By Nelson A. King
Caribbean community faith
leaders have been expressing
mixed views on religious
exemption for the COVID-19
vaccines.
In an effort to stem the rising
rate of increase of infection
with the variant strains of the
COVID-19 virus, new mandates
have been handed down by the
City of New York.
Persons entering public
spaces must provide proof of
vaccination.
This has become necessary
because those who are being
infected and needing emergency
care are predominantly
unvaccinated members of the
population, including children.
Under the new mandate
Houses of Worship, including
those in the Caribbean
community in New York, are
exempt from requiring proof of
vaccination for persons entering
their space.
The exemption is not based
on health reasons but on the
legal complexities derived from
“Separation of Church and
State,” according to veteran
United Methodist Church pastor,
Jamaican-born the Rev.
Patrick Perrin, pastor of Janes
United Methodist Church on
Munroe Street in Bedford-
Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Rev. Perrin said United
Methodists are following the
new mandate for reasons of
health.
“We at Janes have been following
the health protocols
from the very beginning and,
thanks be to God, we have not
lost any of our members to
the virus,” he told Caribbean
Life on Sunday in an exclusive
interview.
“We have vigorously encouraged
our members and our
wider community to receive
the vaccination and, by our
most accurate calculation, all
have been vaccinated, except for
those who could not because of
medical exemptions,” Rev. Perrin
added.
“We are concerned about the
conflicting opinions regarding
booster shots and would prefer
to err on the side of caution
Caribbean Life, S 8 EPTEMBER 24-30, 2021
and receive the boosters rather
than not,” he continued. “In
all that we do, we seek to show
love and care for others.”
The Rev. Wesley Daniel, the
Grenadian-born pastor of Calvary
United Methodist Church
on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd. in the Bronx, said his
position on COVID vaccine
comes from a practical view,
based on his religious conviction.
“It is very simple,” he said.
“The church is a fellowship of
believers who gather together
for the purpose of worship and
study, so that we may be in
service to our fellow human
beings and to the world, which
is inclusive of our environment.
“We have all in some way
been impacted by the COVID-
19 pandemic,” he added. “It is
our bounded duty to care for
one another without reserve. In
so doing, we follow the answer
that Jesus gave as to which
is the greatest commandment,
the second of which is ‘to love
your neighbor as yourself.’
“In this particular pandemic,
wherein the virus is transmitted
from person to person,
it is our duty as Christians, religious
persons, persons of faith,
to do all in our power to limit
the spread of the virus using
the resources placed at our disposal,”
Rev. Daniel continued.
“One of the key resources that
we have (not perfect), but effective,
is the vaccine. I believe
that it is a gift from God at
this time through the work of
medical experts. It has been
proven to minimize the spread
of the virus, save many people
from becoming seriously ill,
hospitalized and dying.
“We can spend a lot of time
debating statistics, etc. In the
meantime, we are witnessing
the death of loved ones,
and stress and traumatization
engulf our present and mar our
future,” he said.
Rev. Wesley Daniel.
Mixed views on religious
exemption for COVID-19 vaccines
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