Honour for the apostle - Church explains why pastor was lifted in chair and carried into sanctuary

The religious leader who was carried into a church by three men as he sat in a chair is used to getting royal treatment whenever he visits the Open Doors Deliverance Ministry in May Pen, Clarendon.

The pastor, Apostle Dr O'Meal Reid, who is based in Florida, USA, visited the church four weeks ago where the red carpet was rolled out and rose petals scattered for him. But it was his visit last week, which has attracted the attention of many Jamaicans, many of whom have questioned the reverence shown to him.

In a video that has gone viral, Reid is seen smiling as he exited a motor vehicle and three men stood in front of him with a chair. Reid then asked if he should sit in the chair, when a voice replied, "Yes, man of God". The men then lifted the chair, with Reid sitting on it, into sanctuary.

Reid , dressed in white, smiled as saints sang the refrain of the song, How Far From God.

The sang:

'Well I look down the road and I wondered

Yes, I wondered, oh Lord, I wondered

I look down the road and I wondered

Just to see how far, see how far I was from God'

The gesture, however, has sent tongues wagging as many persons have likened the reverence being showed to Reid to that of deceased pastor Dr Kevin Smith, of the St James-based Pathway International Kingdom Restoration Ministries. Smith, who was accused of sacrificing two persons at his church last year, died in a bizarre motor vehicle crash while being transported to Kingston by the police.

The unflattering comments and the likening of Reid to Smith has not gone unnoticed.

A statement labelled 'staff post', which was posted on Reid's social media account, said that him being lifted in the chair was a demonstration of "honour and hospitality".

"Prophet Reid never requested or demanded to be lifted in a chair. It was the pastor and his staff demonstrating their honour and hospitality to Prophet Reid," the statement said.

Pastor O'Neil Bryan and his wife Naomi, of the Open Doors Deliverance Ministry, have released a video statement on social media which indicated that the act of lifting Reid in the chair was a show of gratitude.

"This is the second time and he has never asked or demanded anything of us. He paid for his ticket, he paid for his hotel stay, he pays for his own transportation while coming to the church, and so he never demands any kind of monetary gift in figures or so. He has never done that," Naomi said in the video.

"So people of God, we the pastors of Open Doors Deliverance Ministry are begging, just stop the naysaying, the criticism, stop the tearing down because that is not what we are about. We are about Kingdom-building," Naomi added.

Reid was the speaker at a two-day convention called Jamaica for the People - Prophetic Revival, hosted by the Open Doors Deliverance Ministry. Described as "husband to his beautiful wife Lady Reid and the biological father of his six beautiful children", Reid is said to have been travelling as "an itinerary speaker" since age 16.

He is said to have been serving the Kingdom of God since he was 12.

"The soul of mankind is the utmost passion of his ministry as he works with communities for a better tomorrow. The Jamaican-born American citizen is all about building the Kingdom of God, bringing the people out of darkness into the marvelous light of our Lord and Saviour," the staff post read.