Bishop Peter Morgan last week insisted that he had not abandoned his congregation, but rather was ensuring that the overseas chapters of the church he founded remained strong.

Bishop Morgan also suggested that his recently acquired responsibility of co-ordinating the Jamaican International Network of Church Leaders within the Diaspora was contributing to his frequent absences from the church, but said he was on a mission of discipleship and could not separate his heart from the struggles of the people.

“The church was established to meet the needs of the people, and where this man-made system is not able to complete its mission in full, it remains secondary to the ultimate mandate from Christ which is to go and disciple the nation, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, delivering the captives, empowering the oppressed, and redeeming the lost,” Bishop Morgan said in a statement responding to a story in last week’s Sunday Observer.

“I am a man with a mission. If I am guilty of anything, let it be that my heart has not been able to detach itself from the struggles of the people,” Bishop Morgan said.

Last Sunday, the Observer reported that Morgan, facing criticisms by members of Covenant Community Church in Jamaica that he had abandoned his flock, was being forced to step down as senior pastor of the church he founded.

The accusation by some church members was that Morgan was spending too much time abroad on apostolic missions.

Two Thursdays ago, a meeting of the church’s elders was expected to confirm Bishop Morgan’s withdrawal and say in what other ways he could serve the local congregation while he increased his overseas missions.

Morgan had declined to comment until after that meeting, saying that he did not want incorrect information circulated.

Last Tuesday, he issued the following statement:

No! I have not abandoned the flock. I am pursuing them. The flock is no longer confined within the upper St Andrew church. My sphere of operation and influence is extended well beyond our nation’s geographical borders. As father of the work I retain the burden and responsibility to seek out the flock and to ensure that they continue to mature in faith and to be faithful in service.

It is understandable but unfortunate that some local members are not aware of the needs of the wider family and the long-term benefit that the Diaspora brings to the ministry here at home.

Over the years, members of Covenant Community Church have gathered in various parts of the world, with some establishing official religious and service groups to support the work in Jamaica. In Toronto two years ago, over 20 Jamaican families incorporated the Covenant Group of Toronto. In the United States, two churches have been established, the Covenant Church of Michigan and the Covenant Community Church of the Glades (Florida). These are all part of the flock which migrated from Jamaica from the late 1980s.

In New York some seven years ago, some of our covenant family established the Intercessory Prayer Ministry International. Now hundreds of Jamaicans gather to pray for our nation and to support the local work for spiritual revival and national restoration.

Only last month I met the leaders of Christos Ministries, another group of over 50 Jamaicans coming out of their Atlanta Conference with a burden to serve.

Like most of our patriotic diasporan people, these bodies have a deep desire to give of their gifts and resources back to the place of their birth. It is only natural for them to then look to me in their quest because of their trust and confidence in the heart and integrity of my ministry.

At the recent Diaspora Conference in June of this year, the delegates charged me with the responsibility of co-ordinating the Jamaican International Network of Church Leaders within the Diaspora. This is not a small undertaking, and will continue to pull me away from the foundation of the work.

As the ‘able’ flock have extended their borders, the ‘disabled’ and deprived have been left confined to the depressed communities of the inner-city. Since most of them are either afraid or unable to relate to the up-town church, I am then called on to meet them where they are. That is my responsibility.

In 1989, I walked with a nine-foot wooden cross throughout Jamaica. When I rested in Trench Town with a small band of passionate intercessors who accompanied me, it became the beginning of a new work under the title of Joy Town now led by Pastor Bobby Wilmot and Major Richard Cooke.

Six years ago, the prison visitation ministry from Covenant produced converts such as David Chang and Dexter DeCordova who today work with me in tending the flock in Majesty Gardens and in the Windward Road communities.

The Southside community has been the passion of my family since 1998 when my wife befriended a group of barely clad young boys chucking off into the murky harbour of downtown Kingston. Their story is a tear-jerking one of continued struggle against all the odds of ghetto culture. After six years I am still attached to the lives of these 20-30 youngsters. I agree and admit that the very church that I have built has failed to be the answer for them. so I must again take the initiative to step out and make a way for them.

Who leaves the flock for the lost.but the shepherd? Who remains on the cutting edge of development, but the leader? Who retains the burden and responsibility for conflict resolution and reconciliation, but the father?

The church was established to meet the needs of the people and where this man-made system is not able to complete its mission in full, it remains secondary to the ultimate mandate from Christ which is to go and disciple the nation, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, delivering the captives, empowering the oppressed, and redeeming the lost.

We must all be bound by purpose to the will of God, whether we labour outside the walls of the church or within it. The new leadership of Covenant Community Church is confident that they have the ability to take the local church to the next level. May the Lord give them the grace to accomplish it.

As for me, there are many roles that I have played over the years. There is only one that I will never be able to abandon. This is the role and burden of fatherhood. My prayer is for everyone within the church that I have influenced to be fully blessed and fulfilled. That remains my spiritual commitment.

I am a man with a mission. If I am guilty of anything, let it be that my heart has not been able to detach itself from the struggles of the people. It is this pastoral calling that I have carried all of my life and I continue to do so as a father to the very least of them.