“The Church This Time Must Not Be Focused on Money”: A St Mary Pastor Rebukes Churches Chasing Collections

• Pastor Javaughn Taylor leads Central Gospel Chapel in Aleppo, Clonmel, St Mary
• He criticised churches that pressed for collections during the pandemic
• He said giving should be voluntary in hard times
• He urged churches to develop income beyond tithes and offerings

A rural St Mary pastor has criticised churches that kept their eyes on the collection plate while members struggled through the pandemic. The Gleaner reported that Pastor Javaughn Taylor of Central Gospel Chapel in Aleppo, Clonmel, said churches should put vulnerable people first, not their offerings.

He described a conversation that troubled him. “A pastor asked me the other day if my offering is decreasing, or I collect from the shut-ins; that question is so unbecoming of a spiritual leader,” he said. “The church this time must not be focused on money.”

Mr Taylor argued that economic hardship made compulsory giving inappropriate and that donations should be voluntary. “Little is much when God is in it,” he said. His own congregation has run community projects, including an agricultural programme to help young people become independent and help with school expenses.

He called for a different model of church finance once the pandemic passed, with churches developing income sources beyond tithes and offerings. “The church should be the church, where the broken vessel comes to be mended, the empty comes to be filled and the weak comes to be strong,” he said. “The church needs to serve the people.”

The call for diversified income echoes a wider conversation about church finances in Jamaica. Many congregations own land, halls or buildings that sit idle much of the week. Using those assets, whether through farming, rentals or partnerships, could reduce pressure on members who are themselves struggling with rent, school fees and debt, and give churches steadier money for the outreach Mr Taylor describes.

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