The Bahamas

POPULATION 303,611
BAPTIST 35.4 percent
ANGLICAN 15.2 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 13.5 percent
PENTECOSTAL 12.9 percent
METHODIST 4.3 percent
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST 3.6 percent
NO RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION 2.9 percent
OTHER 12.2 percent

Country Overview

INTRODUCTION

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, lies north of Cuba and southeast of Florida. In 1492 c.e. Christopher Columbus made his historic landfall in The Bahamas. At that time the islands were inhabited by Native Americans whom anthropologists have variously identified as Lucayan, Taino Lucayan, and Arawak. With Columbus's arrival, Spain claimed the islands, but Spaniards never settled there. Within three decades of Iberian contact the Lucayan population had been taken from the islands and exterminated (as a result of harsh forced labor and European-borne diseases), and the islands remained uninhabited until 1648, when a group of English adventurers sailed from Bermuda to the island of Segatoo (now called Eleuthera).

Thereafter, the population of The Bahamas increased steadily. Immigrants included whites and free blacks from Bermuda, slaves imported from West Africa, white and black loyalists (who fled the United States at the end of the American Revolution) and their slaves, Black Seminoles (people of mixed Creek Indian and black ancestry) from Florida, and blacks liberated from slavery. The religious background of the white settlers was predominantly Anglican; a minority were Presbyterian and Methodist.

The Bahamas remained under British rule until 1973, when the archipelago became a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth. Today the majority of Bahamians are Christians, the largest percentage of whom are Baptists. Among the non-Christians are Muslims, Rastafarians, Jews, and Baha'is.

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE

Under The Bahamas Independence Order of 1973, all Bahamians are granted freedom of thought and religion. Christianity is taught in all schools, but a student may be exempted from these lessons. All church-sponsored schools receive annual grants from The Bahamas government. Church-state partnership is further evidenced by the fact that various churches administer—with state sponsorship—homes for children and the elderly.

Ecumenical activities in The Bahamas normally take place under the auspices of the Bahamas Christian Council. Its aims are to promote understanding and trust between the various churches, to engage in unified service efforts, and to witness for the Christian community in The Bahamas on matters of social or common concern. Membership in the council is open to every autonomous body of Christians.

Major Religion

BAPTIST CHURCHES

DATE OF ORIGIN 1790 c.e.
NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS 107,000

HISTORY

In 1790 c.e. two freed slaves from the United States, Prince Williams and Sharper Morris, built Bethel Baptist Chapel on the Bahamian island of New Providence. Thereafter they traveled throughout The Bahamas, evangelizing slaves and establishing Baptist communities.

In 1833, at the request of the Bethel Baptist community, the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) sent the missionary Joseph Burton from Jamaica to New Providence. Later that year Burton was joined by another BMS missionary, Kilner Pearson. In 1835 they built Zion Baptist Chapel, the first of the Baptist communities that now constitute the Zion Baptist Convention.

There are Baptist communities throughout The Bahamas. They are variously grouped into autonomous associations, conventions, unions, fellowships, and consortiums. In 1935 several of these bodies united to form the Bahamas Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention. In the 1960s and 1970s the Baptist communities supported the Progressive Liberal Party in its nonviolent struggle for The Bahamas to attain full adult suffrage (1962), a new constitution (1964), majority rule (1967), and political independence (1973).

EARLY AND MODERN LEADERS

Rev. Harcourt W. Brown (1910–79), pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, was vocal during The Bahamas' social and political struggles of the 1960s. Under Brown, Bethel Baptist Church became a center for spiritual nurture and the distribution of food and clothing. Brown was among a delegation of eight members of the Progressive Liberal Party who successfully pleaded The Bahamas' case for majority rule at the United Nations in 1965. Rev. Reuben E. Cooper (1913–80) was pastor of the Mission Baptist Church from 1940 to 1980. During the 1960s and '70s his concern for the poor led him to become involved in the Bahamas Christian Council, of which he served as chairman and then president.

