Baptists call for education for all

Education has been and will continue to be the immediate focus of the Council of Elders Shouter Baptist.

Clayton Blackman, a member of the executive of the council and lecturer at the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of TT (COSTAATT) said, “Education is a major thrust as far as we are concerned. A healthy lifestyle too, which is why we do the annual 5k and 10k.”

He said the council has already provided a patient care course from which five people graduated with nurses’ assistant certificates and it hopes to make more vocational and technical short courses available in the near future. There are also plans to further develop the St Barbara’s Spiritual Baptist Primary School in Maloney and create a secondary school.

Blackman told Newsday the organisation has a number of strategic and business plans which are reviewed annually according to the needs and resources of the organisation. However, he said while there is incremental growth, he does not expect any drastic changes within the next 50 years because of a number of factors.

First, he said, the lack of financial resources hinders growth. For example he said the organisation is interested in acquiring more land but cannot afford to right now. However, despite financial restrictions, he said every year they add on or do repairs on the Empowerment Hall in Maloney. “As far back as I could remember, when we were under a little shed with dirt on the ground, every year we did something there. I must say Archbishop Barbara Gray-Burke is really a progressive leader.”

Another reason only small changes are possible is because some people are resistant to change. He said while there are individuals in the congregation with higher levels of education and good ideas for the organisation, there are others who prefer to continue doing things the old way. Then, he said there are some who do not want to put in the work. “We can sit and make plans but let me tell you, the workers are few so many times these things are put on hold.”

In addition, he said the management of the primary school takes up a lot of the board’s time. The board members also have to maintain church membership with the organisation of pilgrimages, feasts, thanksgivings and other spiritual and social activities.

Blackman admitted the membership has not grown as much as the executive would have liked, and there is no strategic plan to do so as most churches had relatively small membership and are content with their numbers.

He said Baptists depend on word-of-mouth to increase its membership as well as their reputation for helping and praying for those who need help. “We have a base and we try our best to maintain the membership rather than increase membership... But there is still a stigma attached to Baptists, and some people, although they might believe in the doctrine, don’t want another person to see them in the garb set out by the Baptist.”

Still, he said the council hopes to resume its regional conference of Baptist churches where members of churches affiliated with the organisation can associate with each other, form bonds, raise issues facing churches in the Caribbean, and discuss solutions.