KINGSTON, Jamaica— Several churches from violence-plagued communities in Kingston have partnered to host a fun day and gospel concert aimed at fostering peace in the neighbourhoods.

The all-day event, ‘Unity In The Community Gospel Explosion’, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 28, 2024 at the Caribbean Palm Estate, 88-100 Spanish Town Road in Kingston.

It kicks off at 10:00am with children having access to free rides in the kid’s village. Attendees will also benefit from free medical check-ups.

The evening culminates with a gospel concert scheduled for 7:00pm until 10:00pm.

Bishop Dr Michael W Smith, pastor of the Kingdom Seekers Ministries, and one of the organisers of the event, said the aim of the concert is to have people from crime hot spots come together and be ministered to, in an effort to broker peace.

“My church is in the inner-city and so we find that it is a hotspot, as the police would have it, and so the Lord pulled on my heart to have this concert. Because one of the challenges is the whole thing about the borderline and this community is for that colour— that is one of the problems that causes a lot of violence in the communities.

“So we are having this concert to try and bring together all of the members of the different communities to see if we can broker peace then I think it can stem a lot of the crime and the violence. It is something that the Lord put on my heart so it is called Unity in the Community where we are inviting all of the different factions of the community members to come together and let’s just have peace,” Bishop Smith said.

Bishop Smith explained that the concert was made possible due to partnerships with the Jamaica Constabulary Force, as well as churches in the inner-city communities. The communities being targeted are Spanish Town Road, Bumper Hall, Maxfield Avenue, Delacree Park, Greenwich Town, Waltham Park, Whitfield Town, Bow-Tie Land, Payneland, Rose Town, among others.

Bishop Smith said he believes that bringing people together in this fashion can help with reducing the crime rate in these communities, as he has seen it happen in the area where his church is located.

“Like where my church is at, 177 Spanish Town Road (it is on the corner of Spanish Town Road and Maxfield Avenue), it is considered a hot spot but I tell you what, since the church has been there— we have been here about 13 years— crime has dropped significantly. So we understand the impact that the church has on stabilising these communities and so we are just reaching out with this initiative, Unity in the Community movement, to reach the other communities that are troubled,” he told Observer Online.

“We want to draw the people from these hot spot communities to be there. It is a holistic ministry. We are working very closely with the JCF, the schools, the business community, and of course the various community groups and so it is a holistic approach,” Bishop Smith added.

Bishop Smith said the concert is the first step the church is taking to tackle the issue of violence and crime in these communities. He said that his church had identified a plot of land where he hopes to establish a park where the youth can play sports, and a community centre can be established.

“The land is in front of Kingdom Seekers Ministries on 72 Spanish Town Road. We are trying to purchase that land to create a park for the community because as it is now there is no green space so because of that they have to be playing football and stuff like that on the road and we definitely don’t want that. So we want to get this piece of land,” Bishop Smith said.

“We want to set up a football field, netball and basketball courts and a community centre. We want to put in swings and slides so they can have that green space, they can have that area for recreation. Because we understand that one of the problems is when there is no outlet for these youngsters then it fosters crime. So we want to give them an outlet and that will enhance the whole process of reducing crime,” he reasoned.

To further the Unity In The Community movement, Bishop Smith said that his church currently has a homeless shelter in the works. He hopes to provide a re-entry programme for people who have fallen on hard times and need help getting back on their feet and becoming a contributing member of society.
He said he is seeking sponsors and interested parties to join with his church to complete the homeless shelter and purchase the land to better serve these communities.