Churches across Jamaica say they have been intensifying efforts and reformatting programmes to help members cope with the global financial meltdown which has triggered production cutbacks and job losses.

Pastor Adrian Cotterell of the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists said his church had implemented a number of measures to ease the effects of the fallout on members.

"It is important for churches to help members weather the storm, as any church would want to help their members, encourage and pray with them and assist them where possible," Cotterell told The Gleaner.

Cotterell said the movement hosted empowerment seminars that gave members advice on jump-starting a small business, as well as counselling seminars. The Adventist Church was also in the process of developing a job database to match congregants' skills with employment vacancies, Cotterell said.

Skill training

The Adventist movement, the single most populous denomination in Jamaica, provides skill training in dressmaking, among other areas, and has a loan facility, in collaboration with a lending agency, from which members can access loans up to $100,000, the pastor explained. Cotterell said the church encouraged other areas of support by giving welfare assistance to students and providing farmers with seedlings.

Cotterell told The Gleaner that the Adventist Lay Persons Services & Industries, the business and professional arm of the church, provided job training for individuals and has urged members to fill vacancies. In St Thomas, the church said it currently assisted 15-20 individuals, both Adventists and non-Adventists, with three to five acres of land for farming, on a shared-profit basis.

The Rev Devon Dick, pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew, said the organisation sought to offer practical advice to the members to help cushion the effects of redundancy.

"Whenever a member has problems, whether it be redundancy, injustice, or the loss of a loved one, it is important that the church express solidarity and offer support as a form of strength to the members," Dick told The Gleaner.

Dick said Boulevard Baptist had recruited experts such as Heather Little-White to give advice on nutrition and proper money management. His church also operates a revolving loan fund.

Flea market

Dick, also a columnist with The Gleaner, said the church was considering establishing a flea market later this year where members could purchase goods at reduced prices. Plans are also in the offing for a dental clinic.

The Rev David Ewen, pastor of the Delveland Assembly of God Church in Westmoreland, said that while the church didn't have an organised programme to deal with members' recessionary struggles, it had been constantly helping members who had fallen on hard times.

Ewen said such efforts included flood relief, building projects and a feeding programme, in conjunction with government agencies. The church also helped individuals with with small-business loans, said Ewen.

"While the church doesn't have a direct counselling service, pastors have been preparing members from the pulpit on how to function in hard times," Ewen told The Gleaner. "The church tries to cushion the situation by helping and encouraging members to start businesses and create jobs for themselves and others and, where possible, give advice on how to develop a business plan."

sonia.mitchell@gleanerjm.com