Ross Sheil, Staff ReporterBOB MARLEY sang about bombing a church because the preacher was lying. But at the North Street Seventh-day Adventist Church, downtown Kingston, yesterday, church members were still clueless as to why someone did just that on Tuesday.
According to the investigation so far, at about 6:00 a.m. that day, perpetrator(s) firebombed the church, then attempted to set ablaze four cylinders located to the rear of the property, as well as douse the caretaker's quarters with flammable liquid before taking flight.
GRATEFUL TO GOD
Speaking yesterday morning before the start of the church service, first elder Norris Crooks remained dumbfounded: "We enjoy a good relationship with the folks in the community so this is an astonishing occurrence. But as a church family, we are grateful to God for having taken us through it."
"Definitely, this is only going to motivate us to be more outgoing in our outreach work in the community," Mr. Crooks insisted.
The church is not the only religious group located on North Street to have suffered from crime and violence in recent times. In October, two trainee priests from Missionaries of the Poor were killed by a single bullet while washing dishes in the kitchen of the brotherhood's North Street compound.
And by apparently unfortunate coincidence, the North Street United Church was burnt down on Tuesday, thought to be caused by an electrical fault. The Adventist Church has since offered their premises as a possible location for services until the building is repaired.
