Bishop and Custos of St. Andrew Dr. Carmen Stewart (left) and Bishop Herro Blair (second left) together with fellow pastors pray for Prime Minister-designate, Portia Simpson Miller at her Pentecostal Gospel Temple, Windward Road Kingston last Sunday, the day after her election victory. The occasion was a service to commemorate the 40th year of her pastoral ministry. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
IF MAYOR Desmond McKenzie has his way, the Reverend Stewart, Custos of St. Andrew and bishop of the Pentecostal Gospel Temple, may soon get the keys of Kingston .
The mayor stated his intentions last Sunday during a service held at Reverend Stewart's church at 111 Windward Road to commemorate 40 years of her pastoral ministry, which she took up after her husband passed away in 1966. She named the Wilbert Stewart Basic School in memory of his devotion to child development.
She proclaims a firm commitment to developing the national potential, and at age 81, remains preoccupied with providing educational and job opportunities, while showing no sign of slowing down.
"I know my faculties are in place!" she told Volunteer Today from behind her desk, surrounded by walls on which almost every inch is covered by an award or citation. In front of her the most recent plaque, this one from the mayor, awaits its place. In the meantime, she says ideas still preoccupy her mind.
"One of the major problems is a lack of work for the young people and as we Christians say, 'Satan makes work for idle hands' ". That, she said, was "one of the major factors that promotes crime and in my own way I am still trying to find a way but it hasn't yet materialised in my mind".
But she has already founded the basic school which, with 400 students, is one of Jamaica's largest. The church's 10-year-old HEART programme has provided training for hospitality workers at home and abroad and is now adding computer training.
She wants to offer more parenthood services as she was a pioneer of family planning while serving as director of the Bureau of Health and Education and she has completed a plan to establish a prep school.
Also on her mind is a residential centre for young women, a place where they can stay for six months during their education to expose them to further training and develop self worth.
"I have a great admiration for the women of Jamaica although I am not speaking of myself. You only have to look at the vendors who have no financial experience but travel overseas and then sell their goods for profit. If you read, you will see that historically the moral deportment of a country has a strong bearing on its future," she reasoned.
Meanwhile, on the church's compound, a multi-purpose hall is being constructed for young people to provide training and job opportunities. The hall has also benefited from labour supplied by inmates from the Tower Street Correctional Facility. True to her mission, two of them have since been baptised after their release from prison.
Her church also has girls and boys brigade programmes. Her husband founded their first church on Windward Road and she now overseas a total of seven in Jamaica plus three in the United States.
None of this, she reminded, would be possible without the love of God, her family and two children.
R. S.
