Cult of Lies

Conspiracies, murder, and the tragic end to a controversial Jamaican church

- BY RACHEL BROWNE ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL BYERS

ON THE EVENING of October 17, 2021, a thirty-nine-year-old woman named Taneka Gardner pulled a suitcase through the gates of a church in Montego Bay, Jamaica. She had been introduced to Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries years earlier by her aunt, and Gardner had been attending often—captivated by the sermons of the church’s charismatic founder and pastor, Kevin Smith.

Smith was a self-proclaimed prophet, sharing a preaching style with popular American megachurch and Baptist leaders. He was adored for his gregarious energy. But Smith’s behaviour that day was unrecognizable. For months, he had become obsessed with online conspiracy theories, his social media full of disinformation about the “plandemic,” the impending collapse of the global economy, and health problems associated with 5G networks. He had become paranoid about how other countries, including Canada, where he had grown up and trained as a pastor, were responding to COVID-19.

Hours before Gardner arrived, Smith, also thirty-nine, had posted on Facebook, commanding people to dress in white, leave their cellphones at home, and rush to the church. “THE ARK is Loading now!” he wrote, using the nickname of his church. “The Flood is coming. Go Now RUN,” he wrote again. Dozens of loyal parishioners, including children, took heed of Smith’s call and hurried toward the church compound on Albion Road, a suburban area of the city, in the parish of St. James.

As congregants entered the church, Smith wrote the names of each person in a book. When Gardner walked through the doors, Smith turned to her. “Is your blood clean?” he asked. “Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life?” Gardner replied yes. Smith then said that her blood had to be cleansed in order for her to be resurrected. “I will have to cut your throat,” he told her. She allegedly again replied, “Yes.”