Ever since members of the Worldwide Church of God in Jamaica started meeting for corporate worship, sometime in the 1970s, the church has been meeting on Saturdays.
Following the death of Mr. Armstrong, however, and the subsequent review of the doctrines and practices of the WCG, some (maybe many) started to consider having worship services on Sundays instead of (or in addition to) meeting on Saturdays. Once the leadership of the WCG decided to changed the name of the WCG to Grace Communion International (GCI), the idea of Sunday Services grew larger. The result is that many GCI congregations started to meet on Sundays … even as others continued meeting on Saturdays.
In Jamaica, the congregations continued to meet on Saturdays … until some time in 2018 or 2019, when a few brave souls decided to start a “Sunday Church”. That church continued for a while, in tandem with the regular “Saturday Church” … but it didn’t last.
The launch of a Sunday Church on January 12, 2020, then, was really as re-launch … and from all accounts, it was a successful launch. The church service, which was held in the church’s building in Christian Pen, started a few minutes after 8:00 a.m. — with 12 persons (all members of GCJ) — and ended a few minutes after 9:30 a.m. — with 19 persons (5 of whom were visitors). We were led into worship by Mrs. Jennifer Scale and Mrs. Diana Joiles; the sermon was given by Mr. Courtney Campbell and there was a communion ceremony conducted by Mr. Michael Mitchell, who also gave the benediction. All in all, it was indeed a very encouraging start.
Based on the absence of some persons who had indicated they wanted to attend the first service of the re-launch, as well as a few comments by others, it seems the leadership may need to reconsider the starting of 8:00 a.m.
When all is said and done, however, it was a wonderful experience of a successful launch and it was indeed good to have been there. We look forward to the next meeting of the GCJ Sunday Church with eager anticipation. Please join us in praying for its success.