Mother Moy: Unshakeable faith

Amid deepening concerns about alleged corruption, runaway crime and fears that family life is under threat, Elect Lady Reverend Mother Lydmoy Brebnor-Dillon has one wish for the country.

"I wish that we will reconcile with our Maker and uphold our moral and spiritual values," she told WMN on the occasion of Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Liberation Day.

Held annually on March 30, the observance commemorates the repeal in 1951 of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance which had prevented Baptists from practising their faith in the region. In TT, Liberation Day was declared a national holiday in 1996.

For Brebnor-Dillon, 62, no individual, group, class or profession is exempt from the moral and spiritual decay confronting the country.

What concerns her, though, is the perceived unwillingness to accept responsibility for it.

"According to who does it, determines right or wrong and this must not continue to be so," she observed.

"As the scripture says, men have become lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God. Interest is in obtaining wealth at all or any cost, this is causing the fabric of our society to decay. We need to return to the teachings of our Maker."

Known fondly as "Mother Moy" among the faithful at El Bethel Spiritual Baptist Church, Windsor Trace Extension, Mt St George, Tobago, where she ministers, Brebnor-Dillon has moved past the spiritual doubts and concerns she encountered in her youth to a woman of unshakeable faith as a Spiritual Shouter Baptist.

In fact, Brebnor-Dillon celebrates her 34th anniversary as a Spiritual Baptist this year. She said she has never regretted becoming involved in the faith.

"I welcome the awesomeness of the presence of God in our worship and in my life. I also love how we attire ourselves, the revelations one receives when spiritual manifestations take place, and last but not least, the benefits received and the ability to overcome challenges when they come."

It's a cry from her earliest religious experience.

The wife of Mural Dillon, head of the Tobago United Spiritual Baptist Assembly, Brebnor-Dillon grew up in the Anglican church but joked she never liked "them people" who worshipped there.

She recalled: "They (Anglicans) always know and always see. If I was going somewhere and I met them keeping a meeting/service, I found somewhere else to pass. I wanted to have nothing to do with them. But, looking back, I behaved like that because of lack of understanding."

However, Brebnor-Dillon said time has changed her perspective "because in my search for spiritual and carnal help and development, I am here and very proud to be a member of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist faith.

"I needed spiritual assistance and found it nowhere else," she said of the Baptist church.

"I was taught how to pray and communicate with the Most High God. I received a deeper understanding of the spiritual pathway. Through studies of the holy scripture, I continued to gain more knowledge daily, and was eventually ordained a minister of religion."

Brebnor-Dillon's ministry has taken her to various parts of the Caribbean and North America. In Tobago, she has worshipped at Spiritual Baptist churches in Signal Hill, Island Road, Moriah, and others.

In preparation for yesterday's observance, Brebnor-Dillon said she carried out her annual ritual of prayer, fasting and meditation.

Members of the El Bethel Spiritual Baptist Church, she said, also washed one-another's feet in preparation for the religious procession which takes place before the official start of Liberation Day activities.

Yesterday, members of her flock and other churches gathered for a joyful celebration at the Orange Hill/Spring Garden traffic lights, along the Claude Noel Highway, under the banner of the Tobago United Spiritual Baptist Assembly.

There, they recalled the persecution their ancestors faced in order to preserve their African rituals and traditions.

Even so, Brebnor-Dillon told WMN there are mixed views about the faith in Tobago.

"It is very good and accepted by some people and completely bad by others," she said. "Some members of our community recognise the Spiritual Baptist faith as a religious organisation and accept our form of worship and teachings. They work together with us although they are of a different persuasion.

"On the other hand, some see us as nobodies and attempt to treat us in that light. They condemn the faith."

Why?

She said there is a long-held perception that the faith is a cult.

"But, certainly, it is not. Some people feel that we work obeah, we indulge in heathen and barbaric worship (this was one of the reasons for the ban on the faith back in 1917). But, we are Christians because our doctrine is rooted in the holy scriptures."

Brebnor-Dillon said these misconceptions are not justified.

"Of course not. This is why the Act was repealed on March 30, 1951."

Still, she feels the Baptist flock is growing on the island "slow but sure."

"The reason for the slow growth is because some persons in society ill speak the faith in the presence of young people and because of their lack of knowledge of the faith, young people also prefer to go to church for one hour, instead of the hours we spend at worship."

Asked if young people are attracted to the faith, she said: "Yes, though not as many as we would like."

"Some of our ministers/elders visit schools for religious instruction. This is an opportunity to speak to them. We also host seminars from time to time and they are always invited to participate. Some of our churches have more young persons than adults."

Regarding perennial concerns about unity among Baptists, even from among members of their own flock, Brebnor-Dillon contends there is no basis for such argument. She said there are four theories about the origin of the faith.

Brebnor-Dillon said the early practitioners of the faith in north, south and east Trinidad had differences of administrations "and these would account for the diversities or differences."

"We are singular but there are diversities among us. This is because of the origin of the faith."