The Baptists are coming
Published:Thursday | June 27, 2013 | 12:00 AM
By Devon Dick
Tomorrow, Baptists from all over the world will congregate in Ocho Rios to begin a weekend of discussions on the Holy Spirit. The discussions will take place mainly among theological educators. Hopefully, the discussion on the third person of the Godhead will facilitate a good meeting and Baptists will bring to the table an enlightened understanding of the Holy Spirit, which is absent from much of the beliefs and practices these days. Too often, the work of the Holy Spirit is synonymous with spirit possession.
Then, in a reflective spirit, these international Baptists will visit historic sites, giving tourism a boost.
They will recall aspects of National Hero Sam Sharpe's passive resistance as they visit Kensington Estates in the hills of St James and view the arena of this event, dubbed the 'Baptist War' by many historians. They will visit the monument to the fallen protesters of this movement, and the site of Sharpe's execution in Sam Sharpe Square. Then they will stop at the Burchell Baptist Church, where it is presumed that the remains of Sharpe are located under the pulpit.
During this tour, worldwide Baptists will visit the Salter's Hill Baptist Church with its historic connections to African American Moses Baker, one of the pioneers of Baptist work and who could be called Father of Christianity in western Jamaica.
OTHER SITES OF INTEREST
In Trelawny, they will visit Falmouth to view the William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church and an old manse in that town, noted for its Georgian architecture. The ruins of Calabar, the first theological college in the Western Hemisphere established a few years after Emancipation, will be included in the tour as a site of interest.
The tourists will drive through Sturge Town, a free village.
Then, on July 1, the annual gathering will officially begin. Two featured papers will be presented on religious freedom in Jamaica and also in the Middle East. One forum will receive responses to the report coming out of the second round of the Baptist-Catholic dialogue that took place between the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) and the Vatican. A number of sessions will examine relationships between Baptists and Muslims, including a report on a December 2012 BWA human rights visit to Nigeria. Globally, there is a desire for peace between Muslims and Christians.
The life, work and contribution of five exceptional Baptists, including George Lisle, an African American who, in 1783, founded Baptist work in Jamaica, will be honoured through the presentation of papers, discussions, and theological discourses.
SCHOLARS TO HAVE DISCUSSIONS
A round table will be held on the contribution of Sharpe, a Baptist deacon who led a resistance that is believed to have hastened the end of slavery in the English-speaking Caribbean. A number of scholars, including Paul Fiddes of Oxford University and Garnett Roper, president of the Jamaica Theological Seminary, will reflect on Sharpe.
Other issues to be explored at the annual gathering include evangelism, mission, human rights, gender-based violence, and environmental justice.
It is significant that Baptists from across the globe will meet here because Neville Callam, a Jamaican, is the general secretary of the BWA, and is the first person of African origin to hold that post. Also, one of the vice-presidents of the BWA is Burchell Taylor, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church. Baptists worldwide have been in the forefront in the struggle for religious liberty, and in Jamaica have been in the vanguard in the struggle for freedom, and it is hoped that this gathering will re-awaken Baptists to the challenges of this hour in Jamaica and the world.
Rev Devon Dick, PhD, is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew. Send comments to columns@gleanerjm.com.