Reggae sensation turned pastor Junior Tucker talks family

Our Marriage & the Family feature has uplifting content from Family & Faith Magazine, founded by Editorial Director Shelly-Ann Harris.

SEVERAL years ago, Jamaica came to know Junior Tucker as the sensational reggae crooner turned Christian artiste. Few, however, know that he is now an ordained pastor who has served for approximately 20 years in various ministry capacities in churches in the United States, and in November 2015 launched True Word and Worship Church in Kingston.

Tucker is married to Trudy, and the two have been blessed with five beautiful children — Chyna, Zoe, Paige, Laila and Judah. Although they have countless joyous testimonies to share, they have also had to weather the storms.

Prior to returning to Jamaica, Tucker studied theology and psychology in the United States and served as pastor, preacher and worship leader in several churches. Still, he admits that becoming a pastor was never his plan.

“If years ago you told me that I was going to be a pastor, I’d laugh… but the Bible says that every step of a righteous man is ordered,” Tucker shared.

Explaining the meaning of his church’s motto, No Perfect People Allowed, Tucker said, “One of the mistakes that we make is trying to get perfect before we come to church so I am saying no, come, we will help you towards perfection as we ourselves are being made perfect. He added that catering to the whole man is intentional in his ministry and that life application is a key approach used during his sermons.

Parenting pastors’ kids

No doubt the Tuckers will continue to minister the word of God and the church will grow, but we were keen to determine how they are managing family life, especially with the notion that pastors’ kids are oftentimes wayward and troubled. Trudy emphasised that is very important to stay involved in the children’s lives, in their music, the TV shows they are watching, and so on. Through a close relationship, parents have ‘entrance’ to truly discuss and influence their children’s decisions, she counsels.

Tucker adds that a key discipline for him is seeking and listening to the Lord as it relates to family matters. “I know for me, being the head of the house, anytime I act like I’ve got this I am always in trouble, so I always have to consult Him (God), pray, find out what His word says about the situation I am dealing with or the family, and He leads and I follow Him and then everybody walks with me.”

He also recalls discussions he’s had with fellow pastors who were themselves children of pastors. He asked them how they would raise their kids differently. He recalls those pastors sharing that: “My parents sheltered me from the world so much, the moment I became free to leave the house I ran into the world. I wanted to find out what I was missing. So what they have done is they have had to walk with their children through the things of the world and so what I get from that is that they will watch TV with them, listen to what they are listening to and talk about it.”

The doting parents are also excited to share how God has blessed their lives with miraculous provision and healing. They fondly tell how God delivered on a promise to their firstborn, Chyna.

“When Chyna was two years old, her mother pointed her finger at her and said, ‘you are a getting a full scholarship at one of the best colleges in America and I’m going to pray and I’m going to ask God to bless you’, and she spoke it over her life and she kept on doing that and many nights she would lay hands on her and pray. Many times Chyna would act up as a teenager and she (Trudy) would speak it over her life and call it (into being) and say, ‘you are what God says and God says you are going to specifically get a full scholarship’ and we saw it come to pass.”

Losing a child

You would never be able to tell by just looking at the joyous Tucker household, but just a few years ago they lost their second child Zoe to a major illness. Accepting that the experience must have been excruciating and knowing that they still are charging forward into God’s plan for their lives, we wanted to simply find out what the couple left the situation knowing.

With tears streaming and her voice quivering, Trudy points to “a tangible experience of God’s grace”.

“There are days when you just don’t want to wake up or any regular person would probably be in depression or just can’t go any further. But then you know that there is something carrying you, literally just carrying you; you can’t explain it, ’cause when you should be down, you are up, you know that the fruit of the spirit is real — there is joy and there is peace.”

Indeed, Trudy’s experience brings meaning to the popular song — One set of footprints in the sand.

“For me it is that He is sovereign,” stated Tucker. “I asked the Lord why did He allow her to die, and He never answered me for quite a while and then one day I was in the kitchen and I heard the voice of the Lord speak to me. He said to me, ‘do you love my grace?’ and I said, ‘yes Lord’. He said to me, ‘what is grace?’ and I said ‘grace is undeserved favour’. He said, ‘you love my grace, don’t you?’ I said, ‘yes Lord’. He said, ‘you’ve never questioned my grace’. Then He said to me, ‘who can question my grace when I give it?’ I said, ‘nobody Lord’. He said, ‘In order for me to give grace I must be sovereign because only a sovereign God can give grace. But you love my grace but you don’t want to love me when I am sovereign. In order for me to grant grace, I must be sovereign’.”

While his reverence for God has grown tremendously, Tucker admits that he remains heartbroken. Nevertheless, the pastor continues to hearken to the voice of the Lord and pursue His will.

Some time ago, Tucker launched a new 12-track island worship album. Speaking to his evolving journey as a gospel artiste and pastor, Tucker said that God alerts him when it’s time to embark on another musical project.

“These songs come and I wrestle with them lyrically, I get the melody, I get the songs together…and put the album together,” he explained passionately noting that he is simply a channel for the delivery of God’s heart.

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