All must get onboard to build a better Jamaica, says popular pastor

Music-loving clergyman, Astor Carlyle dream envisions the establishment in Jamaica of an international reggae Academy where the rudiments of Jamaican music and other art forms are taught along with the business aspect.

The Academy, he proposes, would recognize and award artistes, local and international, who excel in the Reggae music genre. He says the island-nation has adequate practitioners, professionals, and academicians to make the reggae academy a reality.

Rev Carlyle, who has been the pastor at Webster Memorial United Church in St Andrew for more than a decade, advocates the promotion of the God-consciousness among the population. This, he believes, supports the God principles of hard work, honoring life and facilitating the sustaining of the lives of others.

“When we have this God consciousness being so translated it then determines how I treat my neighbor, how I drive on my roads, how I obey the laws and how I ensure that moral consciousness is how I operate as a Jamaican,” Rev Carlyle tells Impacting Jamaica host Byron Buckley.

He believes this transformation in values should begin with the curriculum in schools, including teaching civics and holding devotions. In addition, the Church needs to re-engage communities through the holding of Sunday and Sabbath schools.

Get more for the clergyman in this episode of Impacting Jamaica.