Firebrand preacher Bishop Rowan Edwards is insisting that the Government should not take all the credit for the huge decrease in murders as the Church has been playing a major role through prayer.

“The minister of national security has been taking the claim and the prime minister has been taking the claim that they alone did it. It is unfair, and I want them to know that. If it wasn’t for us who have been praying, they would never have achieved it. That message must be sent loud and clear, and that is why we are gathered here,” Edwards, pastor of Lighthouse Assembly Ministries and chairman of 10,000 Men and Families Foundation, said Thursday during a special church service at Lighthouse Assembly Ministries in Spanish Town.

The service was held under the theme ‘Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving for the reduction in murders across Jamaica’.

Organised by the St Catherine Combined Ministers Fraternal, the 10,000 Men and Families Movement, and the Jamaica Association of Full Churches, the service came after the Jamaica Constabulary Force reported 394 murders across the island between January 1 and July 26, a 41.8 per cent reduction over the same period in 2024 when 677 people were murdered.

“God is sparing lives and helping us to understand that we can live together in love and unity, and so we want to give God thanks,” Edwards said.

“I heard it said that there are some old people who have been lifting their hands across the nation and bawling, with tears falling from their eyes, and saying ‘God, help this nation’. We thank God for all the prayer mothers and prayer fathers who have been really lifting this nation up, all of you pastors who have been really spending time on your knees and asking God to help this nation. God has answered your prayers, Sirs and Ma’ams,” Edwards said.

He also said another aim of the service was to send a strident message to killers.

“We are gathered here to send a signal to the murderers, the perpetrators, that this nation is not going backwards. It is not going back from whence we came. We are moving forward with the power of God over our lives. This nation is climbing with God’s hands over our lives. We are not going backwards,” he said, then made an appeal:

“Those of you who are murderers, listen up, we are praying and we are praying hard, and God hears our prayers. Please, murderers, repent and turn to God. Join the church and start serving God like we are serving God.”

Arguing that the murder toll can be further reduced, Edwards said: “Do you know how many trips to Dovecot and Meadowrest have been spared? We have a lot to give God thanks for. I believe that we can take this down much further. We want to bring the murder rate down to zero.”

Dovecot and Meadowrest, both in St Catherine, are two of the island’s premier cemeteries.

Edwards also announced a meeting planned for Half-Way-Tree in St Andrew by the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches at which they “will be sending a message to all gunmen”.

“It is the start of a national revival. After we see murders going down like this we have to call a national revival. We are going to block Half-Way-Tree square, and we are going to tell all the men pushing badness to come out on the Lord’s side. We are going to get two baptismal pools because we have to put it up right in the middle of Half-Way-Tree for some bad men who push guns, so we can get them saved,” he said and repeated his appeal to gunmen to change their lives and not be counted among those who have been killed by the police in gun battles.

“I want also for us to understand that 200 men have been killed by the police. It is very sad that the police had to kill these men. It is very sad. But it also shows a big sign that badness nuh pay. We are not encouraging the police to kill any more, but we are sending the message that badness nuh pay and man must turn to God. We have a lot of brothers in the church in St Catherine and not one has been shot by the police. What we are saying to these men who are gun pushers is, turn to God, run to God before it is too late,” Edwards said.

Bishop Dr Alvin Bailey, president of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance, who was guest speaker at Thursday’s service, said that a more than 40 per cent reduction in murders is good, but he believes the toll should be zero. He pointed out that Jamaica has long been touted as the country with the most churches and therefore attaining zero murders is not impossible.

“Let us be frank, 40 per cent is good, but if you are expected to attain 100 per cent and you bring 40 per cent go give the teacher, you can rejoice, yes, but you’re a dunce. That is not good enough. I am a divine dreamer, an ecclesiastical dreamer. If Jamaica has the most churches per square mile and we are called a Christian country, and our National Anthem is a prayer and our [National] Pledge is a solemn commitment to God, then why should we see 100 per cent as far-fetched?” Bailey argued.

“We might not be able to call it rehabilitation or the other names of the initiatives out in place to solve crimes, but there is a name we can call it; it is called revival, and we must be cognisant and aware that, for us, revival is a reality.

Commanding officer of the St Catherine South Police Division, Superintendent Leighton Gray, who also spoke at the service, acknowledged that prayer is an important element in the fight against crime.

“We are under no illusion that the fight is over. The root causes of crime — poverty, broken families, lack of opportunity, and moral decay — cannot be solved by the police alone. We need the Church. We need our educators, our families, our parents, and our youth. We need you. That is why a service like this is so important. Prayer may not stop a bullet, but prayer can stop a finger from pulling a trigger. Prayer can change hearts, open minds. Prayer, when coupled with purpose and participation, can move a nation forward,” Gray said.

Bishop Dr Alvin Bailey addressing a special church service on Thursday at Lighthouse Assembly Ministries in Spanish Town held under the theme ‘Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving for the reduction in murders across Jamaica’. (Photo: Jason Cross)