Member of Parliament Everald Warmington has pushed back against expectations surrounding the Government’s $75-million allocation to assist churches damaged by Hurricane Melissa. He said congregations should consider merging into fewer buildings. He also raised concerns about the separation of Church and State, suggesting that taxpayer funds should not be used to rebuild religious institutions.

$75m in government assistance ‘a drop in the bucket’ for churches after crisis, says former JUGC chair

Jamaica Gleaner/1 Jan 2026Sashana Small/Staff Reporter

WHILE COMMENDING the Government for allocating $75 million to assist churches’ recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, Immediate Past Chairman of the Jamaica Umbrella Groups of Churches, Dr Elaine Mccarthy Nunes, said the sum is a“drop in the bucket”, given the scale of the damage and the extensive needs facing churches.

“The $75 million that is being offered, when you spread it across the churches of Jamaica, it’s barely going to be enough, and the churches are going to get a bare minimum,” she said.

Category 5 Hurricane Melissa caused widespread damage across Jamaica, leaving hundreds of churches, particularly in western Jamaica, either damaged or destroyed.

Mccarthy Nunes noted that the Church is an important social institution which has extended itself over the years to help society’s most needy.

This mandate became even more critical in the aftermath of the storm, with the Church having to step up to assist in the country’s recovery efforts.

“You find that the Church still has to be rising to the occasion, to be going out and providing food packages. In cases where members, for instance, have lost their homes, they have to help to supplement, as much as possible, to get them back on their feet again,” she said.

Although the funds are inadequate, Mccarthy Nunes said it will help, particularly the smaller churches that were damaged.

“What we have to recognise is that outside of the established churches, you have some smaller ones who definitely don’t have that financial base to get themselves back together again,” she said.

Church offering was the major source of income for these smaller congregations; however, since the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in job losses, migration or a declining attendance, those funds have been gradually drying up, she stated.

When Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced the allocation on December 23, he stressed that churches are “an important part of the recovery and reconstruction effort”, and won’t be left out.

Churches can access the funds through the Social Development Commission, and the Government has indicated its willingness to assist further, based on assessments.

COMBINING CONGREGATIONS

However, Everald Warmington, member of parliament for St Catherine South Western, told Television Jamaica that the allocation “can’t build back churches” and suggested that congregations should combine memberships into fewer buildings rather than rebuild multiple structures.

Warmington, who is a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, also emphasised the need to separate church and state, arguing that taxpayer funds should not be going to religious institutions in this manner.

Mccarthy Nunes said she was taken aback by Warmington’s comments, and was curious as to why the matter was not discussed and settled internally.

“There are times when the Church and the State will have to work hand in hand,” she said. “We see that coming out in Melissa, both government and churches coming together to help churches who have been affected – yuh cya want separation.”

Meanwhile, Anglican priest and human-rights activist Father Sean Major-campbell says the pushback from Warmington may have been because of a misunderstanding of the monetary challenges that churches face, and what it means for church and state to be separated.

“I, too, support the separation of church and state. This does not mean they cannot cooperate for the common good of society, as has been seen historically with regard to education, healthcare, and other national activities,” he told The Gleaner.

“The aftermath of extreme monster Hurricane Melissa has produced a national crisis. This is a time for much cooperation, support, and working together.”

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