A message about heaven and hell delivered during a funeral service attended by politicians from Jamaica’s two ruling political parties has been met with mixed reaction, with several persons chastising the clergyman for offending those in attendance.
For pastors like Bruce Polson, the reaction to the message, which ended with the pastor collapsing, speaks to a general issue where people no longer want to hear about sin. Polson, a pastor at Christian Life Fellowship in Papine, said he thought the pastor, who is an Anglican, was very courageous.
The funeral service, which was being held for the late Norma Gloria Creary at the St. Mary Parish Church, Port Maria, on October 5, was attended by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, among other dignitaries. The senior clergyman shared a story about some parliamentarians being given a tour of hell and then heaven by St. Peter and eventually choosing hell because it seemed so glamorous during the initial tour, only to realise later that they made the wrong choice. As the message came to a close, the pastor collapsed and was attended by medical doctors in the audience, including the country’s deputy prime minister, Dr. Horace Chang, and Dr. Morais Guy from the opposition People’s National Party.
“Friends, I pray that we will make the right choice. To recognise that Jesus is the good shepherd of our souls, and each of us, in whatever sea of life we are, we are called to display, shepherd in caring qualities, so that men and women can see the good work that we do and bring honour and glory to our father, so that when we would have passed through this life, our lives would be celebrated as we are now celebrating Norma’s life,” the pastor, whose name this publication will not disclose, appealed.
The clip of the pastor collapsing was widely circulated, with some speculating that he died. Freedom Come Rain has been reliably informed that he has fully recovered. Also circulating is a message purportedly from a relative of the deceased woman, accusing the pastor of being political.
Polson, who has preached at several funerals over the years, said people are generally resistant to hearing the message of repentance and often disappear whenever the time comes for the pastor to speak. He defended the use of funerals as an opportunity to preach against sin.
“The opportunity we have is for those who are alive. So my own personal posture, and I know it is for many pastors, is that at a funeral you must take the opportunity to challenge people to repent. You must, because it is one time when people are faced with their mortality.” “As ministers of the gospel, we have to be always just asking the Lord to give us the wisdom and the courage to speak truth