Beyond the Four Walls: A St Catherine Nazarene Church at 35 Runs a School, a Scholarship Fund and Legal Advice

• St John’s Green Acres Church of the Nazarene in St Catherine marked 35 years
• It runs an early childhood institution and the Brown’s Scholarship Fund
• It offers medical checks, counselling, career guidance and legal advice
• One member became regional finance coordinator in Africa for the church

St John’s Green Acres Church of the Nazarene (GACOTN) in St Catherine has marked 35 years with outreach, an anniversary service, awards for long-serving members and a fun day, the Jamaica Observer reported. It is one of 30 congregations in the Church of the Nazarene’s Jamaica East and West Districts.

Rev Valin Smith, pastor since December 2009, said the achievement he values most is members’ missionary work overseas. “Brother Carlos Gordon’s remarkable service as the first Jamaican missionary, holding the esteemed position of regional finance coordinator in Africa, stands as a testament to the church’s global impact,” he said. Two members, Dawn Smith and Carrol Douglas, have also served on mission trips in the Bahamas and the United States.

At home the church runs a range of services. “The church operates an early childhood institution, conducts annual back-to-school distributions, and administers the Brown’s Scholarship Fund, supporting education at all levels,” Smith said. It offers medical checks, counselling, career guidance and legal advice, and its Compassionate Ministry distributes groceries.

Smith said more could be done, especially for marginalised people, and spoke of “stepping beyond the traditional four walls” of the church. Looking ahead, he said the congregation hopes for strong growth, possibly starting new churches, as the denomination seeks to widen its presence across Jamaica.

The plan to plant new churches has a property side. Every new congregation eventually needs land or a lease, a building and permits, and an established church with an early childhood institution already knows how to run a building that has to meet government standards. In communities like Green Acres, churches of this kind are part of the social infrastructure alongside the housing. The free legal advice it offers can help residents with wills, titles and tenancy disputes, the paperwork that often decides whether a family holds its home securely.

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