Devon DickREV. DAVID W. F. Jelleyman can be described as a man who believed in the scriptural injunction that it was better to give than to receive.
He, like William Knibb, was sent to Jamaica by the British Missionary Society to teach. From 1948 to 1984 he gave 36 years of his adult life toward theological education.
So far-reaching was his influence on theological education that there was a time that the vast majority of Ministers of Religion in the pastorate of established churches in Jamaica and the Caribbean who were trained at Calabar Theological College or United Theological College would have sat at his feet to learn Biblical Studies or Greek.
David Jelleyman was a master at his craft. He was thorough in his presentations. Even the simplest of questions would be given a good dissertation. The comments on a paper marked by him could take up two pages only because his handwriting was small. He was also given to wit in his classes. The Greek word for virgin girl is unusual in that the female form of the word has a male ending. Wittingly, we were told that the ending of a female virgin has a male ending.
Not only did he give of his best in the classroom but also outside of the classroom. This esteemed scholar would find it a pleasure to carry the bag of a 'grub' student who was entering the college for the first time. However, he would never expect or want the favour to be returned. Even after his retirement he was the same 'Jelly'. In the 1990s he returned to Jamaica and spent a couple days at my home and he eschewed any fuss or special arrangements to be made for him. Furthermore, while enjoying his retirement in England I asked him to locate a copy of the hymn book that was found in the pocket of National Hero Paul Bogle after his execution. This hymn book, which was written by Isaac Watts, could give an insight into Bogle's theological thinking and inspiration for his actions in the Morant Bay Rebellion. He searched the Cambridge University libraries and found similar hymn books of that era. He however, gave me enough leads that helped me to locate it in Regents Park College in Oxford.
This discovery allowed for an analysis of the foundation for Bogle's Christian action of 1865.
So consumed David Jelleyman was to his calling of engaging in ministerial formation that many persons believed that he would never marry. He however, did return to Britain and took a wife, Christine, his lifelong partner. She was influenced by David Jelleyman and gave more than she received. She taught Bible Knowledge and religious education at Calabar High School for more than 30 years. She also engaged in extracurricular activities as the sponsor for the Inter-Schools Christian Fellowship. She mothered many boys in the Christian faith.
David Jelleyman was not an armchair professor. He had a social conscience and a deep concern for the less fortunate. He wrote letters to The Gleaner championing the cause of the poor. He found it a joy to minister to persons who were incarcerated. He also ministered at the Hope Hill Baptist Church in Bull Bay. He believed in the wholistic lifestyle and has made many treks to Blue Mountain Peak. Even days before his retirement he would make daily jogs around 'Ring Road' on the campus of the University of the West Indies.
He loved the outdoors and perhaps that became his downfall. In later life, he was diagnosed with skin cancer, which is believed to have been caused from over-exposure to sunlight. David Jelleyman suffered many tragedies including the death of one of his four children, but he never cursed God but rather had the disposition that the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Even during his serious illness he was going to the University to engage in research with the hope of publishing. Alas, that wasn't to be. The last time I telephoned the Jelleymans while passing through London his wife said he could not talk with me. It came as no surprise that he died on December 4. Sincere condolences to his widow Christine and son Paul. May you find comfort in that he lived a full life of giving. The Jamaica Baptist Union honoured David Jelleyman by hosting an annual lecture named after him that seeks to keep alive Biblical scholarship. The rest of Jamaica can pay tribute to him by making the motto of this Christmas season be 'It is better to give than to receive'.
The Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Andrew.
