WAYNE JAMEL
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Farewell to Bedford Park Church

11/15/2024

3 Comments

 
Around 2005 a church was born as a result of an evangelistic series called Hope for a Hurting World. This was a joint effort of Co-op City Church, First Ghana Church, Portchester Church, and Morris Park Church who all teamed up to put this series together. Part of this initiative was to have a pre-series. So, my dad, who was the pastor of Co-op City at the time had the young people from his churches along with the young people from Morris Park come together and do a prophecy seminar that would serve as a warm-up series for the main event. Well, I was one of those young preachers who were assigned to preach a few of the nights. I remember at the age of 16/17 preaching my heart out at Briggs Academy. I was walking up and down the aisles of that rented auditorium appealing for people to get baptized. I remember excitingly looking at the decision cards to see that people did in fact decide to get baptized. The whole thing was an energizing moment. At the end of both series a church was planted called Bedford Park Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Who knew that 11 years later I would become the pastor of that very church. Life is mysterious that way. ​
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October 8, 2016 Installation Sabbath at Bedford Park Church
From 2016 to 2024 I have been pastoring Bedford Park Church. It was a roller coaster of a ride. Perhaps I came in too excited. I was the pastor of three churches. So, in order to be able to preach in all of them twice a month, I had Bedford Park Church change its service to a later time so that I could preach at one of the other churches first and then drive over to Bedford Park in order to preach there also. Well, sometimes quick changes aren’t always the best. I’m not sure if that was the best thing for the church, but the church for the most part was supportive and went along with the plan. I along with the associate pastor there tried many ideas. The church personnel went through a lot of changes as people left and others came in. Things were always moving. Then the pandemic hit. Whoa! The church building shut down. Everything went online. It wasn’t a good time for our church. Eventually we reopened as with the rest of the world, but since then things were never the same. Most people never returned for good.
 
But then something amazing started to happen. We started to get new people who were visiting the church and the church stepped forward in faith and did a Bible Study class. As a result, in 2023 Bedford Park Church had its first baptism since I had been there. Then more people started to visit. Week after week, people with no personal connection would just walk in through the door. Seeing all this, I told the leaders of the church to let us have an evangelistic series. I have been wanting to have one for so long, but we never had one. We have had special series on Saturdays as well as special events, but we never had a full fledge evangelistic series in the typical sense. Well, I had already received the word that my time at Bedford Park was coming to a close. So, I asked if we could have an evangelistic series before I leave. I told them that the church was ripe. We have all these new people here and a few of them were even voicing a desire for baptism. So for my final week at the church, we had an evangelistic series. So, each day of that final week we met at the church across the street from Briggs Academy where I had preached 19 years ago. One by one people decided that they wanted to get baptized. And on my final day with Bedford Park Church we baptized 5 people. I had to fight back the tears as I was saying my goodbyes, because it was the perfect way to end my time there.
 
I thank Bedford Park for giving me and my ideas a chance. I know I tested you; I know I worked you, but you stuck with me through all of it. My favorite thing at Bedford Park Church, outside of seeing people giving their lives to God, was seeing the members fulfilling their ministries and growing beyond what they knew they were capable of. And I believe that the church and its people are capable of even more. Don’t stop now. Keep up the momentum, keep growing in number and keep growing in your ministry for God. Keep moving forward to your full potential that God has for you.
 
Amazingly, my dad who had me preach as part of the series that launched Bedford Park Church, will be installed as the new pastor of this church tomorrow. With my dad as their new pastor and with God as their ultimate leader, I believe there are bright days ahead for Bedford Park Church.
3 Comments
Madeline
11/16/2024 03:14:09 pm

We will miss you Pastor Jamel.

Reply
Wayne Jamel
11/16/2024 06:27:16 pm

Thank you Maddie. We will miss you guys too.

Reply
Debbie-Ann MaGann
11/17/2024 03:49:34 pm

Thank you Pastor Wayne for your kind words and hard work through dynamic sermons and studies in helping us each grow in our spiritual walk. It has been a journey, and along the way the Lord has used you to teach us about the importance of service, persistency and always having an open, accepting heart to those who may seem different from us. We wish you and your beautiful family God’s continued blessing as you continue to work his vineyard.

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