‘NOTHING TO HIDE’
■ Occupants of remote St Mary commune preparing for rapture say it is not a cult
ABREAKAWAY from the local Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church denomination has established a commune in the deep bowels of St Mary, preparing for the Second Coming, with little to no plans of interfacing with the Government or the rest of the society.
The journey to the Bell Hill commune, where members of Following the Blueprint (FTB) Ministries are constructing houses, a clinic, school and other facilities in preparation for the rapture, is not for the faint of heart.
Its entrance is about two miles off the Highgate main road.
The track to the commune proved quite bumpy as the four-wheel drive vehicle in which our news team travelled navigated the many twists and turns, seemingly on waves of giddying heights as we avoided the pitch-black ravines which appeared on either side.
After a deadly ritual unfolded at the Montego Bay-based Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries as the now-deceased Pastor Kevin O. Smith – who had a penchant for grand titles, styling himself as ‘His Excellency’ – reportedly sought to weed out the unclean members from his ark, the St Mary police turned their spotlight on the group in the hills.
So remote is the commune that as The Sunday Gleaner made plans to visit the area over a week ago, one person said, “It is so rural that if His Excellency’s church happened in Bell Hill, not even the stink would smell.”
A police spokesperson also cautioned our news team against plans to enter the area.
Although The Sunday Gleaner was unable to get details of the police’s recent visit to the commune, Following the Blueprint Ministries gained recent notoriety when a 22-year-old law student decided to quit school, break the padlock on the grille to her Cornwall Courts, Montego Bay, home on September 29 and take off to join the group, which reportedly also has a base in Portmore, St Catherine.
After a missing person’s report was filed, the young woman addressed a church service streamed online, saying that she had left of her own free will.
Noting a change in her eating habits, mannerism and mode of dress before her disappearance, her worried parents have expressed concern for her safety, urging her to return home.
The FTB group is said to be rapture-bound, awaiting the Second Coming. Followers say the world is at end times and they are in preparation mode, responding to Ellen G. White’s call to leave the cities as they isolate themselves.
Adventists believe that White, a co-founder of the denomination, was a prophet inspired by God in her writings, similar to the disciples.
Professionals from various sectors, including medical, financial and education, are said to be followers, but those The Sunday Gleaner found at the St Mary commune last week were carpenters – the known profession of Jesus Christ.
At least one high school teacher from the parish is a settler, our news team has confirmed.