RELIGIOUS leaders are urging Jamaicans to confront moral decay, repent, and rebuild with unity in the new year, warning that failure to do so could invite further disaster like the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

As Pastor Grace Ade Gold reflected on the year 2025 and stated her hopes for 2026, she shared that before hurricanes Beryl and Melissa, she dreamt of flooding and asked God to turn away the storm, but Jamaica needed a cleansing and the weather events were a warning to repent.

Highlighting the positives and negatives of 2025, president of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance Bishop Alvin Bailey called on churches to speak out against evil. He also pushed for unity and collective involvement as Jamaica rebuilds.

Reverend Newton Dixon, general secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches, and Anglican priest and human rights advocate Sean Major Campbell also championed the call for unity, with Campbell warning that in the new year, the mighty will be brought down and the humble elevated.

Ade Gold warned that while God spared a section of the island during the passage of Hurricane Melissa, “people are not repenting, and the flood might come up back again.

“It is like a warning, that heavy flood, and it might come back again…we have to be very careful as a nation”, she told the Jamaica Observer.

She compared Jamaicans to the people of Israel, noting that 2025 was filled with idolatrous ways and evil practices, such as the push to legalise Obeah and the growing acceptance of the homosexual agenda. She called on members of the Church to speak out against these practices.

“We are spreading red carpets, but it’s not red carpets. There are some things that are buried under those carpets that should not be under the carpet that are going to affect us seriously and severely. A revival is going to break out, but we are doing so many things that are invoking spirits into our lives,” said Ade Gold.

She shared that in the past, she had been chastised for speaking against evil and issuing warnings, but stressed that Jamaicans have to be taught to speak out against these things without fear.

“We have to pray unceasingly without fear, because God did not give us the spirit of fear. Second Timothy chapter one verse seven says, ‘For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of God and of power and that of love and of a sound mind.’ That’s what the Bible says, but some people are afraid. They don’t want to tell the truth, they don’t want to pray against these things…It is better to pray heavily and severely together and kick out all these demons from our island and cleanse our nation,” insisted Ade Gold.

She urged Jamaicans to put away idolatry in all areas of life and seek God, showing genuine love.

“We need to put it [idolatry] away so that we do not bring back the wrath of God upon us,” she stressed.

A similar call came from Bailey, who thanked the Church for the work it has done post-Hurricane Melissa, but noted the work is far from over.

“The Church has really been there, but the Church will need to be a little bit more involved this year, especially in the area of disclosure. The Church must not be silent on matters that are not consistent with national pride, dignity, and probity. We must speak out against anything that goes against the national anthem that we sing, and I pray that we take a greater pride in singing the national anthem and not only sing it and stop, but live it out,” he told the Sunday Observer.

As he highlighted the positives and negatives of 2025, he also stressed that there needs to be a more unified approach to recovery that involves the Church, the Government, the private sector, and the Opposition.

“I was disappointed that there was not a greater sense of unity. It should have been a feeding programme that’s devoid of political upmanship. In the feeding programme, we shouldn’t be hearing your Government working for you. It should be the stakeholders who take the relief, right upfront, it should be the Government, definitely they have a responsibility, but the Opposition should be right there, too,” declared Bailey.

DIXON…I pray that leadership in all spheres will rise to new levels of character, integrity, and effectiveness

Overall, he championed that, “This year must be a year of decency, probity, hard work, rebuilding of our nation, and rebuilding what we have lost, and also the advancement of our nation — honest and up front.”

Meanwhile, Campbell warned that 2026 will see “the powers positioning themselves in the greed for more political and economic power”.

He added: “Small nation states will be wise to speak only when necessary while navigating the murky waters of diplomatic confusion. More Caribbean nationals will begin to appreciate more about developing careers and building families locally. The world will be shocked as the mighty is brought down and the humble is elevated.”

Emphasising that people need people, he urged Jamaicans not to wait until another catastrophic event to show kindness. He added that Jamaicans should learn from Hurricane Melissa, that the island is not inseparable from the effects of geopolitical dynamics.

“We should understand that all political administrations across the Caribbean are vulnerable to the upheavals within and among superpowers. We should also become more strategic in preparation for a multi-polar world in terms of the powers,” he stressed.

Balancing the prophetic warnings with a focus on long-term recovery post-Hurricane Melissa, Reverend Dixon said efforts must be centred around compassion.

“As individuals, we are being challenged to continue to stretch ourselves in extending care and compassion to others who are suffering. This is, in fact, the way of the gospel; we are called upon to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. This was the ethos of the early church that facilitated the development of caring communities. We who are in the here and now have to plan to take care of each other over the long haul,” said Dixon.

“This ethos must also be embraced at the corporate level. There is value in businesses investing in communities, especially when they are struggling. There is a symbiotic relationship between business and marketplace. When the marketplace struggles to support business, then the business must support the consumers in whatever ways it can. For example, there must be protection for the vulnerable poor from further distress by keeping prices stable. Taking care of those who support your business sounds like good business to me,” he added.

At the governmental level, he said the impact of Hurricane Melissa is “pregnant with opportunities for us to reimagine the way politics can be infused with the ethic of care, compassion, and mutual respect that will transform our adversarial and competitive habits.

“Therefore, I call on our leaders to embrace this overarching ethic of care and compassion, as both a means and an end, as methodology and outcome. This will, inevitably, mean that there will be authentic consultation where they listen more intentionally to each other and cooperate in more meaningful ways. I pray that leadership in all spheres will rise to new levels of character, integrity, and effectiveness that will inspire our nation to be and do its best,” Dixon charged.