The Brethren Embrace the Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment

On 9th, January, 2013, the Christian Brethren Assemblies of Jamaica (CBAJ), formerly Christian Missions, hosted a press conference at their main offices, located at 1G Hagley Park Plaza. A document given to conference attendees reads, "CBAJ received a mandate from its United Elders to stop the decline, and foster growth in our eighty four (84) assemblies across Jamaica. This mandate," the document continues, "coincides well with the 2011 Census which reports Brethren having 0.88% of the Jamaican population or 23,647 persons."  The document goes on to point out that "Brethren" as defined by the Census is a cover-term for several "Brethren" groups (Closed Brethren, Gospel Assemblies, etc) and that the actual committed membership of the CBAJ is "roughly 6,000."  The number of adherents (non-committed members) is about two or three times the number of committed members.  

The document, then, is an admission to a crisis situation that is eating out the souls of the CBAJ: with the exception of a handful of member assemblies, such as Swallowfield Chapel, the conservative, evangelical Assemblies "are deading" - just as their "liberal," liturgical, social gospel counterparts, represented by the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC).  

So, the question that confronts the CBAJ's sixteen member Board, of which fifteen are male, is: how will the leadership address the declining membership of the Assemblies? It was in an attempt to make this known to the public that the leadership of the CBAJ hosted the 9th January press conference.  

And the strategy to stem the crisis facing the Brethren? Well, it doesn't involve the church planting strategy employed by the fastest growing church groups in the country, but a strengthening of the existing eighty-four Assemblies by means of what is hoped to be a youth-friendly, culturally relevant evangelical social gospel.  The document reads:

"The vision of the CBAJ is to reach and influence, for the Lord Jesus Christ, the communities in which our Assemblies exist. We are strategically planning to achieve our mission through the preaching of the gospel, education and leadership development, mentoring and counselling, culturally relevant music, and youth development.  We intend to be holistic in our ministry, reaching out to and advocating for the poor, facilitating employment, and influencing production.

...Our restructuring includes reviewing our doctrine and practices to ensure that they continue to be aligned with Scripture while being relevant to our culture and times."

In an attempt to demonstrate what it means to be evangelically relevant, say, in public discourse, the CBAJ, during the media release, addressed three topical issues: (male) homosexuality, the proposed banning of preaching on JUTC buses and the translation of the Christian Scriptures (aka the New Testament) into Jamaican Creole. 

The message speaking to the CBAJ's position on the Jamaican New Testament (JNT) was prepared by Dr. Delano Palmer, former Dean of the Jamaica Theological Seminary.  Dr. Palmer - himself one of the leaders at Swallowfield Chapel and one of the Greek/New Testament experts who provided exegetical support for the JNT - was unable to attend the press conference and yours truly was asked to do the honours on his behalf. The two most important paragraphs of the CBAJ's position on the JNT read:

"JNT is indeed a bona fide translation done from the original language; so much of it parallels the first attempts to render God's Word into English some 700 yrs ago, with some of the very same questions on the table.  Now English is the third best language in which to do deep Bible Study - with Greek and Jamaican (like the legendary Bolt and Beast) far out in front.

On behalf of the Christian Brethren Assemblies of Jamaica, we endorse the Jamaican New Testament Bible and applaud the scholars, translators and all those involved in making the publication possible" [emphasis original]. 

The CBAJ's action with reference to the JNT is not only commendable; it is historic.  Over the years, individual church leaders and leaders of parachurch organisations have endorsed the JNT but, to date, the CBAJ is the only Christian denomination that has given the translation of the Christian Scriptures into Jamaican Creole its full approval and blessing! This (among other things) was missed by the media houses present at the conference, owing to what appears to be their insatiable craving to be titillated by homosexual news and their eagerness to feed public fears of same.    

In reference to the JNT, I'm of the opinion that the CBAJ is on the right path. One hopes, however, that the Brethren, sooner than later, will develop a much better appreciation for the wider human rights context in which the JNT - and Scripture translation into minority languages - falls.  Not only do Jamaicans have a right to access what to many are the primary Christian documents in their own language, and to propagate their interpretations of same; they also have a right to reject these documents and their interpretations and to enjoy all the benefits of living as equal citizens in the land of wood and water without fear of being disenfranchised and demonised on the grounds of (non)religion.