Jamaica: Religious liberty leaders call members to be good citizens

February 14, 2013 – Spanish Town, St. Catherine, Jamaica… Jamaica Union/IAD Staff

During a religious liberty rally, Seventh-day Adventists in Central Jamaica were reminded to be good citizens of the land and unite efforts in order to fulfill the mission of the church.

More than 500 church leaders, local pastors and members attended the one-day rally held at the Family of God Adventist Church in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, Jamaica, on Feb. 9, 2013.

Pastor Roberto Herrera (left) religious liberty director for the church in Inter-America speaks to hundreds gathered for a religious liberty rally at the Family of God Adventist Church in Spanish Town, in Jamaica, on Feb. 9, 2013, while Veronica
Benjamin Brown, awaits her turn to translate into English. Image by Kemar Douglas.

Pastor Roberto Herrera, religious liberty director for the church in Inter-America, appealed to church members to be intentional about promoting peace and obeying the laws of the country, as he referenced Matthew 22:15-21.

“As Christians, we must recognize the government that is established and allowed by God,” said Pastor Herrera. “Jesus is in favor of governments who provide peace, prosperity and liberty to its citizens. We need to pay our taxes so the government can provide for the necessary education, health, youth development and other state support and also exist as a government.”

Pastor Herrera also challenged members to focus on the mission of the church as they unite in witnessing.

“The focus of every member must be on the mission and not on issues,” he said. “Stay far from the things outside of the mission, things that create prejudice and sometimes divide and separate us.”

This is the third is a series of five conference rallies being orchestrated by the church in Jamaica, according to Nigel Coke, public affairs and religious liberty director for the church in Jamaica.

“Rallies like this one allows us to help our members understand the fundamental rights and freedoms they can enjoy,” said Coke. Although Jamaica has for years enjoyed religious freedom as a country, according to Coke.

“We as Seventh-day Adventists regard the freedom we have now as a privilege which may not exist in the future so we do not want to become complacent about educating our members on how to best be prepared any future challenge.”

The rally, themed “Liberty: Committed to Our Hands”, represented a culmination of a number of religious liberty programs conducted at the church said Pastor Kemar Douglas, public affairs and religious liberty director for Central Jamaica and organizer of the event.

“Our focus in the department is not just to argue for the right of members but to empower them with knowledge,” said Douglas. Church members were given a religious liberty handbook dealing specifically with Jamaican laws during the rally.

The program was highlighted with music, presentations on the rights, freedom and impact of religious liberty, drama presentations and a question and answer segment.

During the rally, Coke thanked successive governments of Jamaica who have upheld the constitutional rights of the citizens for freedom of religion and worship. This, he noted, was a privilege as “we are enjoying what millions in the world are not.”

He also appealed to fellow church members to learn the rights to freedom of worship peacefully and professionally with Christ-like dignity. “The Adventist approach should always be negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy to resolve issues and reach amicable agreements with governments, unions or employers,” said Coke.

“We must also be the best workers in whatever area of our vocation. In this time of economic hardship and a shrinking job market, we must work for man as unto God as we strive to be good and faithful servants for the Master,” Coke added.

Coke said the church is working on approaching government leaders to arrange for a standard to be set in the church’s tertiary institutions as it relates to dates set for examinations and field work for Sabbath keepers.

Additional rallies are scheduled throughout the year as the church prepares to host a Religious Liberty Festival in April 2014 when the Church in Jamaica will celebrate 120 years of Adventism.

The church in Jamaica also plans to launch soon its chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), a non-sectarian organization dedicated to the cause of religious freedom which also serves as an umbrella for many regional and national religious liberty affiliates around the world.

For more information regarding the church in Jamaica, visit jmunion.org