On Saturday, March 2, 2024 mourners gathered at Church of the Open Bible on Washington Boulevard to pay their final respects to an outstanding woman, Rev Ellen Thomas.

Songs of worship punctuated a four-hour service of celebration for the life of the retired chaplain of the Department of Correctional Services, educator, author, and pastor of God’s Mission Ministries.

Rev Thomas was the epitome of excellence. She would often state that in the middle of the word excellence is her name “Ellen”.

She was a very quiet but stern individual, who was driven by the need to help others. Her definition of success was not necessarily in terms of achievements and accomplishments, but knowing what God sets out for her to do and doing it to the best of her ability.

The need to help others gave birth to God’s Mission Ministries, the church she founded over 20 years ago. This ministry started out serving residents of the inner-city community Maxfield Park, specifically those nearby Langard Avenue.

A section of the congregation attending the farewell service to Rev Ellen Thomas

As the ministry grew, lives were impacted and a summer camp for the inner-city youth was also birthed. Every year for the past 10 years young people from the community would get the opportunity to go camping in the hills as they were taught the word of God, learnt life skills, and also get a different perspective on life.

During the COVID-19 pandemic her desire of becoming an author was fulfilled when she wrote her book
On the Journey, life is a journey, journeying journeys, published by Trilogy, a subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

“On the Journey… invites readers to share in the impact of the spirit of God in life’s journeys, depicted through divine encounters, revelations, and spiritual insights,” reads material on the book. In a Jamaica Observer article, published March 23, 2023, Thomas said it was important for her to share the impact of God on people’s life journey, as she is conscious of the tremendous joy and assurance that her own relationship with Him brings.

The service of thanksgiving was officiated by Bishop Desmond H Reid, her ministry partner based in Toronto, Canada.

Her impact as an educator and mentor was shared as mourners were in awe of the level at which her grandnephew, Aiden Thomas, at six years old, read from Revelation 21: 1 – 5 and Matthew 6: 33. He also read a tribute to his late grandaunt, whom he called Aunty Granny.

In the tribute from the church she founded Suzette Rowe mentioned that the ‘V’ in ‘Rev’ meant that Rev Thomas was versatile. As she experience with her pastor she recalled an occasion during the pandemic that, while passing one of the zone of special operations (ZOSO), when stopped by the security force member, Rev Thomas stated that she had “weapons to declare”. Those weapons turned out to be copies of the
Daily Bread devotional, which she had in a box in the trunk of her car. She then issued the ‘weapons’ to all security officers that were on duty.

There was also a special presentation from the Department of Correctional Services which she served as chaplain for over 20 years,

Other tributes flowed from her brothers, Christopher and Melvin Thomas, grand niece Alisha Thomas, Evangelist Jennifer Campbell of Agape Ministries International, St Joseph Teachers’ College, Victory Church Of God (Canada), the Williams Brothers, Robert Rainford, Norman Manley High School Inter-schools Christian Fellowship), Maxfield Park Primary, Jamaican-German Automotive School, Glengoffe High School, United Church of Jamaica & the Cayman Islands, Mount Industry United Church, and Terry-Ann Gordon. The eulogy was read by her sister, Minnette Thomas, and her niece-in-law Abigail Thomas. It was a fitting farewell for an exceptional Jamaican woman.

After the reflective tributes session and the message from Bishop Reid mourners journeyed to the community of Mount Industry in St Catherine, where Thomas grew up with her six siblings and her parents.

Mission accomplished; a journey completed.

Terry-Ann Gordon