St. Brendan was an Irish saint of the early Christian church. It is said that he once travelled all the way to North America by way of a boat made of animal hides. Eventually, he was supposed to have found a land of great beauty. All these events were to have taken place about 1500 years ago. Well, the ancient saint may have bumped into Iceland or Greenland on his travels, but I’d like to think that he made it all the way to Newfoundland. In fact, there is an island in Bonavista Bay that is named after this famous sailor. The tales of the human St. Brendan may be shadowed in folklore, but this island community is still alive and well.
Back in the 1960’s, the Premier of Newfoundland decided that he would entice all the people to move into centralized “growth centres’ in order to update and deliver modern services and conveniences. Many communities were abandoned and relocated from islands in the bays to the mainland of the island. The community of Pinchard’s Island and Cape Island were abandoned at this time to form the village of Newtown, where I served as minister. Unlike other settlements, the people of St. Brendan’s refused to move. Even a government monetary incentive wouldn’t work. Today, they are only accessible by a ferryboat. That isolation might have appeared as a suffering to a lot of folks, but after fifty years, it does not seem so to the people living there. Sure, they don’t have high-speed internet service. They also had to forgo cable television. Even their main road is still unpaved. However, what you do notice about places like St. Brendan’s is that the pace of life is much slower. Last summer my wife and I travelled to Fogo Island on the north coast of Newfoundland. It, too, is isolated by a ferryboat ride. There are no Wal-Mart’s in either of these places! However, people grow up and get educated. They move on to professional careers. Medical services are available. Yes, St. Brendan’s and holdout communities like it even have electricity! Churches and groups like the Lion’s Club and Senior Halls are key social centres. The folks there appear to be contented.
Let us not fool ourselves in thinking that their lives are a piece of cake in this salt water paradise. These communities have survived, despite the pressures of modern culture and even the collapse of their economy through the destruction of the cod fishery.
All small communities and the small churches and social/charity groups within them are facing these same types of challenges today. Even in our little town of Arthur, we can feel the almost magnetic draw of big cities with their big institutions. Iron is usually attracted to a magnet, but I think that you must agree that these outport people have an iron will. They have held on, and just now it seems to be bearing fruit. People are coming to these islands to experience that slower lifestyle. They long for a sanctuary from “busyness”. It would appear that these hardy island folks were always at peace with themselves and their culture. Now, others long for what they have, because long ago they gave it up for some pottage of unfulfilled promises, as did Esau in the Old Testament. I applaud our local historical society, agricultural society, and other civic-minded organizations for keeping those old cultural traditions alive here in Arthur.