May 21 day of ‘joy’ for Spiritual Baptists in SVG

JOY CAME ON May 21 for thousands of Spiritual Baptists across St Vincent and the Grenadines as the country paused to observe National Spiritual Baptists Liberation Day.

Kingstown was washed in white from early morning for the Processional March from Peace Memorial Hall to Victoria Park on Wednesday and while the march has been held in previous years, this year is the first official holiday for the Faith since Parliament, in August 2024, passed legislation to recognize the religious group which was once banned in SVG.

Delegates from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Canada, England and the United States joined local members for the week of activities which started on May, 18, with an island-wide caravan and open air service in Kingstown. A number of prayer services were also held during the week; however, Wednesday’s event was the highlight of the week, judging by the scores of practitioners who traversed the streets of Kingstown.

The Thanksgiving Service in Victoria Park was a lively worship session which included remarks from various faith leaders and government Ministers.

The activities, scheduled to officially close on Sunday May 25, 2025are being held under the theme: “Weeping may endure for the night; joy cometh in the morning!” and Archbishop, Johnny Jones of the Mt Carmel Spiritual Baptist Archdiocese, who has been credited as a central figure in advocating for the granting of a holiday, described the day as a momentous occasion considering that there was a time when they could not practice their religion freely.

“We used to ring the bell and get in trouble. Now the amount of bells I hear ringing today…today Spiritual Baptists of St Vincent and the Grenadines have their own holiday. It’s on the almanac.”

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