“The Church Is Not the Building”: A Montego Bay Congregation Worships Under Tents Where Melissa Destroyed Its Church

• Porto Bello Pentecostal Worship Centre in Montego Bay lost its church building to Hurricane Melissa
• About 30 members worshipped under two small tents, with no electricity, on the site
• The pastor says they must pool their resources to rebuild
• The church has bought heavy-duty tarpaulin for a temporary structure

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Melissa, members of the Porto Bello Pentecostal Worship Centre at Cornwall Court in Montego Bay, St James, gathered where their church had stood. Around 30 people in casual clothes worshipped under two small tents, without electricity, to give thanks and ask for guidance, the Gleaner reported in November 2025.

“The church is not the building, we are the church and we are here,” Pastor Paul Thompson told the congregation. “It would have been a total miracle if the church building had survived this Category 5 hurricane.” He urged members to be ready for a new start. “As small as we are, we must pool our resources together to rebuild this church building and rebuild our lives,” he said.

Thompson rejected claims that the hurricane was a punishment for the church’s moral failings. “The true church is of God, not against God,” he said. He said the 24 Pentecostal worship centres in the western region had been receiving help from their parent body, and compared the congregation’s task to Gideon’s.

The compound was being cleaned up. “Our original church building was completely decimated, and we now need to erect a temporary church. We have already acquired some heavy-duty tarpaulin, and we are expecting more help … we are just doing our part because we are confident that God will guide our path … . We shall rise again,” he said. Several churches across western Jamaica were badly damaged by Melissa, including historic structures more than 100 years old.

Porto Bello shows the gap many small congregations face after a disaster. Members can clear a site and put up tarpaulin, but rebuilding a church to withstand a Category 5 storm costs far more than a congregation of a few dozen can raise quickly. Support from a parent denomination can be what makes a rebuild possible. For churches still standing, the lesson is to check now what their insurance covers, how their roof is fastened and what reserves they hold, before the next storm makes those questions urgent.

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