About the Chaplaincy

In 1959 a retired Civil Servant, John Cook, came to reside in the Algarve. The nearest Anglican Churches at that time were 200 miles away. He was convinced that other ex-pats would welcome communal worship but wondered how he could get it started.
At Easter 1960 two women on holiday joined him while he read Morning Prayer. Then Mrs Vi King, who lived in the Algarve, asked him to arrange a service to be held in her home on Christmas Day 1960. This was the breakthrough. Mr Cook sought the help of Canon Humphreys of Estoril. He arranged for a missionary in Lisbon, en route to Mozambique, to come to Praia da Rocha and conduct the service. There were fourteen people present and this was the seed from which St. Vincent’s Chaplaincy has grown.

Soon a number of residents were promising support for regular Sunday services. On April 23rd 1963 a small group of residents met at Praia da Rocha under the Chairmanship of Canon Humphreys to approve for submission to the Bishop of Fulham and Gibraltar, the late Rt. Rev. Stanley Eley, a constitution of a house-church to be named St. Vincent’s. The Church became and still is the only Anglican Church in the Algarve incorporated in the Diocese of Gibraltar.

By Easter 1968 the numbers attending had grown to 87 people. They met on an open patio because of the numbers, in mackintoshes and with umbrellas because of heavy rain. Following an earthquake in 1969 Mrs King’s house had to be vacated because of damage caused in the earthquake. The Directors of the Penina Hotel offered a conference room for Easter services in 1969 and 150 people attended. The year 1970 closed in sadness when on the 16th October John Cook, founder, benefactor and Lay Reader died. He is buried in Portimão cemetery.

In October 1971, following a period of uncertainty, the Bishop agreed to provide a full-time Chaplain on an experimental basis with financial assistance for six months. In October 1971 the Rev George Bolton came as the first Chaplain of St. Vincent’s, now a Chaplaincy in its own right. At the end of the six month trial the Bishop agreed that the Chaplain could remain on a permanent basis, but he was unable to provide any further financial help. All expenses had to be met by the Chaplaincy members themselves. That is how it remains to this day.

​St. Vincent’s Chaplaincy is here to serve the needs of the resident English speaking community. It provides pastoral care, church services, funerals, baptisms, and wedding blessings. Our Constitution bars us from attempting to influence the local population and because of this we have an excellent relationship with the local Roman Catholic Diocese of Faro.

In 1980 the Diocese of Europe was formed within the Church of England and St. Vincent’s became a Chaplaincy within the Diocese.