Over the last century, it has often been faith alone that has kept the doors of the Emmanuel Methodist Church open.

The church, which sits across from Whale Bay Road in Southampton, has a congregation of around 38 members. They celebrate the church's 140th anniversary this year.

"Our numbers have stayed the same since the 1950s," said church member Larry Davis.

Mr. Davis is the church treasurer, a trustee and member of the quarterly board leaders in a church of 38 members tend to wear a lot of hats.

"The Sunday school has dropped off to a large degree," said Mr. Davis. "We manage somehow. Everyone says 'how do you keep going'?

"The sign over the altar, says it all for us. 'God with Us'. Somehow we rise to whatever challenges are thrown at us."

The church is rather basic with no stained glass windows, and little adornment inside.

But it has the warmth and beauty of an old building that has survived the ravages of hurricanes, and real estate booms, and brought comfort to many generations.

"When you come to church, you feel like you are coming home," said Mr. Davis. "We are a family here. We also have a lot of people who come through transitionally."

"There have been many times when we could have just closed the doors," said long-time church member Penny Terceira.

She joined the church with her late husband, Maurice, in 1966.

Mr. Davis said they just put their minds to it that they weren't going to close.

"We have been very fortunate," he said. "We tend to use retired supply ministers, because of our smallness."

The current minister is Rev. Judith Beauman.

The church was first started for convenience sake.

"In the 1860s everyone used to walk to church," said Mr. Davis. "This was the days before the railway. The nearest Methodist church was at Scaur Hill in Somerset, several miles away."

The land for the church was donated by the Worshipful Joseph D. Evans. The cornerstone was donated by W.G. Vickers and was laid in a ceremony on August 25, 1869. Hettie Bell used a silver trowel to lay the cornerstone.

The Royal Gazette of the time, reported: "For many years past, the people professing adherence to the Methodist Church have suffered great inconvenience in the parish for want of a suitable place in which to worship God. This inconvenience is now in a fair way to being removed ..."

The church was called 'Emmanuel' meaning 'God with Us'.

The land around the church was mainly used for farming. Many of the early church members were of Portuguese origin.

"For the early sermons, they brought their vegetable crates to sit on," Mr. Davis said. "The church was lit by kerosene lamps."

The bell tower was added in 1910. Eleven years later, a hurricane tore a large hole in the roof of the church and almost all the ceiling collapsed. It was repaired and the church carried on.

The current pews were bought in the 1970s when the Shelly Bay Methodist Church was sold. There were only enough pews for the centre of the church, so the rest were donated by the congregation. This was supervised by trustees Hector Twitchen and Rudy Cowen.

There's an old saying, "a wise man builds his house upon the rock", which means the people who built Emmanuel must have been very wise indeed.

The rock is so hard in places around the church, that backhoes have been turned back from digging graves at times.

"We wanted a church hall and there wasn't any space," said Mr. Davis. "There was almost solid rock going in most directions. Church member, the late Maurice Terceira, came up with a bright idea of digging underneath the church.

"So the church hall was added in the 1980s. A kitchen and bathrooms were added later."

Mr. Davis said he didn't grow up at Emmanuel.

"I was brought up in Wesley Methodist Church in town," he said. "I grew up on Victoria Street.

"When I moved to Southampton in the late 1960s, Rev. J. Anthony (Tony) Gazzard preached here.

"We grew up together and played cricket together. He said, 'Larry, why do you go all the way to town for church? Come to my church.' So that's when my late wife Susan and I came here."

Now Mr. Davis lives close to town again, but still drives up to Southampton on Sunday mornings.

Ann Spurling Maule joined the church with her mother Adah in the 1950s.

"I went to the Ireland Island church as a child," she said. "We lived in Somerset and we would bicycle up to Dockyard for church. When it was sold I came down here with my mother.

"When we came here the late Phyllis Caton was the organist. Then my mother started playing."

Mrs. Maule said when she started at the church, it was racially integrated.

"We just took it for granted, but I think that was unusual for that time," she said.

To celebrate their anniversary, the church, known for its great acoustics, is having a having a Memorial Hymn Sing on September 27 at 7 p.m.

They will also be having an anniversary dinner at Pompano Beach Club for church members. There will be an anniversary service on October 11 at 11 a.m.