PROFILE OF
Thomas Nisbett
was born on
His father was a
Sunday School Superintendent, as was his grandfather. Canon Nisbett grew up in
As a child, Thomas enjoyed playing marbles and spin tops and he really enjoyed delivering magazines throughout the neighbour hood. There was a home in the area where children used to gather. It was called the centre, as there was a big circular yard and all the children from the immediate area would gather to play every day.
As a teenager, Thomas did not have time to be idle. In those days, children worked at an early age. Thomas kept busy by doing chores and repairing things for people. This he was doing at the tender age of 15. Mostly he repaired screen doors and he enjoyed making Gombey axes. (Today they are called hatchets).
One of his greatest loves was being a member of the Boy Scouts. Scouting was very important when Thomas was growing up. Scouting was an organization that all of the young boys wanted to be a part of. Also participating in concerts, which would take him and other youngsters from one end of the island to the other in a horse-drawn buggy. It was a good childhood.
When Thomas’
parents came to
Although members
of the AME church, Thomas and his sisters and brothers attend St. Monica’s
Sunday School in the morning and
Around the age of six or seven, Thomas and his brother Ifor sang in a concert at St. Monica’s, one Sunday afternoon and were given six pence by a lady named Ms. Maude Jones, for singing so beautifully. Soon after, they joined the robed Boy’s Choir at St. Monica’s. There were about thirty boys in that choir at that time.
As a robed choir boy at St. Monica's Thomas soon became involved in the church life there. Mr. Carl P. Wade, the Lay Reader, in charge of St. Monica's took special interest in Thomas. He encouraged him to read the lessons on a regular basis and to conduct the services. At age sixteen he was made a permanent reader. On Mother's Day in 1946 Thomas preached his first sermon taking for his topic 'I am the vine, you are the branches.' It wasn't long after this that he was preaching two sermons a week. Thomas became a Licensed Lay Reader in 1947. He had delivered his sermons from the Lectern up to that point. Now he could be allowed to preach from the Pulpit.
Mr.
Wade resigned his position as Lay Reader-in-charge in 1951. After intensive study under Bishop Heber
Brown, Thomas was licensed and put in charge of St. Monica's in 1952. This position he held until 1959, when he
left to study for the priesthood at
In
1954 Thomas Nisbett was joined in holy wedlock with Miss Winifred May G. Smith,
daughter of M/M Leon Smith of
Winifred,
a young school teacher, having been trained in
During those years when Thomas was in charge of St. Monica's he continued to work as a carpenter six days a week. The strain of it all forced him to decide between giving up his trade or becoming a full-time priest
At
that time segregation was the order of the day in the Anglican church in
Later,
Thomas spoke to the Bishop f\of Bermuda, the Rt. Rev. A.L.E, Williams who
agreed that he was over worked (the salary of the Lay Reader-in –charge was
eighty pounds per year). So, he was
underpaid also Bishop Williams then set
about arranging air fare, spending money and tuition and the necessary
information to be sent for Thomas' entrance to Codrington College in
Barbados. No provision was made for his
wife and sixth month son, so Winifred continued teaching here in
After
four years at Codrington, and the time grew closer for Thomas to graduate and
become ordained, the Bishop of Bermuda resigned. Therefore there was no Bishop to sponsor him
for the priesthood. Bishop Williams told
Thomas that he would have to find someone else who would be willing to do so,
and advised him to find someone in
After
his ordination on
Thomas' biggest challenge was to get over the hurt, betrayal and disappointment at the resignation of the Bishop who had initially encourage him to become a priest. However, Thomas remained a faithful servant. His peers at the college did not understand how he could not be angry and upset over the situation but remained calm and did not become discouraged. Thomas prayed hard and long about the situation and never gave up or showed concern. Other than this disappointment Thomas did not have to face many other injustices.
Thomas'
wife, Winifred and their four-year old son Thomas Jr. joined him in
The
Nisbetts remained in
When asked what were the challenges that his wife Winifred faced as the wife of a Black Priest, Thomas admitted that there were some prejudices but Winifred had little time to worry about it because she resumed her job as a Primary School Teacher, assisted as organist, taught Sunday School and ran the household while taking good care of their two son's.
The Nisbetts two sons grew up in the church, assisting their father where necessary, attended public school and played with the other boys in the neighborhoods where they lived. Their best time was spent when the Nisbetts moved to St. David's where Thomas was the Priest –in -charge of Chapel of Ease. During that time their father built them a ten-foot boat with an Evenrude engine. They thoroughly enjoyed that with their friends.
Both boys attended Saltus Grammar and took part in many activities at the school. Thomas Jr. played in the school band and both took leading roles in annual school plays. Both graduated with several G.C.E.'s and A Level credits. Both are graduates of Canadian universities.
Thomas long-term goal from his youth was to serve God and man to the best of his ability. He is a lover of poetry and music. He vividly recalls his favourite anthem 'To the Work, To the Work O Ye Servants of God. Lt us follow the path our Master has trod,' one he learned as a boy in St. Monica's Junior Choir. His favourite hymn is 'Father Hear the Prayer We Offer.'
Thomas’
favourite scripture verse that has sustained him throughout his life is taken
from At. Paul’s gospel 1st. Timothy
Thomas' advice to the
youth of today is this "Stay close to the church and by doing so you will
be protected from the many temptations of the world. Learn something! What ever it is, when you have learned it no
one can take it away from you and it would surely mold you into a productive
citizen of your country and the world.