In a 2006 The Gleaner /Bill Johnson poll, 65 per cent of Jamaicans said they take the Bible seriously, and 80 per cent said they attended church regularly or occasionally.

The 2011 Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) Population and Housing Census found that, of a total population of 2,697,983 at the time, 2,050,771 people (76 per cent) were affiliated with 21 denominations. Jamaica is reputed to have the most churches per capita of any country in the world. Impressive numbers if they still hold.

But, even if church membership in Jamaica is in decline, which I suspect is the case, the Church remains the single largest membership organisation. This begs the question: Why is the Church so lightly regarded by the Government? Case in point, the COVID-19 health pandemic and the Government’s announcement of seven no-movement days.

While being careful not to offend Sabbath worshippers, who constitute the largest number of church members on the island, the prime minister’s (PM) initial announcement hit Sunday worshippers hard by including Sunday, August 22; Sunday, August 29; and Sunday, September 5 among the no-movement days. For possibly the first time in post-Independence Jamaica the doors of the church were rendered shut by Government decree.

One day following the PM’s announcement, a circular over the signature of Rev Dr Peter Garth, president of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance (JEA), as well as the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches (JUGC), arrived in the inbox of pastors. The first two sentences read: “Following an intervention with Prime Minister Andrew Holness regarding Sunday worship services for the next three weeks, the following was agreed upon. All services (including this Sunday, August 22, 2021) are permitted to have 20 persons in the worship space.” Although well intentioned, the statement created confusion and could be seen as an afterthought — a palliative thrown to barking dogs to keep them quiet.

I do not think the prime minister bears ill will towards the Church, generally, or towards non-Sabbath worshippers, in particular, as is being rumored in some quarters. In fact, the problem is not with the prime minister or the Government per se. The disregard shown the Church comes from its own lack of influence.

On a scale of one to five, with one being very little and five being very much, I rate the influence the Jamaican Church has on the affairs of State at two — below average. By contrast, the influence of the Church in the United States, a country whose constitution draws a separating line between Church and State, is massive.

In 1979 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor Jerry Falwell, along with Christian fundamentalists, formed the Moral Majority — a right of centre movement intended to give conservative Christians greater influence in American politics. Since its founding, the movement has played a key role in electing every Republican president. Donald Trump’s presidency was kept alive largely through the support of evangelicals.

David Kuo, a Christian who worked in President George W Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, in his book Tempting Faith – An Inside Story of Political Seduction describes the relationship existing between politics and religion as one of convenience: “Throughout nearly twenty years involvement in politics, I have, on the one hand, seen the tender seduction of well-meaning Christian leaders and their followers by politicians parched for votes but apathetic about these Christians’ faith. On the other hand, Christian leaders are supposed to be putting Jesus above and before all things. Instead, it looks like they believe political power is the most important thing in pushing the Christian agenda.”

The Jamaican Church could take lessons from its American counterpart in how to use its immense power to influence government policy and action. The Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches, which claims to represent upward of 90 per cent of traditional Christian membership on the island, has not, to any significant degree, been able to leverage this power to influence government policy toward, for example, making the justice system more equitable or the economy more inclusive — two issues that directly affect people sitting in the pews.

When pastors speak on the airwaves or write in the newspapers, it is usually on narrow religious themes, not economic, social, or political ones. It is a rarity to see pastors on the golf course, at corporate events, or on the cocktail circuit — places where the influencers network, socialise, and determine the course of future events before they even get debated on the floor of Parliament. No wonder a July 2017 Bill Johnson poll, published in The Gleaner, found that only 26 per cent of the people surveyed said they can rely on the Church to tell them what is happening in the affairs of the country.

Being influential does not come automatically from having a large membership, but from speaking with a united voice on national issues. The picture accompanying the August 20, 2021 The Gleaner article captioned ‘Church leaders join call to arms’ was, by itself, worth a thousand words in portraying unity in the body of Christ, which could change the status quo from one in which church leaders are seen to be more interested in curry favouring with politicians, in building edifices, and in passing the offering plate. It showed the heads of some of Jamaica’s largest church umbrellas and denominations — Jamaica Evangelical Alliance, Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Roman Catholic church, the Anglican church and the Jamaica Council of Churches — arriving at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston for a meeting with Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton.

Beyond meetings and mere talk, the Church should leverage its influence among its own membership to mobilise a national vaccination drive to include the use of church facilities as vaccination centres and the use of medical professionals within the Church to administer the vaccines. That would signal the beginning of a return to the glory days when Free Villages and church schools were introduced following Emancipation, a time when there was no question about the Church’s influence and Government dared not trample on the freedom of church members to congregate for worship — no matter what the prevailing circumstance.

hmorgan@cwjamaica.com