Rev. Charles W. Saunders (born in 1930) has had a distinguished career as a public servant and as a Baptist pastor. He taught in many schools throughout The Bahamas and held administrative positions in the Ministry of Education. During his presidency (1981–97) of the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, the Bahamas Baptist Community College was established and the Baptist Bookstore was opened. Rev. William Thompson (born in 1943) succeeded Saunders as head of the convention in 1997 and was appointed president of the Bahamas Christian Council in 2004.

MAJOR THEOLOGIANS AND AUTHORS

Rev. Philip A. Rahming (born in 1933), an educator, author, and Baptist pastor, served as president of the Bahamas Christian Council during the 1970s and '80s. In 2000 he was a member of a delegation of theologians sent by the Baptist World Alliance to the Vatican to discuss relations between Baptists and the Catholic Church. Rahming has written several books, including a biography (1986) of Martin Luther King, Jr.

HOUSES OF WORSHIP AND HOLY PLACES

Bethel Baptist Church, in New Providence, is regarded as the mother church of the Baptist community in The Bahamas; the church that stands today was built in 1866 after the original building was destroyed by a hurricane. Saint John's Native Baptist Church, Zion Baptist Church, and Salem Baptist Church are other important churches.

WHAT IS SACRED?

Like Baptists worldwide, Bahamian Baptists are careful to avoid anything that may even appear to be idolatrous, and therefore they have no sacred objects.

HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS

There are no holidays or festivals distinct to Bahamian Baptists.

MODE OF DRESS

Baptists in The Bahamas wear the same Western styles of dress as other Bahamians.

DIETARY PRACTICES

Apart from an official ban on the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants, Baptist churches in The Bahamas do not restrict the dietary practices of their members. The strict avoidance of alcohol consumption is not practiced by all members of the Bahamian Baptist community, neither laity nor clergy. When alcohol is consumed, it is normally done privately.

RITUALS

Baptist worship is centered on the ministry of the Word, which emphasizes dynamic preaching and deemphasizes ritual. Bahamian Baptists celebrate the Lord's Supper once a month. On this occasion, grape juice is used instead of wine. Prayer is usually offered extemporaneously (praying "from the heart" rather than reading prayers from a book). There are Baptist weddings in The Bahamas, but there is nothing specifically Baptist about them; weddings are performed in accordance with the Marriage Act of The Bahamas.

RITES OF PASSAGE

Like all Baptists, members in The Bahamas practice believer's baptism, which takes place when a candidate says that he or she believes. There is no particular age attached to this, although the voluntary nature of it precludes infant baptism. In The Bahamas baptism, in the form of triple immersion, usually takes place in the sea, but some Baptist church buildings have a baptismal pool.

MEMBERSHIP

Attempts to increase membership in the Baptist faith in The Bahamas include an annual crusade sponsored by the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (which takes place in January) and revivals organized by individual Baptist churches. It is common for Bahamian Baptists to invite non-Baptists to attend their worship services.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Bahamian Baptists began their involvement in education in 1943, with the formation of the Jordan Memorial School (renamed Jordan Prince Williams School in 1961). Baptists also run the Charles W. Saunders Baptist School and the Bahamas Baptist Community College. There are often preschools attached to Baptist churches, particularly in New Providence.

SOCIAL ASPECTS

Baptists in The Bahamas regard marriage and the family as institutions created by God, and they tend to frown on divorce and remarriage. The Baptists have been particularly vocal about this when divorced and remarried persons have sought public office. Many Baptist ministers urge Bahamian husbands and fathers to imitate the roles of husbands and fathers in biblical times.

POLITICAL IMPACT

Baptists in The Bahamas first became involved in the politics of the islands when they joined the Methodists and Presbyterians in successfully agitating for the disestablishment and disendowment of the Anglican Church in 1869. The Baptists made their most significant impact on the Bahamian political scene in 1960s and the 1970s during the struggles for universal suffrage, constitutional reform, majority rule, and political independence. It is common for Baptist ministers in The Bahamas to put their pulpits at the disposal of politicians whose party they support, but many Baptists have been making efforts to discontinue this practice.

