340 Churches on a Damage Map: Jamaica’s Baptists Begin Counting the Cost of Hurricane Melissa

• The Jamaica Baptist Union tracked damage to its 340 member churches
• The union has about 40,000 members
• Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz had its roof partly peeled back
• Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay had a hole torn in its sanctuary roof

Jamaica’s Baptist churches began assessing their losses within days of Hurricane Melissa, Christianity Today reported in November 2025.

The Jamaica Baptist Union, with 340 member churches and about 40,000 members, set up a damage map marking each church as intact, damaged, or destroyed or heavily damaged. Among the churches hit, Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz had its red metal roof partly peeled back, and the storm ripped a hole in the sanctuary roof of Calvary Baptist Church in downtown Montego Bay.

“We don’t even understand how to process this,” said Pauline Dawkins-Cole. Pastor Jacob Powell said: “The devastation in this area was more than we imagined would have taken place,” warning: “If they don’t get assistance from somewhere, it’s going to take a long time.”

Others quoted in the report were struck by the scale. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Mike Bassett. Jason Cox said: “You see all these organizations … but there is no better humanitarian relief organization than the global church.” The report did not give cost estimates for rebuilding.

A damage map is a practical tool. By recording the condition of every church, a denomination can direct limited money and volunteers to the worst-hit buildings first and build a clear record for insurers, donors and government programmes.

For Jamaican churches of every denomination, Melissa showed how much depends on roofs and records. Congregations should keep photographs, plans and insurance papers safe and accessible, rebuild roofs to stronger standards where they can, and coordinate through their denominations so that help reaches the churches that need it most. Diaspora congregations linked to Jamaican churches can help most by supporting these organised efforts.

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