Spiritual Baptist

Last updated

The Spiritual Baptist faith is a religion created by persons of African ancestry in the plantations they came to in the former British West Indies countries predominantly in the islands of Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago and the Virgin Islands. It is syncretic Afro-Caribbean religion that combines elements of the many varied traditional African religions brought by the enslaved populations combined with Christianity. Spiritual Baptists consider themselves to be Christians.

Contents

The Baptist faith has a different beginning in the nation of Trinidad, as unlike the spiritual baptist tradition in the other countries where the religion developed in the plantations where the enslaved were sent, the religion in Trinidad was brought into the country by the Merikins, former American slaves who were recruited by the British to fight, as the Corps of Colonial Marines, against the Americans during the War of 1812. After the end of the war, these ex-slaves were settled in Trinidad, to the east of the Mission of Savannah Grande (now known as Princes Town) in six villages, since then called the Company Villages. [1] [2]

These American settlers brought with them the Baptist faith of the Second Great Awakening combined with, in the case of those from Georgia, the Gullah culture. With the coming of missionaries of the Baptist Missionary Society from Great Britain, the Baptist faith in the Company Villages was much affected, but despite the ensuing schism between the so-called London Baptists and the rest, the Baptist congregations of the Company Villages, even including those with Gullah origins, retained so little visible African influence in their practice that John Hackshaw was able to give a different view of the Baptists in the north of the country:

"While those that settled in the 'Company Villages' were exposed to the Baptist Missionary Society's influence, those that settled in the North practiced their beliefs as brought from America with the inclusion of African religious practice and beliefs joined by those they met here which blossomed into the group now known as 'Spiritual Baptists'." [2]

The faith expanded to Barbados in 1957 as the Sons of God Apostolic Spiritual Baptists movement. [3] It now ranks as one of two indigenous religions in the country, the other being the Rastafari religion. [4] Archbishop Granville Williams, who was born in Barbados, lived for 16 years in Trinidad and Tobago, where he witnessed the local Spiritual Baptists. Becoming enthusiastic about the Trinidadian movement, he asserted that he had seen a vision and heard the voice of God. Upon returning to Barbados he held the first open-air meeting in Oistins, Christ Church. Due to a well received response in Barbados, he quickly established the Jerusalem Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church in Ealing Grove. This church was quickly followed by Zion at Richmond Gap. As of 1999 the following in Barbados had reached around 1,900 and the Jerusalem church had been rebuilt to seat 3,000.

Name

The local name of the Spiritual Baptist in Trinidad are called the Shouters which derives from the characteristic practice of the religion. Followers are very vocal in singing, praying, and preaching. However, shouter is seen as a derogatory term and the term spiritual is preferred due to the practice of invoking the Holy Spirit during worship.

Spiritual Baptists in St Vincent are locally called the shakers due to their practice of invoking the Holy Spirit during their praise and worship. Vincentian Baptists are also known colloquially as 'Converted', speaking to them being converted to Christianity during slavery.

Religious focus

The activities of the Spiritual Baptists in Trinidad and Tobago were prohibited in 1917 by the Shouter Prohibition Ordinance, which was eventually repealed in 1951. The late opposition parliamentarian Ashford Sinanan moved to repeal the ordinance under the PNM government and was successful. Today Spiritual Baptists can practise their religion freely. The United National Congress granted them a national holiday and also gave them land on which to establish their headquarters.

Typical attire

The colours of the headdress or clothes vary and represent the 'spiritual cities', the saints with which the individual most relates, or various qualities of belief. [5]

Males

Men can wear a headwrap however the very top of the head is usually left uncovered. Men tend to wear a gown or short cassocks. Persons of higher rank (Shepherds, Reverends, Bishops, etc.) can wear a surplice over the gown.

Females

Holiday

In 1996 the Government of Trinidad and Tobago granted a public holiday to the Spiritual Baptist faith, to be celebrated on 30 March, called Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day, in memory of the struggle and in recognition of the repeal of the prohibition law. [6] Trinidad and Tobago is the only country that celebrates a public holiday for the Spiritual Baptist faith.

