Spiritual Baptist
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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.
This religion contains both elements of Protestant Christianity and many African rituals and beliefs. This religion is not unique to Trinidad and Tobago. In many other Caribbean islands, such as St. Vincent and the Grenadines, this religion is widely practiced. With the exception of the Orisha worshippers, whose religion comes from Africa, all of the other religions practiced in Trinidad and Tobago were brought here by either European colonisers or Indian and Chinese indentured labourers.
In the 1950s, one group used to go to the Blue Basin waterfall near Diego Martin every Sunday. The women were in brightly coloured African turbans and dresses and the minister wore white robes. He would begin the service by ringing a big brass schoolbell while all the congregation began clapping and singing and passing around a bottle of rum. Then each member of the congregation was baptized one by one by full immersion into the pool at the foot of the waterfall while being blessed by the minister.
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.
