Church Army Jamaica

After a very short lived initial existence [1892 – 1897/98] of Church Army Jamaica, the then Bishop, Percival Gibson invited in 1958, an English Church Army Evangelist by the name of Captain Ernest Cousins, who was at that time working in Trinidad, to visit Jamaica to lead missions in the diocese. That visit marked the rebirth of Church Army Jamaica and Ernest Cousins became the National Director, a post he held for over thirty years.

In those days a number of men and women were trained at the Wilson Carlile College of Evangelism in England and returned to serve in their home diocese. All of the men later became ordained and all of them continue to maintain an active relationship with Church Army. Harold Daniel, who originally comes from Montserrat and was living in London, trained to become a Church Army Evangelist and went to serve in the Diocese of Jamaica. He too was later ordained and he now serves as Bishop of Mandeville.

In recent years people from Jamaica training to become Church Army Evangelists do so at the Church Army Taylor College of Evangelism in Canada. There is currently one student in training. The number of Church Army Evangelists currently stands at 12: 10 women and 2 men, who are engaged in parish ministry, school and hospital chaplaincy, and social work (Superintendent of a Children's Home). There is a renewed interest in Church Army ministry, and the Society continues its efforts to increase numbers, with special emphasis on male recruits.

Sister Phyllis Thomas
P.O. Box 217
Mandeville
Manchester
Jamaica
West Indies
phone:  876 625-2823
fax:   876 962-2876
email: phylver@cwjamaica.com