“Not Even During Hurricane Gilbert”: Melissa Tears Through Jamaica’s Oldest Church Buildings

• At least 30 United Church congregations reported severe destruction
• About 10 per cent of Baptist church roofs were destroyed
• A Wesleyan Holiness church in Trelawny was completely destroyed
• Church leaders said damage ran into the millions of dollars

Days after Hurricane Melissa struck, Jamaica’s main denominations began counting the cost to their buildings, and the numbers were grim. The Gleaner compiled early reports that showed damage across the west of the island, estimated in the millions of dollars.

The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands said at least 30 of its congregations had reported severe destruction. “Some of these are our oldest buildings, some over 100 years old,” said Rose Wedderburn, the church’s regional deputy general secretary. The Jamaica Baptist Union estimated that about 10 per cent of its church roofs had been destroyed, leaving many buildings unusable.

The list of damaged churches ran across parishes. In Westmoreland, Mount Hermon United, St Leonard’s Baptist, St Peter’s Anglican and St George’s in Savanna-la-Mar were hit. In Trelawny, Daniel Town Wesleyan Holiness Church was completely destroyed, and St Michael’s Anglican in Clark’s Town and Goodwill United were damaged. In St Elizabeth, St Thomas Anglican in Lacovia, more than 100 years old, and Happy Grove United were among those damaged. Cacoon Baptist in Hanover and Mount Nebo Baptist in St Catherine were also affected.

“We’ve never seen damage like this, not even during Hurricane Gilbert,” said Reverend Merlyn Hyde Riley, general secretary of the Baptist Union. Anglican Bishop Hartley Perrin struck a more hopeful note: “I feel confident that the church can be rebuilt.”

The early reports exposed a hard truth about church property. Some of the damaged buildings are more than a century old, and the cost of repairs will fall largely on congregations whose own members were hit by the same storm.

For Jamaicans abroad, these are often the churches where their families worshipped for generations. Rebuilding them — and rebuilding them to a stronger standard — will depend heavily on diaspora giving, denominational partners overseas and careful decisions about which buildings to repair and which to replace.

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