Shango Baptists

Shango Baptists was created in Trinidad and only practiced in Trinidad. It has no relation to the spiritual baptist religion. Shango is the practice of the Trinidad Orisha religion. In Trinidad, Orisha is also called Shango, and the term "Shango Baptist" is sometimes used to describe worshipers who are involved with both Spiritual Baptism and Orisha/Shango. The term "Shango Baptist" has come to have negative connotations for some worshippers of both Spiritual Baptism and Orisha/Shango, who argue that those who say "Shango Baptist" conflate the two religions, when in fact they are completely separate religions. As some have said, "There is no thing as Shango Baptist. Shango is Shango. Baptist is Baptist". [7] Others say that Shango Baptists simply "wear two hats"; their mixture of "Baptist and Orisha practices" is a result of similar oppression by colonial authorities in Trinidad. [8]

In practice, the Trinidad Orisha religion is not connected with the Spiritual Baptisms. Orisha worship services are not similar to and not held at the same locations as Spiritual Baptist churches. [9]

Places of worship of Spiritual Baptist

Grenada

Barbados

Canada

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

United Kingdom

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oshun</span> Yoruba orisha

Oshun is the Yoruba orisha associated with love, sexuality, fertility, femininity, water, destiny, divination, purity, and beauty, and the Osun River, and of wealth and prosperity in Voodoo. She is considered the most popular and venerated of the 401 orishas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orisha</span> Spirit that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba religious system

Orishas are divine spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Haitian Vaudou, Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. The preferred spelling varies depending on the language in question: òrìṣà is the spelling in the Yoruba language, orixá in Portuguese, and orisha, oricha, orichá or orixá in Spanish-speaking countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Baptist</span>

United Baptist is name of several diverse Baptist groups of Christianity in the United States and Canada.

The Apostolic Christian Church (ACC) is a worldwide Christian denomination from the Anabaptist tradition that practices credobaptism, closed communion, greeting other believers with a holy kiss, a capella worship in some branches, and the headcovering of women during services. The Apostolic Christian Church only ordains men, who are authorized to administer baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the laying on of hands.

Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day is an annual public holiday celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago on 30 March. The holiday commemorates the repeal on 30 March 1951 of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance that prohibited the activities of the Shouter or Spiritual Baptist faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African diaspora religions</span> Religions of the African diaspora

African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various nations of the Caribbean, Latin America and the Southern United States. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoruba religion</span> West-African religion

The Yoruba religion, West African Orisa (Òrìṣà), or Isese (Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Lagos states, as well as parts of Kogi state and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland.

Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, also known as Afro-Trinbagonians or Black Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are people from Trinidad and Tobago who are of Sub-Saharan African descent, mostly from West Africa. Social interpretations of race in Trinidad and Tobago are often used to dictate who is of West African descent. Mulatto-Creole, Dougla, Blasian, Zambo, Maroon, Pardo, Quadroon, Octoroon or Hexadecaroon (Quintroon) were all racial terms used to measure the amount of West African ancestry someone possessed in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout North American, Latin American and Caribbean history.

Siparia is a town in southern Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago, south of San Fernando, southwest of Penal and Debe and southeast of Fyzabad.

The culture of Trinidad and Tobago reflects the influence of Indian-South Asian, African, Indigenous, European, Chinese, North American, Latino, and Arab cultures. The histories of Trinidad and Tobago are different. There are differences in the cultural influences which have shaped each island. Trinidad and Tobago is an English-speaking country with strong links to the United Kingdom.

Religion in Trinidad and Tobago, which is a multi-religious country, is classifiable as follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black church</span> Christian congregations in the U.S. that minister predominantly to African Americans

The Black church is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that predominantly minister to, and are also led by African Americans, as well as these churches' collective traditions and members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion of Black Americans</span>

Religion of Black Americans refers to the religious and spiritual practices of African Americans. Historians generally agree that the religious life of Black Americans "forms the foundation of their community life". Before 1775 there was scattered evidence of organized religion among Black people in the Thirteen Colonies. The Methodist and Baptist churches became much more active in the 1780s. Their growth was quite rapid for the next 150 years, until their membership included the majority of Black Americans.

Kélé is an Afro-Saint Lucian religion, originated from the Djiné people of the Babonneau region. Its primary deities are Ogun, Shango and Eshu. Kélé ceremonies include the drumming of the tanbou manman and the tanbou ich of the Batá drum family. The religion has its origins in African slaves of the Babonneau region. The religion is strongly connected to the Ogun festival in Nigeria. Repressed by the Roman Catholic church until the early 1960s, it had been practiced in secrecy underground. The ritual includes the display of smooth stones and iron or steel items in honor of Ogun. The faith itself is believed by some scholars to be a Saint Lucian version of Yoruba religion.

