ANY doubts about the tremendous power and influence wielded by the Christian Church in Jamaica should have been dispelled by the failure of the horse racing industry to sustain Sunday as a day for racing.

After just two Sunday events, Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) has abandoned the experiment. CTL director Mr Chris Armond is reported by this newspaper as saying that while the support at Caymanas Park was good, the “turnover could not help us to pay all our bills that we needed to pay on the day”.

For the “turnover” to be adequate, off-track betting parlours would have had to be opened on Sundays in tandem with the race events at Caymanas Park. But current laws prevent this. CTL made it clear that it was hopeful the Government would have initiated moves to amend the relevant legislation to allow off-track betting on Sundays.

Not only was there no such move, but the Government made it clear it wasn’t going to happen. Having tested the waters and found the temperature not to its liking, CTL hastily withdrew.

It’s obvious that the Government’s stance was dictated in large measure by the position of the Church, which is vehemently opposed to gambling and gaming on moral and religious grounds. Notwithstanding the well-established benefits in terms of increased employment and economic activity.

Note the very satisfied comment from the general secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches, Rev Gary Harriott, that “anything that reduces the opportunities for gambling is something positive for the country”. And further that “Money is not the end-all… And when you think about it, who is the money really benefiting?”

One senses that Rev Mr Harriott could easily have added ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’. The truth, though, is that without bread (food) man will not live at all. That’s a fact with which the Christian Church, even as it places man’s spirituality as paramount, has always had to struggle.

Hence the admirable effort by sections of the church down through the centuries to proactively help their human flocks and others to maintain themselves materially. We note the intention as reported in yesterday’s Sunday Observer for churches to involve themselves in additional “outreach activities geared at further improving the lives of their members and wider communities in the coming months”.

We would suggest that in the face of the economic catastrophe that is upon us, much of that energy by the Church should be focused at creating employment through community self-help projects utilising where necessary the physical church facilities as bases.

Crucially, too, church leaders must accept the responsibility to be leaders in their communities, not just in terms of dealing with the spiritual and the moral, but in addressing the hard material needs as well.

If Jamaican church leaders can bring the same energy and drive to material issues as they have shown in addressing moral issues such as gambling, they would have done very well.