After weeks of sleepless nights and intensive preparation for the first comprehensive assessment of the East Jamaica Conference secretariat by the Inter-American / Jamaica Union Conference (JAMU) Secretariat Evaluation team, Pastor Melvin Francis, Executive Secretary of East Jamaica Conference, and his team where overjoyed to hear Pastor Leonard Johnson, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Division declare that, “the assessment team has finalized its work and concluded that the East Jamaica Conference in the Jamaica Union Conference received the qualification of ‘Approved with Excellence’”.
The hushed calm in the room gave way to thunderous applause as the time, sacrifice and long hours of work put in by the team was affirmed by the leaders of the higher organization headed by Pastor Leonard Johnson. Details of the scores from the three different sections that made up the assessment. From the look on his face, it was obvious that the scores he was about to share were exceptional.
“In the first part of the assessment that included a 360 degree self assessment of Pastor Melvin Francis, he received the score of 9.0 out of a possible 10 points,” said Johnson after glancing at the computer screen from which he was reading to make sure he was reading the correct scores. “In the part of the assessment where we looked at the functions and facilities, you received 100% and in the third assessment which was focused on the archives, EJC received 98.3%.”
The extremely high scores received by the team attests to the fact that the Conference high scores score received by the EJC Secretariat confirms that the executive secretary, P
Words of affirmation and congratulations flowed freely from the assessment team that included Pastors Leonard Johnson and Pedro Iglesias, associate executive secretary from the Inter-American Division and Pastor Levi Johnson, executive secretary, JAMU, Mrs. Doreen Grant, associate executive secretary, JAMU and Ms. Dion Thompson, administrative assistant to the Executive secretary, JAMU,
“ On behalf of the Inter-American Division, we are extremely proud of you and hope that you will continue to do well,” said pastor Leonard Johnson to pastor Francis when he commended him and his team at the end of the four hour long assessment exercise that was held at the 74 Constant Spring Road headquarters in Kingston on June 12, 2025 . “ Your peers are proud of you and the responses we have received from them are some of the most positive feedback we have received for any secretariat,” he added.
In analyzing the scores received by Pastor Francis from the 360 degree assessment, Pastor Leonard Johnson explained that the numbers revealed that the man at the helm is well suited for the job and that the responses he received from those who evaluated him confirms that they perceive that he is doing an excellent job. As part of the assessment process, Francis was evaluated by workers within the Conference as well as persons external to the worker force but the feedback that he received were all very positive and spoke volumes of his leadership ability and his caring personality.
The IAD Executive Secretary commended the other members of the EJC secretariat as well which included Shryl Jackson, Administrative Assistant to Pastor Melvin Francis and Leon Ffrench, Information Technology Manager, EJC who worked closely with the team to ensure all their information were updated and accessible online.
Pastor Levi Johnson and the team from JAMU were also pleased with the performance of pastor Francis and his team with Johnson expressing the view that he would be using East Conference as a model going forward. “We will be using you as a model for the other conferences,” Johnson said. “The aim is to ensure that the Jamaica Union is respected by the World Church,” Johnson added.
Sis Doreen Grant, Associate Executive Secretary, JAMU was overjoyed at the outcome of the assessment as well and congratulated Pastor Francis for doing better than her in his assessment compared to her own assessment at JAMU. “When the student does better than the teacher, it means that as a teacher, you have done well,” Grant remarked when it was her time to provide feedback. “ We are proud of you, we received 98% while you received 100%. So pastor, we are proud of you. We don’t feel badly that you have gotten more than us, in fact we feel good.”
In his response to the excellent assessment scores and positive feedback, Francis expressed gratitude to his administrative assistant, Shryl Jackson, noting that the success was due to teamwork.
“It was an humbling experience today. I would like to underscore the work of my administrative assistance, Sis. Scryl Jackson. We did it together. It took sleepless nights getting things in place and we received outstanding assistance from Jamaica Union and in particluar, Ms. Dionne Thompson who we really appreciate . We will continue to pray that the Lord will keep us as a team,” Francis said.
President of East Jamaica Conference, Pastor Meric Walker who was present for the entire assessment process was proud of the work of his secretariat team and thanked God for their commitment to excellence.