Holy ruckus! - Man arrested for disturbing church service
A senior citizen was arrested during a Sunday service in central Jamaica after he loudly branded a woman 'Jezebel' and allegedly disrupted worship proceedings.
The man, who had previously been 'read out' of the church for what the pastor described as his repeated verbal attacks on congregants, was handcuffed and hauled off by police in the middle of service.
According to the pastor, although the man had been excommunicated, he continued to visit the church frequently - much to the discomfort of other worshippers.
"We have been talking to him for a while about his practice," the pastor explained.
"For example, there is a lady who it is rumoured that she is having an affair, and she went up to say something, and he told the lady to come down because she [is] a whore," the pastor said.
Police officers reportedly approached the man during the service and asked him to step outside. He was arrested and charged with "causing disturbance in a place of worship". He spent the night behind bars before being granted station bail on Monday morning.
But the man is standing by his actions. He told THE STAR that he was merely following divine orders.
"I called the women Jezebel by the leading of the Holy Spirit," he said.
"I wouldn't just come out and say something on my own, and is couple years the Lord leads me to do this," he added.
The outspoken churchgoer said he sometimes sits in silence when the spirit tells him to, but last Sunday, he claims, was not one of those days.
"On Sunday, the spirit have me saying that lying lips were an abomination unto the Lord," he said.
Still, he maintains that he never singled out anyone.
"As Bob Marley says, 'Mi throw mi corn, and mi nuh call nuh fowl'. That was how the Holy Spirit had me doing. Him never tell mi to point out anyone in particular, so if you want to pick it up, then yuh pick it up," he said.
"They are saying I am disturbing church and dis and dat, but I am not doing things of my own, and they find it hard to believe me," he added.
The pastor, who was not present at last Sunday's service, said the man has a long, troubling history with the congregation.
"Apparently, he believes that no one at the church should speak to him about his behaviour, and before we have any altercation between him and others, we prefer the police take charge of the matter," the pastor said.
"He calls people names and he says anything that he feels to say. He would get up and speak loudly and he refers to the women as prostitutes, Jezebels and those things. No, that cannot be a message from God."
The pastor said the man has even disrupted prayer.
"Persons would be praying and if he is not into the person, he would get up and shout 'Vain, vain, God not hearing you'. As a minister, I am not entitled to tell anyone that God is not hearing them. All of us should pray and it is God who determines what he hears from what he doesn't," the pastor said.