Growing up in the Church
Young people form a significant part of the Spiritual Baptist membership and constitute an integral part in the church’s activities.
As they are highly regarded as the future of the church it is imperative that greater responsibility be entrusted upon them so that they can fully participate in the daily spiritual and secular affairs.
Evidence of this is found in the regular services where they are seen going about their duties as acolytes, escorts of various speakers, readers of the divine lessons from the pulpit, or distributors of holy garments.
For the benefit of uniformity the youth has been organised into male and female groups: Sons of the Sacred Heart, Alter Servers Chapter, are the males with the Rosebuds, Daughters of Salem and Damsels the females.
The rapid growth in the Church has coincided with the increase of the youth. In the early 1960’s 50 % of the congregation comprised youth but the figure has now moved to 80%, 15% of which is under the age of 17.
A remarkable number of Barbadians has turned to the Spiritual Baptist Church to christen their newborns. This is happening at a time too when some churches are refusing to christen their newborns if the parents are not members of their congregation. The Spiritual Baptist Baptists will never deny infants the sacred rite, which Jesus himself experienced.
The Ministerial Order consists of men and women who entered the church in their morning days, and have remained steadfast in the faith. Their testimonies inspire the new arrivals and their counsel keeps them on the right path.
For this reason, and with regard to the several joint efforts undertaken by a cross section of membership, the youth continue to respect their Elders as in Ancient African tradition. Youth provide the fire: the elders the stability, wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
Not only had the doctrine been motivating factor for many youth, but its fulfillment of the promises to enrich the individual’s life has been kept, bringing purpose to existence. Many of them who were queried on their choice noted that the Spiritual Baptist Faith, in addition, is a cultural as well as the natural needs of the person.
A pleasing factor is that in the ranks of the youth there is enough encouraging evidence to substantiate the continued existence of the church.