Churches must step up to help fight crime – bishop
NOTED SPANISH Town bishop, Rohan Edwards, is calling on all church leaders in Spanish Town to step up and work with the Government to sustain the relative peace that is being experienced in St Catherine and other parts of the country since the declaration of the limited state of emergency.
According to Edwards, the Government has been doing a tremendous amount of infrastructural work and other projects in communities, and whatever is being done will not work without church leaders playing an active role in implementing programmes in violence-prone communities.
“Notice that most of the killings that are taking place now are domestic in nature. They have moved away from the guns and there is nothing the police can do unless we are saying they should also patrol peoples homes.
“When a man chopped up his girlfriend and her daughter and then killed himself, what could the police do to prevent that?” Edwards questioned.
“The hearts of these men must be touched. It becomes a spiritual issue and the church must intervene. There is no political group that can match the church; all preachers must be preaching a positive message of change,” Bishop Edwards, who convenes the largest service in Spanish Town, told Family and Religion.
Edwards disclosed that the day service held every Wednesday at the Spanish Town train station is meeting the spiritual needs of the people.
“In the last two weeks we have baptised 115 people. Prayer is working. I prophesied that the murder rate will be significantly reduced this year, and with the initiatives employed by the Government and the intervention of the churches we are seeing the results,” he stated.
Edwards called on the Government to continue the state of emergency and put in place additional ones in other areas. He, however, added that the state of emergency cannot help the domestic issues.
“So in addition to winning souls, the church must be a voice to bring about change. We must help the men in this country to change their concept of not fathering their children and be positive role models for them.
“We have implemented mentorship programmes for men in communities to train them to be good fathers. Over 350 such persons have been trained so far. We have instituted a breakfast programme in a number of these communities and have invited young men who don’t usually go to church to attend so we can have roundtable sessions. These, in addition to sporting activities and culinary competitions are, aimed at breaking down the divisions in these communities,” stated Edwards.
He revealed that the annual 10,000 men and families march in Spanish Town is also playing a crucial role in changing the landscape by providing a platform for computer training, helping hands and educational training.
Edwards said the Government must also come up with programmes to engage the youths or provide funding for churches to carry out these programmes. He made a strong appeal for a gun amnesty to be declared, citing concerns that enough guns are not being recovered.