Verna Brooks still recalls the Sunday night she and about seven others who made up the Tarrant Balmagie Baptist Circuit Search Committee sat to discuss the three prospects who were being considered to pastor both congregations.
Among the three shortlisted from a list of nearly 400 pastors was Reverend Jeffrey Shuttleworth, who was at the time pastoring all the way in Montego Bay, St. James. The team made contact with the trio to ascertain whether they would consider the post, and while Reverend Shuttleworth told them he would need to consult with his family, he did answer in the affirmative. The committee was pleased and proceeded to discuss the possibilities. All things considered, they decided that Reverend Jeffrey Shuttleworth was the man they wanted to lead both congregations under the guidance of God.
Seventeen years later, Brooks still feels the same way, and so too do the hundreds of members who voted for him to remain their pastor on Monday, June 22, during a meeting at the Tarrant Baptist Church in Kingston.
“We looked at him. We looked at his manner of preaching; we looked at his history because we would have seen the various circuits where he would have been assigned to, and we did our investigation, spoke to persons, and also before all of this, he had come to Tarrant as a visiting preacher,” recounted Brooks, who is now a deacon and the secretary for the Circuit.
She said Apostle Shuttleworth’s visit to Tarrant would have been months, probably years before there was an opening for a pastor for the Circuit, but his visit had left an indelible mark on the congregation.
“Persons would have listened to him, even though they were not a part of the committee, and they made a mental note that, boy, if and when we need a pastor, we would love this person,” she said.
When the pastor at the church decided to accept an assignment at the Baptist World Alliance, the opportunity was presented for them to make Reverend Shuttleworth’s presence at the church more permanent. But settling in was a tumultuous affair.
“I was there from the beginning when he came and saw everything, the different twists and turns,” Brooks said.
Reverend Shuttleworth, who was later ordained as an Apostle externally, found that some of his ideologies differed from those held by colleague pastors at the JBU. This made for an acrimonious relationship, which culminated in his credentials being withdrawn by the Union on June 11 this year, following a vote.
“It had to happen, because you see, he is here to make a change, he is a man on a mission hearing from God, and God wanted something different for this area,” said Brooks.
Gladstone Thompson, a former deacon at the Tarrant Baptist Church, who died last year, had documented his interactions with Reverend Shuttleworth during an interview with the Freedom Come Rain in 2020. He too was part of the search committee that gave a nod of approval for Pastor Shuttleworth to lead the congregation. He described the senior pastor as being, “very special.”
Before Rev. Shuttleworth was appointed Pastor of Tarrant, the deacon had had an encounter with the Lord that influenced his positive perception.
“It was as if God was saying we just had to receive Rev. Shuttleworth at Tarrant. There were even people in the Fellowship who saw him in visions!”
The Man of God admitted that other than seeing Rev. Shuttleworth at the Jamaica Baptist Union Conventions, he had not had any great interaction with him, but it was as if the Lord kept telling him that he was the one for Tarrant, even before the Search Committee signed off on him as pastor.
He explained that each church within the Baptist Union is at liberty to invite a pastor to come and serve. Back then, the system used to determine that person was a series of weekly meetings where the committee would convene to consider the names submitted. He said the Lord kept putting it in his spirit that Rev. Shuttleworth was the one that He wanted to be at Tarrant. He hardly knew him, but the Holy Spirit kept nudging him.
Deacon Thompson described how the committee considered the names of several other pastors who were serving in the island, and the Lord kept saying to him, “Remember, Jeffrey Shuttleworth is the one for Tarrant!”
On that fateful Sunday evening in 2008, when the committee met, they prayed and looked at the names and what the needs for Tarrant were. He said the Lord assured him, “Just be patient, Gladstone. When you get to Jeffrey Shuttleworth’s name, that is when you will sign off on who will be at Tarrant.”
So, they went through, name after name after name each Sunday evening, until they came to Rev. Shuttleworth’s.
“All right!” The chairman said, “We have here now the Reverend Jeffrey Shuttleworth!” Turning first to Deacon Thompson, he asked directly, “What do you say, yes or no?”
Without so much as a quiver in his voice, Deacon Thompson responded, “Yes, Shuttleworth is the man for Tarrant!”
Much to his surprise, everybody said, as each was asked, “If Brother Thompson says Shuttleworth is the man for Tarrant, so say I!”
Brother Thompson replied, “Lord, there is something special about this servant of Yours,” and the rest was history!
Deacon Thompson concluded that when he saw how God had been using Pastor Shuttleworth in the radio ministry and all the other associated ministries, he could understand why He had chosen him.
Both the Tarrant and Balmagie Baptist churches voted to retain Apostle Shuttleworth as their pastor during a members’ meeting on Monday, June 23. During that meeting, the church council and the general church membership voted to sever ties with the Jamaica Baptist Union.