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PASTORAL LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN ECUMENICAL RELATIONSHIPS IN JAMAICA: A CASE STUDY OF CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY’S PASTORS IN ST. CATHERINE EAST, JAMAICA A THESIS-PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY IN GLOBAL PENTECOSTALISM BY JUNIOR R. HEADLAM MAY 2018 Copyright © 2018 by Junior R. Headlam. All Rights. Reserved. CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATUONS vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix ABSRACT x Chapter 1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1 Ecumenism 1 The Genesis of the Church of God (of Prophecy) 2 The Exclusive Church of God of Prophecy 3 The Church of God of Prophecy Shows Signs of Change 5 The Church of God of Prophecy, Jamaica, Context 7 Jamaica’s Complex Religious Landscape 10 The Church of God of Prophecy and Affiliated Groups in Jamaica 14 From Anglicanism to Pentecostalism 17 The Church of God of Prophecy, Jamaica, St. Catherine East Context 19 Why the Question of Ecumenical Relationships? 24 Conclusion 25 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 27 Introduction 27 The History of Pentecostalism and Ecumenism 28 Further Criticisms of Pentecostals 34 iii Issues Affecting Pentecostal Ecumenism 35 Doctrinal Challenges to Pentecostal Ecumenical Relationship 38 The Future for Ecumenism 48 Conclusion 51 3. BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS 53 Introduction 53 Ecumenism: Old Testament Perspectives 54 The Effect of Disunity in Mission 59 The Prayer for Unity 62 A Divided Church Cannot Unite a Divided World 67 Toward a Culture of Ecumenism 73 Conclusion 77 4. PROJECT DESIGN 79 Population 80 Quantitative and Quantitative Research Methodology 82 Presentation of Data and Analysis 83 Responses to Questionnaires 83 Open-Ended Questionnaire 94 Qualitative Study—Focus Group 98 Conclusion 102 5. OUTCOMES 104 Is Ecumenism Being Promoted by the Church of God of Prophecy? 106 Beyond Rallies and Crusades 108 iv Bi-vocational Pastors and the COGOP 112 Belief Must Impact Action 113 COGOP Ecumenical Introspection 116 Conclusion 118 Recommendations 121 Appendix A. QUESTIONNAIRE 127 B. FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS 129 C. INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENT 130 BIBLIOGRAPHY 132 VITA 137 v ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Percentage Response to Question 1 84 Figure 2: Percentage Response to Question 2 85 Figure 3: Percentage Response to Question 3 86 Figure 4: Percentage Response to Question 4 87 Figure 5: Percentage Response to Question 5 88 Figure 6: Percentage Response to Question 6 89 Figure 7: Percentage Response to Question 7 90 Figure 8: Percentage Response to Question 8 91 Figure 9: Percentage Response to Question 9 92 Figure 10: Percentage Response to Question 10 93 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thought of completing a doctoral degree given my enormous responsibilities was a daunting one at first when I contemplated enrollment into the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program. My immediate family, consisting of Patricia, my wife of twenty one years, and our son, Nahshon, has truly been my stay during this time. With my many trips away from home, and even being absent while at home, my family has demonstrated great support, and for this I am eternally grateful to them. My local church family, the Old Harbour Road Church of God of Prophecy, Jamaica, has demonstrated genuine care for me during this time as well. They too had to put up with my regular absence from church and reduced pastoral service from time to time. However, their prayerful moral and financial support has contributed to my accomplishment; consequently, I credit the accomplishment of my degree to my church family, without whom completing it would have been made much more a challenge. I also thank the Center for Biblical Leadership (CBL) for the sponsorships over the period of my study. I must also mention the support of my friends and associates who have contributed to my accomplishment in different ways: Winston and Heidi Leith and Hyacinth Campbell, my immediate study companions; also, Rev. Richard Beckford for assisting with pre-reading and editing and Linda Triemstra for her professional services rendered. vii Thanks to Dr. Hector Ortiz and Dr. Eldin Villafane for their unwavering support, guidance, and encouragement throughout the program. Their belief in me has propelled me forward, even when at times it seems impossible. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CARICOM Caribbean Community & Common Market CBI Caribbean Basin Initiative CCJ Caribbean Court of Justice CGP Church of God of Prophecy COGOP Church of God of Prophecy CPMA Church of Prophecy Markers Association JAFGC Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches JUGC Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches NAE National Association of Evangelicals PCCNA Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America PFNA Pentecostal Fellowship of North America ix ABSTRACT As of 2018, I have spent the last nineteen years serving as pastor in the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP); I have been a member since 1983 and have served in various other capacities in the church. My years of service and experience have given me a vantage point to observe many of the challenges and opportunities facing the denomination. However, as my knowledge and experience increase, I sense a greater need, not only to see and talk but also to act. One of the areas of challenge I have observed is the church’s historically weak ecumenical relationships. Many of the pastors with whom I serve in Jamaica demonstrate a chronic unwillingness to engage in meaningful ecumenical relationships. This is also the ethos of the national church, which, although it has existed on the Island (Jamaica) for more than nine decades and has more than three hundred congregations, is relatively unknown nationally. This is partly because the church has refused to be meaningfully involved in ecumenical relationships over the years. I therefore consider ecumenism an important subject to investigate. This is so as the church is continually left out of important events and dialogues while other churches are consistently consulted by the Jamaican government. My intention therefore is to examine the possible cause or causes for this kind of low engagement by the church and to determine what steps the church must take to leverage its latent strength in Jamaica. As the parish overseer for the church in St. Catherine East, I will use this cohort of pastors as a sample for this research. However, my hope is that the research may also benefit the larger Christian community. x