Spiritual Baptist
religion
Shouter Baptist faith
Shouter Baptist faith is a syncretic AfroAmerican religion which combines
elements of traditional African religion
with Christianity. Despite the African
influences, Spiritual Baptists consider
themselves to be Christians.
History
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.
History
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
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which was eventually repealed in 1951.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. Trinidad and Tobago is
the only country that celebrates a public
holiday for the Spiritual Baptist faith.
practices
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There are several practices that are important
to Baptist these include:
Baptism
Mourning
Pilgrimages
Commemoration to the dead
Bands
Doption
Specking in tongues
Practices continue
• Roadside preaching/missions
• Praying out loud
• Mode of dress
Symbolic sacred item
• Alter: is the highest level in the church, and is the
symbol of belief, prayers, praise and worship.
• Bell: used in the beginning of the service to call
members to worship.
• Shepherd’s Rod and Staff: symbolizes the divine
authority and virtue of the office of the shepherd.
• Centre pole: is the central point of the church
where members prayers are offered,
• Water: used for washing, consecrating, cleansing
and drinking.
Continuation
• Candles and candlestick: candlestick symbolizes
the Baptist Church and the candles, the spirits of
the church.
• Lothar: a vessel used I the church to symbolizes
the holy state of the man before God in worship
and contains water and flowers.
• Taria: vessel used to symbolizes the circle of
divinity within which man places himself in
worship before God.
• Incense: used to provide a sweet aroma to
symbolize the prayer of faithful.
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". 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.
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
Trinidad & Tobago
• Holy Faith Spiritual Baptist Tabernacle