About Us

Our Vision

Church On The Rock’s vision is to preach good tidings to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, set the captives free and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord to those who mourn, giving them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.Isaiah 61: 1-3

Our History

In 1982, a young gospel musician, by the name of David Keane, sought to find a physical space for his music ministry ”Sonshine Ministries”, under which all ministry activities and opportunities could be conducted. However, upon the Lord leading him to a 2-3 acre property called Honey Hill, a prophetic word delivered by American Evangelist, Aquilla Nash, that the Lord was calling Keane to establish and pastor a church and that the Lord would raise up a word of the Lord on that property and the light of the ministry would cover the island and shine out to distant lands.

Though Keane had never considered being a pastor he obeyed the call, and in early 1984 the ministry started in the back of a Chevrolet pick-up parked at a basic school where a small group of members from the surrounding communities would come to hear the gospel, and on occasion meetings were held in various hotels to diversify the attendance to the ministry. The sole building on the Honey Hill property had seen better days as it was used as a place to do drugs prior, but this was the rock on which the Lord told Keane to establish the church so he went ahead to purchase the property and they began the process of preparing the building for the rapidly growing ministry. Then on October 24th, 1984, Church On The Rock Jamaica began with Isaiah 61: 1-3 on the minds and hearts of the people of God.

The church started with about 20 congregants but as time progressed people responded to the gospel and vibrant worship which serves as the foundation of Church On The Rock to this very day. Renovations began in earnest to ensure that the building could accommodate all the accoutrements of a church, and began to attract a diverse congregation, drawing persons to Christ from all stratas of society, which was not customary at all churches at that time.

Church On The Rock under the leadership of Pastor David Keane and the musical directorship of his wife, Pastor Denver Keane, emblazoned on the hearts of all who could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church became known for its excellence in music, from singers to musicians, to the overall worship experience. Apostle Keane was the trailblazer for introducing Reggae music into churches, which was not widely embraced at the time. Church On the Rock also stood on the forefront of introducing dance as a part of worship services in Jamaica. This has now become a staple in services across geographical and denominational lines in the country.

With COTR’s unique and transformative worship experiences the church led by Apostle Keane created various avenues of outreach to the surrounding communities and the wider nation. Some of these outreach initiatives include but are not limited to the Sunshine Medical Clinic, a school, the Andrew Keane Girls Home and Jamaica’s largest annual gospel festival series in the 90’s “Alleluia”. Apostle Keane and COTR did not stop there, but began in earnest in its early years to begin planting churches, with Church On The Rock Montego Bay in 1989, then Church On The Rock Ocho Rios in 2002.

On New Years Eve of December 2002 while Apostle Keane was preaching to thousands in persons and even more over television he suffered what doctors believe was a potentially fatal hemorrhagic stroke. He never ceased preaching, proclaiming “Satan, you lose again!” while urging congregants to come to Jesus in an altar call. Apostle Keane would after that night be hospitalised, and then a few months later allowed to go home to convalesce, but due to the severity of the stroke he was unable to continue his preaching ministry. So in (insert year) Pastor (now Apostle) Franz Fletcher was called to be the Senior Pastor of COTR Kingston with the assistance of his wife Pastor (now Senior Pastor) Dianne Fletcher to lead this assembly through to today.

On December 7, 2014, the Lord called the founder and visionary of this work, Apostle David Keane, home to be with Him. As an apostolic assembly, there was now need to have a new apostle for the church and as such Pastor Franz was made an Apostle to carry out the biblical assignment laid out in Romans 12:6-11. In 2019(?)Apostle Franz asked Pastor Dianne to become the Senior Pastor, and they lead the congregation hand in hand before God, and people to accomplish the vision of the House at its founding and prophetic visions, like Vision 2022…a governing territorial church appointed by God to be an apostolic and deliverance centre… a lighthouse to the nation and the region.

Our Core Values

We Value Dynamic Corporate Worship Experience

We are committed to preparing a habitation for the presence of God. We do not come to any service that we are not in full expectation to encounter a real and living God through honouring and glorifying him in worship.

We Value People And Relationships:

We are committed to doing everything we can to create avenues for every person to be connected to their assignment in the local body. We make every effort to provide each person with an environment in which their gifts and talents can flourish and grow.

We Value Servanthood

We believe it is important to serve one another and our community as this is our responsibility as Christians. We have many areas within the church to serve as well as many outreach community events you can get involved in.

We Value Stewardship

We believe that we steward all that God has given us. With Godly judgement, we dedicate our lives to give our time and resources to make every opportunity available to develop others and see the Kingdom of God advanced.