Go ahead...Ask Pastor Jemma

The topic of your most private sexcapades is hardly one that married or engaged worshippers broach with their pastors. Ditto to admitting to the man of God that you’re lusting after someone else while still being married to another. But when a forum is presented for one to ask these questions anonymously, as with the case of Pastor Jemma Duncan’s radio show, Ask Pastor Jemma, the response is totally different. The programme airs on 98.1 FM at 3 pm on Fridays. Since the show’s inception one year ago, Pastor Jemma has been asked questions from her listenership that have made even her blush. “Yes, some of the questions hit you for six, but there is little that the pastor has not heard about.” The success of her 30-minute show over the last 12 months has been surprising even to her—with correspondence from her listeners spilling over to e-mail and snail mail and calls to the Divine Destiny Worship Centre, which she co-pastors with husband Apostle Vivian Duncan.

In fact it was Apostle Vivian, she said, who encouraged her to write the book Ask Pastor Jemma—101 Answers to questions people are afraid to ask and no one dares to answer Volume 1. “While on air one Friday, someone asked a certain question that was answered just the week before. When I pointed that out to the caller she wanted to know where and when she could hear that answer. “Without hesitation, Vivian, who usually accompanies me on the broadcast responded, ‘Pastor Jemma will have to write a book with these answers.’” In the book, Duncan uses Biblical support to answer questions on topics from speaking in tongues to paying tithes, erectile dysfunction in marriage, being single and looking for a mate to raising children and, yes, anal and oral sex.

The book, which was launched last Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel was written using actual questions from Pastor Jemma’s listeners and allows her to expound in a way that she can’t on radio given her limited time on-air. Marriage and sex are the key areas she often has to address on her show, hence it takes up its own chapter in the book. But there are Christian people who are also confused about spiritual matters and need clarity and parents are always searching for advice on raising their children. Just like I am Woman and If Animals Could Speak, a series of children’s stories which she originally wrote and read to her then young children, Pastor Jemma said her books are always inspired by God and motivated by her husband. “I never thought of myself as a writer but my husband does and has motivated me in that direction. “He believes that books can take you to places you may not be able to go physically and that when you leave this world you must leave something behind. He has written about 25 books. “But I tell people when it comes to inspiration, it is the Holy Spirit. I am intelligent but not that bright to come up with all those ideas.”

Ask Pastor Jemma is easy to read and very straight forward. Some questions are brief; others are more in depth, but all Pastor Jemma’s answers are clearly expressed and non-judgmental of the writer.
The Diego Martin pastor is hoping that her book will open up dialogue in the church about topics that are seen as taboo. She quoted James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him,” (NIV) to bolster her point that no subject should be off limits for congregation members and their pastors. “We sometimes have open forums to encourage members of the church to ask us questions but I have found that it’s the people outside who come in for counselling, rather than members of the church who ask most of the questions.” She also wants her book to provide the tools and keys to unlock situations in people's lives and to make a difference just as God has made a difference in her life. “I am someone who came out of a lot of struggles and has emerged triumphant. I am testimony of God’s ability to take what you give him and make something of it.”