The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica, which has more than 307,000 members in some 738 congregations, while insisting that it is not declaring “war” on employers or institutions who continue to “disrespect” its “religious rights and beliefs”, says it will be using its upcoming January 30 summit to plead for understanding and flexibility.
The group, while making it clear that it is more than prepared to have the issue decided on by the courts, said the summit to be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston is designed to foster dialogue and understanding among different religious groups here.
“When we look at the landscape and when we look at some challenges that are faced by Sabbath keepers, challenges in the workplace, challenges in some of our educational institutions, we think it is best that we do a summit, bring all the stakeholders together, and have the discussion. The stakeholders, of course, would include the public, the private sector, the public sector, the various church groups, umbrella groups, interfaith groups, because we are all in this,” Nigel Coke, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, told the Jamaica Observer editors and reporters Monday.
According to Coke, who was addressing the weekly Monday Exchange forum of the newspaper at its Beechwood Avenue offices in Kingston, the Seventh-day Adventist membership has been coming under increased pressure in relation to going beyond hours on Fridays and Saturdays which is considered their Sabbath.