal role in the 1823 uprising, which had as its goal, the freedom of slaves. The site on which the church is located is regarded as a heritage site by the National Trust of Guyana.