Baptists must return to roots

There is victory in praise.

This was Bishop John Carrington's message to Spiritual/Shouter Baptists in Tobago on Monday as the country celebrated the 24th anniversary of Liberation Day being declared a public holiday in TT.

Celberations across the country have been subdued as covid19 restructions prohibit gatherings over ten people. Nevertheless, Carrington said God is still present.

"Sometimes, in the darkest hour of our lives, if we continue to praise and worship God, there is deliverance in that time," Carrington, president of the Tobago United Spiritual Baptist Assembly, told Newsday Tobago.

"That is really what I want to base my thoughts on for our Liberation Day. So, when you think that there is no way, there is a waymaker who is always ready to make a way. But he is the way and he does it in his own time Sometimes, out of the evil of situations cometh good."

Carrington, who is also pastor of the Mt Beulah Spiritual Baptist Church, Charlotteville, was alluding to the novel coronavirus, which has already infected more than 80 people in TT, including a health care worker at the Scarborough General Hospital.

The strict measures imposed by the Government to prevent the spread of the virus have caused many churches to either stop or scale down their services.

Some churches are hosting virtual services to meet the spiritual needs of their flock.

Carrington, who has been a Spiritual Baptist since 1968, said his church was no exception.

The bishop said on Monday he had planned to minister at a simple service, of no more than five people, in Charlotteville.

He also urged other members to return to their roots and gather and celebrate in small groups in their respective communities.

"We can celebrate on our own, within our families. In the olden days, that is how Spiritual Baptists used be. They would have had little home services.

"But as the years went by, times change. And now, we have no choice but to revert to that."

Carrington said the hymns Baptists have sung over the years reflected their struggles to keep the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors alive.

"So, we just have to stay home with your family around and sing and clap and praise the Lord. That is the only way out."

The Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), meanwhile, extended Liberation Day greetings to the Baptist community.

In a Whatsapp video, the party's leader Watson Duke told the faithful, covid19 must not dampen their celebrations.

"We join with you in this year's celebration, coronavirus or not, we are saying the Kingdom of God is with you and let's celebrate with our hearts, our souls, with our families, Shouter Liberation Baptist Day," Duke said.

PDP deputy political leader Dr Faith BYisrael assured the battle against the virus will be won.

"We know that 2020 celebrations are happening differently because of covid19. But we know that our Spiritual Baptist people are the ones who could show Trinidad and Tobago, dare I say the world, how to rally together and so, we can do this," she said.

Farley Augustine, PDP deputy leader, recalled the struggles Baptists had to endure to gain acceptance and respectability.

"Religious liberty is an important facet in any democracy and, unfortunately the Spiritual Baptist community had to suffer for many years before we could realise full religious liberties in this country.

"But we are happy we have religious liberty and even in these troubled times, I am happy that we can join the Spiritual Baptist community in agonising before God for our land so that we can heal the land and realise our dreams and aspirations as an island," he said.

The holiday observes the repeal on March 30, 1951, of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance which prohibited the activities of the Shouter/Spiritual Baptist faith in the region.