The curtains have been drawn on the 175th Assembly of the Jamaica Baptist Union, held in Montego Bay between February 19 and 23. This marked the first time the Assembly took place outside of Kingston since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. The Assembly's theme was “Keeping Faith with the Word in an Ever-Changing World,” complemented by the sub-theme
“Wholeness.”
Our secretary, Deacon Jennifer Griffith, will give a fulsome report on the Assembly. We thank her in advance for the report and her faithfulness and dedication in serving yet another year as our delegate.
Allow me to share some takeaways and raise some questions.
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Fried Dumpling and Johnnycake
The President, Rev. Dwight Fraser, challenged the Assembly on Sunday morning, under the theme, “Worshipping Wholesomely,” to let God be the centre of our worship. Very often, we gather for worship and we believe that the congregation is the audience for worship. No, it is God. From the time we enter the corporate worship space to the close of the service, we need to remember that God is the object of worship. It's not about making people feel good, nor is it about entertainment and the display of gifts. Rather, worship is our solemn offering to God. He also stated that Worshipping Wholesomely should be transformative. The illustration he used to make this point was a remark his mother made to him when he was younger: “Don’t go in like Johnnycake and come out like Fry Dumpling,” The word, then, to all believers, and all Baptists in particular, is to let worship be transformative for you. Allow me to add my spin: make sure you don’t come out worse than you went in – as a burnt Johnnycake. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24, NK) -
Be Inclusive
The Bible studies, led by Rev. Dr. Michael Friday, under the Theme, “Maturing Meaningfully,” were quite stimulating and made some useful, practical suggestions, although in some parts, they were a bit controversial. The theme of inclusiveness was very present in the ministry of Jesus, and the challenge for the church today is to ensure we do no less. There are many unreached people in our communities and the world, including those with disabilities, and many others who are treated as outcasts, as the ‘tax collectors and sinners' were in Jesus’s day. Today, many others could be included in this discussion. These include the poor in neighboring communities, the elderly, who are at risk of neglect, some having turned away from God in their youth, sexual minorities—as the speaker noted using the Ethiopian Eunuch as an example— and those at the workplace. He ended the series with a creative and stimulating look at the parable of the Prodigal Son.
The main takeaway from the studies is that the church needs to discern new ways of sharing the gospel, of evangelizing the lost, as we cannot rely exclusively on traditional approaches such as mass evangelism or crusades.
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Community Wholeness and Wellness - Awareness, Consideration, Acceptance and Action
On Friday of the Assembly, there were eight workshops on wellness. The Family Life Commission, which I chair, was asked to present on “wellness: emotional, physical, and spiritual for the church and the community.” Three presenters, namely Dr. Maureen Irons Morgan, Miss Tavia Riggon, and myself, shared in this workshop. The moderator was Dr. Sharon Earle Edwards. The participants were challenged to move from “Awareness to Consideration, Acceptance, and Action.” The session was enhanced by practical activities, breathing exercises, silence, and Community Temperature Reading (CTR). One of the main highlights of this workshop was the need to rediscover, re-emphasize, and restore the Whole Person Ministry that some of our churches started many years ago. There is still the need for our ministry efforts to be directed to the whole person. We used the occasion to introduce a book by retired Psychiatrist, Dr. Anthony Allen, titled, “The Congregation as a Healing Community.” I strongly recommend this book, as it reminds us that the church is as well as its community is well. While the church is an agent of change in the community, we must continue to develop and display practical examples of wellness in the church and the community. Wellness should not be an on-off exercise for the church but should be an ongoing ministry of the church.
Conclusion
The other comments I have on the 175th General Assembly will need to be made at another time. Sufficient to say, the takeaways from this assembly are for worship to be more transformational, evangelism to be more inclusive, and for the church to include wellness as a regular part of its ministry offerings. “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul” (3 John 2:5 NRSV)
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