More than 125 communicators and volunteers were recognized for their selfless service during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that members and guests of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica remained connected.
The awards ceremony, themed “Recapturing the Spirit of the Mission,” took place on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the NCU Gymnatorium in Mandeville.
When the pandemic hit, the Adventist Church in Jamaica moved services online as early as March 21, 2020, 11 days after the country’s first case of COVID-19 was confirmed. The Government then implemented restrictive measures, including protocols that curtailed group gatherings in all public spaces, including places of worship.
The Church implemented additional procedures for its congregations and established an online interface for worship services, featuring a flagship broadcast called JA Adventists Online Worship. The brand (JA Adventists Online Worship) was used in each of the five conferences of the Jamaica Union every week, where NCU Radio and Television, along with Bless TV and other conference cable channels, websites, and YouTube channels, were utilized to spread the gospel and provided a worship experience for our members and visitors.
“We are happy that we had at the time in our church technical experts and organizers who could come together in such a short time after the outbreak in Jamaica to provide online service to our members,” said Pastor Everett Brown, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica. “It is for that very reason that we recognize them today because we understand the sacrifice they made to glorify God with the gifts and talents that He bestowed on them.”
The broadcasts were so impactful that they were featured on national television during Prime Time News on TVJ on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, for their innovation and inclusiveness, catering even to children.
During his address to the congregation at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lucea, Hanover, on Saturday, August 8, 2020, Prime Minister Andrew Holness praised the church for being among the first to provide online worship at the onset of the pandemic, highlighting it was a socially responsible initiative.
Awards were given in seven categories: Communication Director, Producer, Technical Producer, Information Technology, Graphics and Editing, Audio Engineer, and Production Team.