Jamaican Adventist Pastors Warned Against Joining Ministry for Money

January 5, 2017:    In an ordination service held in Montego Bay, Jamaica last week, president of the Adventist denomination’s Jamaica Union Conference Pastor Everett Brown  warned pastors against joining the ministry simply for a steady pay check.

The Jamaican Observer newspaper reported that Brown encouraged pastors to see themselves as “messengers of the Most High.”

Brown told Adventist ministers that entering the ministry for financial reasons would turn their work into a “paycheck ministry.”

“You would be a slave or a servant of the West Jamaica Conference, you will become a slave to pay check, a slave to position, a slave to recognition, a slave to affirmation for new leaders, colleagues and members. If those things drive you, then pastoral ministry is not your vocation,” said Brown.

The country is plagued by an unemployment rate above 12 percent. The average monthly salary in Jamaica is $141,920 JMD ($1117 USD) and 17.6 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.