Man dies during church service

June 17, 2019

Three Sabbaths ago members of the Braeton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Portmore, St Catherine, gathered for their worship service, when tragedy struck.

An elderly man, said to be in his 60s, and a member of the church for two years, died during the sermon.

"Somebody noticed that his head was slouched back, and alerted the others who were sitting next to him. The deacons near by were alerted, and they lifted him and took him to the back to our sick bay. We have a medical team assigned each Sabbath - doctors and nurses. So they were also alerted, and they went to his aid," Christopher Mighty, pastor of the church told THE STAR.

"We were preparing the emergency vehicle to take him to the hospital, but they were trying to resuscitate him before they took him away. During that attempt, he passed. He died while he was being assisted by the medical team," he added.

Sermon continued

Mighty said the sermon continued, as they did not interrupt the service.

"So most of the members did not know what was happening. We sent to get the family, to inform them of what was happening. His daughter came, and we accompanied her to the family home to inform the rest of the family. We didn't want to send the membership in panic, and we didn't want to break the news to people before the family was informed, so we had do the appropriate thing," he said. "The police were called in. They called the family home, and they came and retrieved the body."

Mighty said that the incident has left the church shaken.

"It's a new experience. The church family was in shock. We're all hurt, but we tried to console the members, and we got a grief counselling team, and they visited the family and the church," he said.

Mighty added that the deceased was well admired by the church family.

"He was always participating in his Sabbath school class. He was a person that was well loved. He wasn't a leader in the church, but someone who was well respected," he said.

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