From the highlands of Christiana, Manchester, complete with its salubrious climatic conditions all year round, to the low plains and mosquito-infested swamplands of Savanna-la-Mar and its debilitating humidity, a flag is unfurled, and a venerable warrior emerges, John Watson by name, his wife, the impeccable empress Joyce E. Watson, and their first-born child, George, in response to the clarion call to go to a place that they had never been before on October 20, 1940.
All the distinguishing marks of divine fingerprinting were evident upon their apostleship from the very inception. It is not by happenstance that the schedule of the launch of their ministry was consistent with the time of year when, as a nation, we pause to celebrate our national heroes, and doubtless, as a church, we pause to commemorate the heroic contributions of these two persons to the cause of ministry.
They would be the pioneers of a new ministry in western Jamaica. A movement which was not only new but different. A break from the mundane, innocuous religions of the day. They did not come with a dream! They came on a mission! They came with a message. A message of “Repentance and Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin and the infilling of the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance, followed by a life of Holiness.” A message that would soon change the socio-cultural fabric of the town, its environs, the country, and the world. They represented the true catalysts of change, so that even today, years after their passing, the resonant echoes of their searing voices still loom largely in our consciousness. Their instructions to holiness, righteousness, and integrity!
They held their first evangelistic service at the Sadler’s Fountain, known colloquially as the ‘Pump’, adjacent to the Savanna-la-Mar courthouse. Soon after, they began to worship at a lodge house on 5 Barclay Street. Mother Watson once said that there was a word written in Latin above the vestibule leading into the inner sanctum of the building, which God had shown her and given her the pronunciation of before she entered the building. She saw it and read it out loud and was able to gain access to the building. The residents of the town did not pass by on this street after a certain time in the afternoon for fear of demons. But now, people were filled with curiosity and excitement. They could feel the palpable wind of change. A fresh fire had fallen. Pentecost had come to town! New converts were added to the church, and it continued to grow from within. Bishop had to prove to some that he was using the same Bible that they had and often asked them to read the passages in their own Bibles whenever he preached.
The unprecedented flurry of interests that the new movement engendered bred its own animus. Members of the religious fraternity formed a hostile alliance against the new church and waged a petition to get them out of town and almost succeeded, but for the signature of a lone neighbour who refused to sign it in demonstration that the church was his only company at nights.
The years that followed would experience seismic shifts in the lives of these two missionaries and the ministry. The church began to expand outwardly to form other ministries. Work was established in Montego Bay, Balaclava, Retirement, Brown’s Town, and Lucea, to name a few. There were ministries that were established overseas in Canada, for example. They also forged associations with other church groups with similar beliefs and practices, both locally and overseas.
By the time of Bishop Watson’s demise, he was the Island Bishop for multiple Pentecostal organisations, including the Holiness Born-Again Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) and the Rehoboth Apostolic Group. He bequeaths to us his legacy of a full circuit of churches and a vibrant clerical court of ministers to build a religious empire. And today, some eighty-five years later at this maximum point of maximum exposure, as we celebrate decades of existence, we are brought to another inflection point where we reflect on missed opportunities and recommit ourselves to overcoming the pitfalls that led to our failures in those areas and can be encouraged by the successes we have achieved in other areas as we move forward with triumph.
Elder Robert Allen, Miramar- FL.