Executive Director loses battle to illness, died peacefully

Executive Director loses battle to illness, died peacefully
Rev. Hope McCormack J.P. lived a life of service


October 4, 2010

By Trevesa DaSilva-Ashman and Michael Schurton

Jamaican based humanitarian outreach ministry Word Time Ministries of Jamaica has lost its Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Hope Juliet McCormack J.P to cancer.

Rev. Dr. Hope Juliet McCormack J.P has been a member of Word Time Ministries of Jamaica since October 15, 2004.

Dr. Hope McCormack and Elder Ascott McCormack had been married for 43 years and have two daughters Lisa-Gaye Hope and Dionne-Sheree Alicia and the grandparents of three, namely- Alex Anderson, Dominick and Deidre-Kay Smith.

Word Time Ministries of Jamaica had previously revived its International Intercessory Prayer Ministry, the Hour of Healing, Deliverance and Restoration on August 14, 2010 as part of its prayer campaign for the complete healing of Dr. Hope. The Ministry also recently curtailed several of its outreach programmes and projects in order to allow Dr. Hope to recover during her time of sickness.

The youth ministry which was founded on the principles of intercessory prayer revived its international Hour of Healing, Deliverance and Restoration, which is still been held each Saturday mornings from 9:00 am – 10:00 am.

The Hour of Healing, Deliverance and Restoration which stated in November 2001, has as its objective to see God's hands performing divine interventions and miracles for people of faith needing Healing, Deliverance and Restoration. The Hour of Healing, Deliverance and Restoration started out of a need to fortify members of Word Time Ministries, their families, friends and international partners and associates.

Dr. Hope McCormack was the ministry’s first Executive Director and was appointed to that position on January 31, 2009. Dr. Hope previously served as special advisor to the Chairman and Treasurer.

Dr. Hope also held several positions with the ministry including Member, Board of Trustees, January 15, 2005, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, January 28, 2006, Chairman of the Board of Advisors, January 26, 2008, Director of Finance and Development, January 26, 2008, and Executive Director, January 31, 2009. She was an invaluable member of the ministry’s Sports Foundation. In May 2008 in recognition of her work and her love for Sports Evangelism the Champion Boy Trophy and Scholarship was named in her honour.

On January 31, 2009 Word Time Ministries of Jamaica, upon the recommendation and approval of the Board of Directors, honoured the Rev. Dr. Hope McCormack as the fifth recipient of the Grace Life Time Achievement Award. The Ministry paid tribute to Dr. Hope McCormack for her consistency of purpose, quest for excellence, and inspirational leadership.

The Grace Life Time Achievement Award was presented to Rev. Dr. Hope McCormack for distinguished services to the nation for over 48 years, in the fields of Religion, Media, Education and Community Development.

The Grace Life Time Achievement Award is only presented in a significant year of the Ministry. Pass recipients include: Bishop Dr. the Honourable Carmen Lois Stewart O.J., O.D., J.P., Rev. Yvonne g. Dixon, Rev. Paul David Gallimore J.P, and international gospel artiste and founder of the Love Singers Mr. Samuel Wisdom.

Chairman Michael Schurton J.P. said that he was both shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Dr. Hope McCormack. “I feel a tremendous sense of personal loss and deep sorrow. Dr. Hope was more than a colleague in ministry. Dr. Hope was a like my second mother, a trusted friend and my mentor.”

Chairman Schurton also reflected that “Dr. Hope lived a life of outstanding service to the nation, church and the Ministry. She was purpose driven and had an inexhaustible drive to see change and the empowerment of young people”. He also stated that “This drive led her to become involved in service organizations, associations and religious endeavours from lower school, through Secondary and into tertiary training.

From 1963 she became a foundation member of the Pentecostal Gospel Temple, 111 Windward Road, Kingston 2, having given her life to the Lord at the tender age of nine. She has remained dedicated to the work of the Lord and has laboured assiduously in several areas of service to the Lord and mankind, not only in her own church and has remained faithful by God’s help.

The Word Time family is being asked to remember Rev. Ascott Keith McCormack, partners for forty-three years, two children Lisa-Gaye Anderson and Dionne-Sheree Alicia Smith and grand children Alex Anderson, Dominick and Deidre-Kay Smith and the rest of the family as well as the members of the Pentecostal Gospel Temple family in your prayers during this hour of need.

The life and work of Rev. Dr. Hope McCormack will be celebrated at a Thanksgiving Service tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 16, 2010 at the Pentecostal Gospel Temple, 111 Windward Road, Kingston 2, Jamaica.