National Heritage Thanksgiving Service Set for October 19 in Santa Cruz

The National Heritage Thanksgiving Service will be held on Sunday, October 19, at the Church of the Apostolic Faith, Waterloo, Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, beginning at 11:00 a.m.

The service is being held under the theme ‘Celebrating a Proud and Bold Heritage’.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and Member of Parliament for St. Elizabeth South Eastern, Hon. Franklin Witter, representing Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, will bring greetings.

Guest speaker will be Pastor of Hopewell Missionary Church in Hanover, Rev. Ronald Webster.

Production Manager at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), Andrea Hines-McCurdy, told JIS News that St. Elizabeth was chosen to host the church service this year, to make it more accessible.

“It’s the first time, to my knowledge, that we are going to St. Elizabeth for the national church service. It was a deliberate decision so that other parts of the country can experience the national service as opposed to it remaining in Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine,” she said.

Mrs. Hines-McCurdy noted that the service will be ecumenical in nature, with participation from the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches, among others.

The service will be broadcast live on Television Jamaica (TVJ) and streamed via the YouTube channel of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ).

However, residents of Santa Cruz and neighbouring communities are encouraged to attend in person and share in this moment of national thanksgiving.

“We want to invite you to be a part of the service; it promises to be very inspiring. We will also have music presentation from The Foster Triplets, who will be sharing in the service as well. So, it promises to be an excellent time of worship to God and it also will seek to highlight, give thanks and celebrate the heritage that we have as Jamaicans,” Mrs. Hines-McCurdy said.