As For Me and My Church
By Rev. Jermaine Mulley
As it is, I don’t own anything but I am a steward of everything! On March 13, 2020, I decided to reach out to Bishop E. Anne Henning Byfield and Presiding Elder Uklyn Hendricks about the immediacy of a shift to church gatherings within the Virgin Islands Annual Conference. This came after a keen observation of the landscape of the world and the imminent threat of the novel coronavirus around the territory of the USVI.
To some pastors on St. Croix, it was a bold and premature move, as we quickly became the example of care from health officials to other ministries as the first church to publicly make changes to our services. For me, it was a necessary change for the well-being of the members and the community. We have an older congregation with a growing interest in the unchurched and unsaved who may come anytime and in any condition.
We were in the middle of our Centennial Celebration with a guest minister from California. There was a gospel tramp scheduled the following day in the Grove Place Community with many local musicians of all musical genres. Girls Scout Troup 4400 were also tantamount for our collaboration with the school for active participation and product sales on the church grounds.
That Sunday was our scheduled Family & Friends Sunday, where we were estimating more than double the average attendance. The following week we had a planned banquet hosted at the Government House.
Though the majority of the church laity agreed with the changes, I admit that it wasn’t as easy to share the changes with the community. The struggle came with witnessing the growing trust of the unchurched during this time and the excitement for many to join us during the month of celebration. In my mind, it was a great opportunity for us to win souls, walk with others in healing from past “church hurt,” and grow more as the church.
The choice to postpone all gatherings was a call for us to stand for something beyond our plans. It was a choice to stand for the love of our neighbors as ourselves, a true declaration of faith. Therefore, as for me, and St. Luke AME Church, we will serve the Lord from our homes.
The Rev. Jermaine Mulley is the pastor of St. Luke AME Church on St. Croix, the Director of Youth and Apprenticeship for the Virgin Islands Department of Labor, and serves as the chaplain for 786th CSSB in the Virgin Islands National Guard. He is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry degree at Payne Theological Seminary in Biblical, Political, and Social Ethics. He completed his Master of Divinity degree at Southern Methodist University-Perkins School of Theology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Texas College. Before this season, he was an adjunct professor in Christian Ethics at Jarvis Christian College.
