Men have lost respect for the Church, pastors declare
Published:Sunday | February 7, 2021 | 12:17 AM
Members of the clergy are of different minds on the appropriate steps to be taken to protect their congregants following the heartless killing of Andrea Lowe-Garwood in the presence of other worshippers at the Agape Worship Centre in Falmouth, Trelawny, last week.
While it is not the first time that the precincts of a place of worship has been desecrated with such a ghastly act, all agree that the daring execution of the plot against the 51-year-old NCB worker demonstrated a lack of regard for the presence of God, which should serve as a wake-up call for the Christian community.
“I was in shock and dismay when I learned of this unfortunate act against this sister, and that was from a realisation of where the Church has come,” the Reverend Charles Brevett, pastor of the Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church in Montego Bay, St James, told The Sunday Gleaner.
“As a boy, a truck man would not blow his horn in the vicinity of the church, nor would one use a curse word until they had passed, because there was a general reverence for the sanctuary, but we have come to a place where one can be brazen enough to sit among the congregation, then pull a gun to take the life of another human being while worship is taking place, which shows that there is no fear for God.”
He continued, “It is also my impression that the prophetic voice has been muzzled, and preachers are not speaking out any more. Maybe because we are caught between the political tribes, where some people want to jockey on both sides, while some don’t want to offend anybody, but the word of God cannot be preached without offence, and the Church has the responsibility to hold the political directorate’s feet to the coal to say that something must be decisively done.”
According to Brevett, the Church must remain neutral and not allow issues such as education, health and security to become a political football.
“I believe the Church has been mute in its responsibility to hold those who have offered themselves for political office accountable, and if we are not careful the Church will become a populist movement,” he said.
DOUBLE STANDARDS IN CHURCH
For the Reverend Jeremy Davy, the founder of Praise Power Ministries in St Ann, churchyard patrols are sufficient to protect the well-being of attendees, but he said double standards in the Church have resulted in a lack of fear and regard for the Christian man.
“Sadly, the reason for this, I believe, is that many churches today have been involved in compromising their doctrines and biblical beliefs, and have gone down the road of filthy lucre and wealth,” he said.
“Many have been focusing heavily on the prosperity gospel instead of the salvation of souls, and when the world sees this, and understanding what the Church should be, they will lose their respect for the Church, but the function of the Church in the governance of the country should be one of spiritual, moral, and ethical guidance.”
Award-winning international gospel artiste, Pastor Marvia Providence, is not expecting any serious changes to how churches operate, but is concerned that the focus is about whether a pastor should be armed or not.
“I hear people talking about protection and they are not even talking about the protection from God, they are speaking about getting physical men to protect them, and I have a problem with that, because we talk about the power of God, we preach about the power of God, we sing about the power of God but we behave as if God is dead,” she said.
“Back in the day, men used to see the manifestation of the God that we are talking about, to the point that there was fear, not being afraid but having respect for the God that we professed. Just to say you are a Christian, you would be held in high regard because the life you lived would be exemplary. But today, in many cases, they are not seeing what we are praying nor professing; the power of God is not being demonstrated.”
YEARS IN THE MAKING
The Reverend Dr Ronald Hamilton, the Eastern Region Superintendent of Open Bible Standard Churches of Jamaica, said the irreverence for the house of God has been on display for several years, but the Church remains silent.
“One of the many signs of the end times is the irreverence that is on display for the house of God, and we saw it in the murder that was committed in the church in Falmouth in the midst of a service. We saw it at the funeral service the other day in New York, when another old female entertainer sang a song that was not appropriate for the setting in a church, but was cheered on by those in attendance,” he said.
“Never in my wildest dream would I believe that in a country like ours, where there are so many churches, we would hear of a murder occurring in the house of God.”
However, Rev Hamilton is not supporting a call by Bishop Rowan Edwards, organiser of the annual 10,000 Men and Families March in Spanish Town, for pastors to arm themselves.
“If a man came into a congregation and brandished a gun, will a pastor challenge that gunman and endanger more lives?” he argued.
“Personally, I am not in agreement with such a call, because it is my humble opinion that our sister’s death gives us the opportunity to examine if we are displaying Jesus Christ in our everyday lives, because this is not about the church in Falmouth, this is a lesson for all of us.”
Yesterday, the police announced that three men have now been charged with Lowe-Garwood’s murder.