Carmen Stewart dies, aged 95

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has praised the late Rev Dr Carmen Stewart as an “outstanding Jamaican who dedicated most of her life in service to the Church and to communities”.

“I extend condolences to her family and loved ones as well as to those whose lives she would have touched through her ministry and community service,” Holness said in a tweet yesterday.

Stewart, a matriarch of Pentecostalism in Jamaica and former custos of St Andrew, passed away yesterday. She was 95.

Stewart was custos of St Andrew from 1992 to 2010 and made history as the first female custos of the parish. In 1996, she also became the first female deputy governor general.

The late pastor was yesterday hailed by Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips as a trailblazing visionary.

Phillips credited Stewart for being a woman of many firsts, breaking glass ceilings and standing for unpopular but essential causes to nation building.

Stewart served as pastor of the Pentecostal Gospel Temple on Windward Road in Kingston for 44 years, and in 2006, was honoured for 50 years of pastoral work by the church. She also served as a director of the Bureau of Health Education in the Ministry of Health.

The Pentecostalism giant founded the Wilbert Stewart Basic School in Mountain View, St Andrew, named in honour of her late husband, and also served for many years as an honorary tutor at The University of the West Indies, Mona.

Stewart was inducted into the Order of Jamaica in 2007; the Order of Distinction in 1986; and received the Prime Minister’s Medal. She was also the recipient of the Award for Dedicated Service from the Kiwanis’ Club of downtown Kingston.