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

There are two controversial issues on which Baptists in The Bahamas are not prepared to compromise: homosexuality and a proposed expansion of organized gambling. Both of these issues have implications for The Bahamas' major industry, tourism, especially regarding the arrival of "gay cruise ships" into Bahamian ports (an issue that arose in 1996) and the expansion of hotel construction throughout the archipelago. In both instances Baptists and other Christians are at odds with The Bahamas government.

CULTURAL IMPACT

The Baptists' greatest artistic contribution to Bahamian culture is in the area of music, especially black spirituals, gospel music, rhyming spirituals, and a cappella singing. Rhyming spirituals, which originated in The Bahamas among Bahamians of African descent, recount a story in verse with two or more singers, one of whom is the rhyme or lead singer, and the other of whom is the bass singer. These types of music have, in turn, influenced Bahamian popular music.

Other Religions

The Anglican presence in The Bahamas dates back to 1648 c.e., when the English first arrived on the islands. In 1729 the Anglican Church was legally established and endowed as the Church of England in The Bahamas. With its establishment, the church was placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. The initial purpose of the church was to minister to the English colonists and to assist the government with the formation of a Christian society.

The latter purpose greatly affected the African diaspora in the islands, because Bahamian slave owners were mandated to see to the moral and religious instruction of their slaves with a view to making them members of the church. This action was further intensified in 1824, when the British Parliament established two bishoprics in the Anglophone Caribbean, one in Barbados and the other in Jamaica. Integral to the purpose of these two dioceses was preparing slaves in the British West Indies for emancipation in 1834 and for their full integration into civil society. In 1861 The Bahamas (along with the Turks and Caicos Islands) became a diocese separate from Jamaica.

In 1866 a devastating hurricane brought economic depression to The Bahamas. Church properties throughout the archipelago sustained damage. Because it was the state church, the Anglican Church had its properties repaired at the expense of the state. The Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians deemed this unfair and thus successfully agitated for the disestablishment and disendowment of the Church of England in The Bahamas in 1869. The first Bahamian-born bishop of the diocese, Michael H. Eldon, was appointed in 1972. He was succeeded in 1996 by another Bahamian, Drexel W. Gomez, who was also elected archbishop of the province of the West Indies in 1998.

The Anglican Church in The Bahamas has maintained its historic partnership with the state in providing education for the nation's children. With state sponsorship, the Anglican Church also administers a home for children and a home for teenage boys.

The Methodists and the Presbyterians arrived in The Bahamas in early nineteenth century around the same time as the Baptists. Religious pluralism continued apace with the arrivals of Roman Catholics in 1858, Brethren in 1877, African Methodist Episcopalians in the 1880s, Seventh-day Adventists in 1893, Pentecostals in 1910, the Salvation Army in 1931, the Greek Orthodox Church in 1932, and the Assemblies of God in 1935. Since the early twentieth century there has also been a small Jewish population in The Bahamas.

Religious groups that arrived during the second half of the twentieth century include Lutherans, Muslims, Rastafarians, Baha'is, Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Christian Scientists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Hinduism is practiced by members of the Guyanese and Indian populations, who were among the immigrants to The Bahamas in the second half of the twentieth century.

Like the Anglican Church, other churches in The Bahamas now operate schools with the sponsorship of the state. In addition, the Methodists, the Catholic Church, and the Brethren administer children's homes, and the Seventh-day Adventists run a home for the elderly. All of these homes are sponsored by the state.

Canon Kirkley C. Sands

See Also Vol. 1: Christianity, Baptist Tradition; Anglican; Roman Catholicism

Bibliography

Churton, Edward T. The Island Missionary of The Bahamas. London: J. Masters and Co., 1888.

Glinton-Meicholas, Patricia. From The Void To The Wonderful. Nassau, The Bahamas: Guanima Press, 1995.

Hervey, G. Winfred. The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands. St. Louis: Chancy R. Barns, 1885.

Myers, John Brown, ed. The Centenary Volume of The Baptist Missionary Society, 1792–1892. Second ed. London: Baptist Missionary Society, 1892.

Taggart, Norman W. The Irish in World Methodism. London: Epworth Press, 1986.

Williams, Colbert. The Methodist Contribution to Education in The Bahamas. Gloucester: A. Sutton, 1982.