As part of a ten-person delegation touring Jamaica, a religious denomination from the United Kingdom has brought a formal apology for the churches’ historical complicity in the issue of human trafficking and the enslavement of Africans.
The team, which is composed of representatives from many UK faith denominations, is now spending 12 days on the island, which has been characterized as “part of the journey towards repentance for one of the modern era’s most destructive collective sins.”
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A press statement announcing the group’s arrival said that one of the denominations will offer an official apology during the 12-day trip, called the Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity, and that the moderator of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands will accept it at an ecumenical service on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at 4 p.m. at the Webster Memorial Church, Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston.
The Rt Reverend Christine Benguche, President of the Jamaica Council of Churches and Bishop of the Methodist Church in Jamaica will deliver the sermon.
According to the announcement, the principals of the Churches’ Reparations Action Forum (CRAF) from Jamaica visited the UK in June 2023, which prompted a trip to the island.
Pastor Bruce Fletcher, convenor of CRAF stated, “Our visit to the UK was to share our perspectives on reparation and to encourage the churches, para-church organizations, and civic society to embrace, or take on, the call for reparation and to join us in the work of advocacy for repair, which for us is both relational and financial. We were grateful to God for the overwhelming reception we received in that country.”
He further mentioned, “Whilst British Churches may have profited directly from the trade-in and enslavement of Africans, the inhumanity of enslaving others and molding our theology to justify it also casts a scandalous shadow on the churches’ spiritual legacy and integrity.”
The UK delegation is scheduled to depart the island on April 22, 2024, after making polite calls to government officials and meeting with representatives from various churches, the National Council on Reparation, and civic associations. The delegation will also take tours of special historic sites and various communities.
