Christianity in Jamaica

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jamaican Christians
Total population
approx. 1,960,000
Religions
Anglican
Languages
Main languages spoken are English and Jamaican Patois.
The Anglican St. Jago de la Vega Cathedral, Spanish Town, Jamaica.

Protestant missions were very active, especially the Baptists, and played a key role in the abolition of slavery.[1]

Denominations

Anglicanism

Main article: Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands

Anglicanism was introduced by the British in 1664. The first church was built on the spot of the Spanish Church of the Red Cross in

Diocese of Jamaica & the Cayman Islands.[2] Today, the diocese is part of the Church in the Province of the West Indies.[3]

Baptist

In 1783

Baptist Wars' which proved to be the final death-knell for slavery. He also passed on the baton to Baptist missionaries from the UK - particularly his colleagues William Knibb and Thomas Burchell, who not only learned from him, but continued his work, and lived to see what he could only have hoped for - the abolition of slavery, the freeing of the enslaved, and the establishing of the then-largest mainline Christian denomination in Jamaica - the Baptist Church.[4]

Methodists and Presbyterians

The

Methodists have made significant contributions to education.[1]

Moravians

Main article: Jamaica Province of the Moravian Church

The

Saint Elizabeth, and Westmoreland
.

Roman Catholicism

Main article:
Roman Catholicism in Jamaica

Introduced by Spanish settlers in 1509, Peter Matyr ordered the building of the first church in Sevilla Nueva {now known as

Arawaks
. The effort to convert to the Arawaks failed as they rapidly died from disease. In 1655, a Protestant English force captured Jamaica and Roman Catholicism was removed until 1837.

Today Jamaica is organized as the Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica, which also includes Belize and the Cayman Islands.[5] Of the four suffragan dioceses, two, the dioceses of Mandeville and Montego Bay cover parts of Jamaica.[6][7]

Seventh day Adventists

The story of the

Seventh-day Adventists in Jamaica, is one of rapid growth and development over more than a century. In 1891, at the request of James Palmer of Kingston
, the Tract Society (Seventh-day Adventist) in the United States of America mailed literature to Jamaica. He gave one to Mrs. Margaret Harrison who is said to be the first Adventist in Jamaica. Her plea to a General Conference session in Battle Creek, Michigan, resulted in the arrival of the first missionaries to the island, Pastor A J. Haysmer and his wife, on 26 May 1893.

The church was able to host a meeting of all workers in the West Indies from 5 to 15 November 1898 at Text Lane, in Kingston, Jamaica. By February 1899, there were six organized churches and 15 other congregations, with a total of 502 members and about 100 other Sabbath-keepers. The records show that by May 1902, this number had grown to 18 churches and 13 other congregations. At its 35th meeting in Oakland, California, in March 1903, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists voted to receive the Jamaica Conference into the fellowship. Rapid church growth followed although ordained ministers were few, but the lay members shouldered much of the work.

In the building of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, education and health were essential planks. With the work growing in Jamaica, the need for an Adventist school to train new converts as ministers and church workers for the region became apparent. In 1906, suitable land was acquired at Bog walk and then Riversdale, St. Catherine, for this venture, and the West Indian Training School was established. Its policy of work-study helped students to work while studying in order to assist with the cost of their education. In 1919, the school was relocated to its present home in Mandeville and later became the West Indies College, now Northern Caribbean University (NCU), with enrollment averaging over 5,000. The Union has grown to cover evangelistic, health, education and youth programs, involving 10 high schools, 22 elementary schools and numerous basic schools, in addition to the ever-expanding NCU.

In 1912, the Adventists opened the “Massage and Hydropathic Treatment Rooms” in Kingston. As demand for its services grew, there were calls for a hospital, and in 1945, the “Andrews Memorial Hospital and Missionary Clinic” was established. Along with the facility, a nursing school was started. Today, Andrews Memorial Hospital provides a facility, with cutting edge medical services such as CT Scan, ultrasound, liptotriptor, surgery, maternity care, dental care and a pharmacy. It collaborates with NCU in training nurses.

Throughout its history the expansive of the work of the Jamaica Union Conference has been underpinned by the publishing ministry, with its army of faithful 'colporteur' door to door book selling evangelists.

At the 1936 Adventist worldwide General Conference session, Elder A.C. Stockhousen was moved to report: "Jamaica is one of the largest conferences of Seventh-day Adventists in the world.... Today there are 5,335 baptized believers...A more loyal and serious band of believers it would be hard to find anywhere."

Today, this continues to be true, and there are currently 5 local conference organizations in Jamaica, but now with 324,747 members (as of 30 June 2020).

Percentage of Jamaicans by religious affiliation

Affiliation Percentage[8]
Church of God 24%
Seventh-day Adventist 12%
Pentecostalism 10%
Baptist 7%
Anglicanism 4%
Roman Catholicism 2%
Reformed
 2%
Methodism 2%
Jehovah's Witnesses 2%
Moravian 1%
which?
]		 1%
Christian total 99
No affiliation 21%
Other 10%
Unstated 6%
Total 100%

See also

References

  1. ^ a b World Council of Churches (19 August 2008). "Jamaica". World Council of Churches. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. ^ Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (18 July 2012). "Our History". Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  3. The Anglican Communion
    . Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  4. ^ Doreen Morrison, Reaching for the Promised Land: The role of culture, issues of leadership and social stratification within British Caribbean Christianity, PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012, 47,53
  5. ^ Cheney, David M. (15 July 2012). "Kingston in Jamaica (Archdiocese)". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  6. ^ Cheney, David M. (3 December 2011). "Mandeville (Diocese)". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  7. ^ Cheney, David M. (3 December 2011). "Montego Bay (Diocese)". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  8. ^ U.S. Department of State (2008). "Jamaica". International Religious Freedom Report 2008. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
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