The Apostolic Christian Church of America is an Anabaptist Christian denomination, based in the United States, and a branch of the Apostolic Christian Church. The denomination consists of approximately 90 congregations in the United States, Japan, Mexico and Canada.

Stephen D. Glazier is an American anthropologist who specializes in comparative religion. Currently, he is a Senior Research Anthropologist at the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. Since 1976, Glazier has conducted ethnographic fieldwork on the Caribbean island of Trinidad focusing on the Spiritual Baptists, Orisa, and Rastafari. He also publishes on Caribbean archaeology and prehistory. Glazier cataloged Irving Rouse's St. Joseph (Trinidad) and Mayo (Trinidad) collections for the Peabody Museum of Natural History. In 2017, Glazier retired as professor of Anthropology and Graduate Faculty Fellow at the University of Nebraska, where he taught classes in general (four-field) anthropology, race and minority relations, and a graduate seminar on the anthropology of belief systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinidad Orisha</span> Syncretic religion in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad Orisha, also known as Orisha religion and Shango, is a syncretic religion in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, originally from West Africa. Trinidad Orisha incorporates elements of Spiritual Baptism, and the closeness between Orisha and Spiritual Baptism has led to use of the term "Shango Baptist" to refer to members of either or both religions. Anthropologist James Houk described Trinidad Orisha as an "Afro-American religious complex", incorporating elements mainly from traditional African religion and Yoruba and including some elements from Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Baháʼí, and Amerindian mythologies.

The Wine of Astonishment is a 1982 novel written by Trinidadian author Earl Lovelace. The story depicts the struggles of a Spiritual Baptist community from the passing of the Prohibition Ordinance to repealing of the ban, portraying a 20-year struggle from 1932 to 1951. Themes such as racism, women in society, religion, change, oppression, power and authority are featured throughout the book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church membership</span> The state of being accepted into a local church congregation

Church membership, in Christianity, is the state of belonging to a local church congregation, which in most cases, simultaneously makes one a member of a Christian denomination and the universal Christian Church. Christian theologians have taught that church membership is commanded in the Bible. The process of becoming a church member varies based on the Christian denomination. Those preparing to become full members of a church are known variously as catechumens, candidates or probationers depending on the Christian denomination and the sacramental status of the individual.

References

  1. ↑ Weiss, John McNish (2002). The Merikens: Free Black American Settlers in Trinidad, 1815–16.
  2. 1 2 Hackshaw, John M. n.d. (c. 1991). The Baptist Denomination: A Concise History Commemorating One Hundred and Seventy-Five Years (1816–1991) of the Establishment of the ‘Company Villages’ and the BAPTIST FAITH in Trinidad and Tobago. Amphy and Bashana Jackson Memorial Society.
  3. ↑ Barbadians, Countries and Their Cultures.
  4. ↑ Rastafarianism in Barbados
  5. ↑ Staff writer (2016). "The Spiritual Baptists, an integral part of Crop Over". National Cultural Foundation of Barbados. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2019. Members wear colourful gowns, each colour symbolising a quality, with white for purity; cream for spirituality; blue for holiness; gold for royalty; green for strength; brown for happiness; silver-grey for overcoming; pink for success, and red for strength as well as symbolising the Blood of Christ.
  6. ↑ Spiritual Baptists, National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago
  7. ↑ Lum, Kenneth Ant (2000). Praising His Name in the Dance: Spirit Possession in the Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha Work, Trinidad, West Indies. Psychology Press. p. 292.
  8. ↑ Ashby, Glenville (28 June 2011). "Mahaba's Message". Trinidad & Tobago Guardian .
  9. ↑ Bazinet, Ryan (2012). "Shango Dances Across the Water: Music and the Re-Construction of Trinidadian Orisha in New York City". In Kamille Gentles-Peart; Maurice L. Hall (eds.). Re-Constructing Place and Space: Media, Culture, Discourse and the Constitution of Caribbean Diasporas. Cambridge Scholars Press. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2012-10-30.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.