Eight Members to 40, With Room for 75: Adventists Build Their Deaf Congregation as the Disabilities Act Takes Effect

• The Seventh-day Adventist Church welcomed the Disabilities Act, which took effect on February 14, 2022
• Its Portmore SDA Church for the Deaf grew from eight members to an average of 40
• The congregation has capacity for 75, and a second is planned in western Jamaica
• Church president Pastor Everett Brown called for “total accessibility”

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica has welcomed the Disabilities Act, which came into effect on February 14, 2022, and said it would work to see the law’s objectives realised through its own congregations, the Jamaica Observer reported.

The Act was passed by Parliament in October 2014 and reaffirmed by both Houses in October 2021. “We do this to highlight the ministry and call attention to the need for total inclusion, total participation, total education and total accessibility, and [to] promote equal opportunities for all persons with disabilities,” said Pastor Everett Brown, president of the church in Jamaica, referring to the church’s annual week for people with disabilities. “As a church we will continue to do everything to ensure that the objectives of the Disability Act will be realised in our nation, particularly through our church.”

The church calls this work its Possibilities Ministry. Coordinator Pastor Adrian Cotterell said: “We should never make the mistake of underestimating the abilities of persons with disabilities.” According to the church, Jamaica’s Adventists are the only part of the Adventist World Church with a full week set aside each year to celebrate people with disabilities. Possibilities Ministry Day was planned for March 7-12, 2022 under the theme “I Will Give”.

The church has also built a dedicated congregation. In October 2016 it launched the Portmore SDA Church for the Deaf in St Catherine. It has grown from eight members to an average of 40 worshippers each Sabbath, with capacity for 75, and the church plans to open another in western Jamaica before the end of 2023. According to the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, more than 30,000 people in Jamaica are deaf or have some form of hearing impairment.

“Total accessibility” has building consequences. Ramps, accessible toilets, wide doorways, visual signals and good sightlines for sign-language interpreters all have to be designed into churches, schools and halls. A congregation with room for 75 is already planning where its growth will go. For church trustees planning new buildings or renovations, the Disabilities Act is a good reason to include accessibility from the start, when it costs least. For developers and landlords generally, accessible design widens the pool of people who can use, rent or buy a property.