Spiritual Baptist

The Spiritual Baptist (or Shouter Baptist) faith is a syncretic Afro-American religion which combines elements of traditional African religion with Christianity. Despite the African influences, Spiritual Baptists consider themselves to be Christians.

The Baptist faith was brought to Trinidad by the "Merikens", 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’".^[3]

The faith expanded to Barbados in 1957 as the Sons of God Apostolic Spiritual Baptists movement.^[4] It now ranks as one of two indigenous religions in the country, the other being the Rastafari religion.^[5] Archbishop Granville Williams who originated from Barbados, lived in Trinidad and Tobago for sixteen years where he witnessed the local Spiritual Baptists. Williams become enthusiastic about the Trinidadian movement where he asserted to have 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 Earling Grove. This church was quickly followed by Zion at Richmond Gap. As of 1999 the following in Barbados reached around 1,900 and the Jerusalem church has been rebuilt to seat 3,000.

Name

The name Shouter derives from the fact that when the Baptists "catch the Spirit", they clap and shout, making a loud noise that, especially during open air services, some in the general public may object to. "Shouter" is seen as a derogatory term by many modern day Baptists on the island, seeing as it was first originally imposed upon them by the mainstream, the British colonial government.

Prohibition

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 practice their religion freely. The United National Congress granted them a national holiday (cf. below) and also gave them land on which to establish their headquarters.

Holiday

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

Shango Baptists

Many Spiritual Baptist churches have overlapping memberships with practitioners 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 worshipers of both Spiritual Baptism and Orisha/Shango, who argue that those who say "Shango Baptist" conflate the two religions, when in fact they are separate. 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 very closely connected with the Spiritual Baptists. Orisha worship services typically begin with a section of Baptist hymns, and in Trinidad and New York Orisha events are often held at the same locations as Spiritual Baptist churches.^[9]

Places of worship

Barbados

• The Cathedral Church of Jerusalem – Ealing Grove, Christ Church
• Beulah Temple – Bishops, St. Lucy
• Zion Apostolic Temple – Richmond Gap, St. Michael

United States

• Bethlehem Church – Brooklyn, New York
• Pillar of Fire Church – Dorchester, Massachusetts
• Scarlet Cord Church – New Bedford, Massachusetts
• St. Pauls Seven Day Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church – Brooklyn, New York
• --; Los Angeles, California

Trinidad & Tobago

• Holy Faith Spiritual Baptist Tabernacle

Canada

• St. Theresa Well of Life Spiritual Baptist Tabernacle , Toronto, Ontario

See also

• Orisha
• Pentecostalism#Baptism with the Holy Spirit
• Religion in Trinidad and Tobago
• Santería
• The Spiritual Baptist Archdiocese of New York, Inc.

References

Further reading

• Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions
• Gall, Timothy L. (ed). Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture & Daily Life: Vol. 2 - Americas. Cleveland, Ohio: Eastword Publications Development (1998); pg. 76-77.
• Keeney, Bradford. Shakers of St. Vincent. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Ringing Rocks Press, 2002.
• Scott, Caroline 1999. Insight Guide Barbados. Discovery Channel and Insight Guides; fourth edition, Singapore. Pg. 85 ISBN 0-88729-033-7

External links

• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• West Indian United Spiritual Baptist Sacred Order
• Spiritual Baptist Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago
• Spiritual Baptists in Trinidad and Tobago
• Barbados National Cultural Foundation (NCF) -- Spiritual Baptists Culture of Barbados

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