Spiritual Baptist

The origins and early development of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Religion in Trinidad and Tobago are not well known but the consensus is that the religion developed among the people of African descent during the Nineteenth Century.
It can be found throughout the Caribbean under various names but according to Gibbs de Peza (10), the name Spiritual Shouter Baptist is indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago. It is a unique religion, comprising elements of Protestant Christianity and African doctrines and rituals. It is also one of the few religions indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago.

Spiritual Baptist
The Spiritual Baptist Church has its roots in Africa but has been present in the Caribbean from about the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. This religious movement was able to find its way to the beautiful island of Barbados in 1957 through the conveyance of the Reverend Granville Williams. After the establishment of the first Spiritual Baptist Church in Barbados, the Reverend Granville Williams has been responsible for its operations since its commencement on the island. The evolution of the church has been quite significant over the last fifty (50) years as they continue to grow in numbers.

Their style of worship is very much on a par with that of the African way which involves seemingly endless movement, hand-clapping, rhythymic dancing, singing and intense praying. The beautiful shores of Barbados come alive when new members are accepted into this faith as an immersion of the entire body into the crystal-clears waters of the island takes place surrounded by supportive church members. Once accepted into the faith, members go through a period of isolation for seven (7) to ten (10) days in an effort to cleanse the mind through prayer and purification.

In Barbados, the Spiritual Baptist group is also known as the 'Tie heads', primarily because of their religious attire which consists of cloths tied around the heads of both men and women at formal and semi-formal occasions. Members wear colorful gowns with each colour being representative of something symbolic. 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.

The Shaker religion, as it was then known, emerged from the slave plantations and first came to the consciousness of the colony of St.Vincent from its early practitioners on the Calder estate in the period after emancipation. Given its origin it was not officially recognised by the colonial state and its followers had to live a dual life, their children being baptised in the officially recognised churches but worshipping in their own church. In this bow to officialdom, they were mostly baptised in the Methodist Church, but worshiped in their Shaker Prayer houses which were mainly located in remote areas away from official scrutiny. Members of the Church felt more at home with a religion that was their own and catered to their African persona and to the state of a people newly freed from slavery.

The declining numbers in some of the recognized churches as the Shakers grew in numbers led to efforts to stamp them out. The first signal came in an article in the Sentry newspaper on October 11, 1901, that was apparently prompted by members of the official churches and which acknowledged that there was indeed a falling away from the established churches. This was only the opening round as church, government and newspapers combined their efforts in the fight against your religion. This came to a climax with the passage of the Shakers Prohibition Ordinance in 1912. Two things were held against the Shaker religion, the fact that its members were poor and that it had African roots.

Spiritual Baptist
The Spiritual Baptist (or Shouter Baptist) faith is an Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion which combines elements of traditional West African religions with Christianity. The Spiritual Baptist faith is based in Trinidad and Tobago. Despite the African influences, Spiritual Baptists consider themselves to be Christians. The Baptist faith was brought to Trinidad by the Merikins, former American slaves who were recruited by the British to fight for them during the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. After the end of these wars, the ex-slaves were settled in remote areas of Trinidad.