Built as a physical expression of the church’s missiological responsibility to work for the benefit of its communities, the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (UCJCI) launched the Garden of Justice, Reconciliation and Peace on the grounds of Immanuel United Church in Tower Isle, St Mary on Sunday, 29 June.
The Garden, the first of many planned, was built with the funding support from the Council for World Mission’s (CWM) Onesimus Project (TOP).
As the modern mission landscape shifts from a top-down evangelistic approach from the global north to south, TOP serves as a beacon that shines light on the existence of inequalities and injustices within the heritage of missional organisations like CWM’s forebear, the London Missionary Society (LMS).
The first Garden of Justice, Reconciliation and Peace, the fruit that was borne from the collaboration between the Churches Reparations Action Forum (CRAF), Immanuel United Church, and the UCJCI Reparations Task Force led by Rev. Dr Gordon Cowans will stand as a place for reflection and remembrance, and where conflict can be mediated.
“The establishment of the gardens [will] also create an opportunity for job creation, especially for landscapers, as well as community engagement with local institutions and clubs,” announced UCJCI during the garden’s inauguration ceremony attended by the UCJCI leadership as well as its mission and ecumenical partners.
The Reparations Task Force also shared plans to launch successive gardens in troubled areas such as Norwood, Montego Bay as well as other ideas, including the creation of ‘free villages’ where communities of formerly enslaved people could live independently.
