Our church would have been dedicated to a St Joseph - except that his name was changed to Barnabas by the first disciples of Jesus. The name means son, or person, of encouragement.
It has been called St Barnabas since its earliest days over 100 years ago, as a mission chapel in the parish of St Paul. It was named St Barnabas because of the partnership between Paul and Barnabas in the early church.
Barnabas was born to a Jewish family in Cyprus, and it is
thought that he had died by 61 CE, but we can be sure of
very little about him. The book of Acts in the Bible
tells us about Barnabas as a missionary companion of St
Paul. Unfortunately, the writer of Acts has been shown to
be an inaccurate historian. However, Paul and Barnabas
did travel together around what is now Turkey, preaching
the good news of Jesus. Barnabas is also mentioned by
Paul himself in his letters to the Corinthians (1
Corinthians chapter 9, verse 6), and the Galatians (chapter
2).Barnabas and Paul were leaders of the church at Antioch, in present day Turkey. They decided to preach the gospel to Gentiles for the first time, rather than to Jews. This was a momentous decision which has obviously had far-reaching consequences. The followers of Jesus were in separate groups - Jewish and gentile. Paul and Barnabas joined them together by removing the differences between them. The words, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3.28), are thought to have begun as a statement of the church at Antioch.
The church then separated from the synagogue. They realised that a name was needed for followers of Jesus. It is certain that the new name originated in Antioch during the time when Barnabas was there. They were called 'Christians'.
So St Barnabas played a crucial role in the development of Christianity. The 2nd century 'Epistle of Barnabas' was not written by St Barnabas but, as the custom was then, honours him. Barnabas was remembered as an admired and faithful Christian who encouraged others.