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THE
JAMAICA CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY
The Jamaica
Church Missionary Society is the recognised missionary agency of the
Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in the Province of the West Indies
(the
Anglican Church). The Society focuses on spreading the Gospel of Salvation
with special
relevance to human needs, as demonstrated by the life and ministry of
the Incarnate
Christ.
All registered
communicant members of the Anglican Church are members of the
Society, because all persons baptized into the Christian Church have accepted
Discipleship with Jesus Christ, and are, therefore, 'called and sent'
to become missionaries
(Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Acts 1:8)
The Society
was established in 1861 as a subsidiary of the Church, intended to target
those sections of Jamaica's population "hard to reach with the means
of Grace." For many years the Mission Stations established and maintained
by the Society provided the only means of reaching the masses of the population
with the Christian Gospel and basic Elementary Education.
The Society
sent missionaries also to West Africa and Central America in the early
part of the twentieth century, and as late as the 1960's sent a missionary
to Zambia.
The specific
functions of the Society are: -
(a) To plan evangelistic and teaching missions
(b) To carry out an on-going programme
of evangelistic and social outreach
(c) To undertake the dissemination of literature
designed to educate and stimulate for greater involvement in mission on
the part of the clergy and laity
(d) To provide for training of lay leadership
for the Missions
(e) To accept responsibility for the establishment
of Mission Stations in new areas
(f) To raise funds for missionary work
in Jamaica and overseas.
The Society
operates within and through the existing organisational structures of
the
Diocese, viz, the Congregation/Cure, the Deanery, the Region, the Diocesan
Council and
Diocesan Boards, as may be applicable, and the Church's annual Synod
The Society's
affairs are administered by a General Committee accountable to Synod and
consisting of:-
(a) Ex Officio
President
The Lord Bishop of Jamaica
Vice Presidents
The Sutfragan Bishops (3)
The Archdeacons
(3)
The Chairman
The Diocesan
Secretary The General Secretary
(b) Seven (7) Members appointed by the
Bishop and Approved by Synod
(c) Fourteen (14) Members appointed by
the Deanery Councils and Approved by Synod
The Society's
programmes are those planned and implemented by our members at the level
of the several congregations of the Diocese. The General committee can
only arrange to facilitate, supplement and complement the efforts of the
congregations, and address those areas of need that are beyond the scope
of any one or more congregations, but cannot substitute for, or replace
the congregation in performing mission at the local level.
Tangible
measurement in the flow of funds and in the 'development of property'
is quite possible, but the ultimate in the Society's objective is 'change
and development of persons', which cannot be tangibly measured. It is
at the level of the congregation that the Society's impact in EVANGELISM
WITH SOCIAL OUTREACH must be actualised and can best be evaluated. However,
the areas into which support by the General Committee has been channelled
provide some useful indicators of the direction in which the Society has
been moving.
i) Between 1896 and 1908 some twenty (20)
Jamaicans, predominantly lay persons, were sent as Missionaries to West
Africa. They did Jamaica and the Society proud. They have all since retired,
returned home, and expired.
ii) In 1957 alone the building completion
of fourteen (14) Mission stations was reported.
iii) Since 1985 several million dollars
have been spent in funding numerous Development Projects (building construction
and repairs), Education and Evangelism, as well as Social Outreach Programmes/Services.
These include Bishop Swaby Memorial Camp, Negril; St. Paul's Mission,
Portmore; St. Paul's Church, Moore Town; the Diocesan Retreat Centre,
Brown's Town, Diocesan Children's Homes, The Bible Society of the West
Indies, The Jamaica Churchman. The Society also facilitated the training
of a Church Army Officer in Canada, and the movement of the Diocese towards
the establishment of a Stewardship Policy. It also made substantial grants
to relieve suffering from natural disaster in Jamaica, Belize and Mozambique;
and makes provision to assist those Missions that experience difficulty
in meeting their financial commitment to the Diocesan Church Fund.
The Society
derives its income mainly from the voluntary contributions of its members
(members of the various congregations) into the General Purposes Fund.
The Canons
of the Church (Canon XV) requires every clergyman to appoint a Missionary
Sunday each year, and also on some other day to hold a Missionary Meeting
at all
Churches and Missions in his Cure, at which Services and Meetings the
claims of the
Society shall be impressed upon the congregation and collections taken
up for the
purposes of the Society . .(Rule 9.1 of the Constitution and Rules of
the J.C.M.S.)
Further information
on the activities of the Society may be obtained from
the General Secretary,
J.C.M.S., Church House,
2 Caledonia Avenue,
Kingston 5, Jamaica.
Telephone 876 -9268925;
e-mail: etulloch@anglicandiocese.
com
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