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Tribute to the life of
Rev. Glenn Thompson
(December 21, 1954 to August 11, 2006)
from
ARLENE GARDENS GOSPEL ASSEMBLY
delivered at the
Memorial Service
Saturday August 19, 2006
Swallowfield Chapel

“As someone who was saved because of the care and love of members of Arlene Gardens, I can attest to the fact that God’s grace has manifested itself wonderfully there. I still have many fond memories as I grew in the Lord at Arlene, becoming deacon, and then pastor . . . from 1984 to 1986 . . .” This quote from our Brother Glenn in 1992 is about the value of the church to him. We now speak of the value of Glenn Thompson to our church.

His early Christian life with us saw tremendous and remarkable growth. He ran ahead of himself and the church to begin studies at Jamaica Theological Seminary. He was still so young in the faith when he began. But in the space of a few short years, the young firebrand and evangelist in our midst became our pastor. His zeal could not be contained.

From those early days, we saw that he had a keen mind, and was a most able Bible teacher. The Bible studies he conducted when he was pastor at Arlene Gardens attracted the largest attendance at weekly Bible study up to today. His warm personality was an asset in making congregants feel welcome. And head knowledge was not all for him. He is known to have looked at a particular situation of disagreement in the church, and judged it on the basis of who was showing more love at the time.

In a little while, he picked Angella, a beautiful flower from our garden; and she became his friend, bride, and then travelling companion to the places overseas that he served and continued to grow in.

There is a lot about his zeal that we did not understand in the beginning, and we doubt that he did either, but we now understand better. He had much to accomplish, and little time with which to work.

Glenn’s service was also to our denomination--the Associated Gospel Assemblies. He preached widely in the denomination, and was consulted on doctrinal (specifically end time matters) and apologetic matters. Though his service widened beyond the AGA, we are grateful that God gave him to us for a few years.