REFLECTIONS ON JAMAICA
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Wale Hudson Roberts; Revd Karl Henlin, the former President of the JBU; Revd Jonathan Edwards; Revd Dr Stephen Jennings, the President of the JBU; Revd Karl Johnson, General Secretary of the JBU; Ms Pat White; Revd Dr Alistair Brown
A delegation of British Baptists recently returned from a visit to Jamaica where they presented an apology to Jamaican Baptists for the transatlantic slave trade. This follows the agreement of an Apology statement at the Baptist Union Council in November 2007. Here each one of the delegation give their reflections on how the trip went:
The Revd Jonathan Edwards, Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) General Secretary:
“I found our visit to Jamaica profoundly moving and enriching. I was struck by the fact that the whole of Jamaica is defined by slavery. The overwhelming majority of the population can trace their roots back to slave ancestors, and, travelling around the beautiful, tropical island there were frequent reminders of the country’s bloody and cruel history.
The Apology that we offered to the Jamaican Baptist Union was received with great warmth and gratitude. Jamaicans have a huge respect for the work of the Baptist Missionary Society and many of the early missionaries are now national heroes. Nevertheless there was a deep belief that an Apology was important and they received it generously. We were given opportunities to preach and share with Jamaican Baptists and the news of the Apology was widely reported in the Jamaican press and radio.
Throughout our visit we emphasized that the Apology was not complete in itself. It was simply a step on the journey towards deeper understanding and relationship. I am sure that the visit will have gone a long way towards strengthening our relationship both with Jamaican Baptists in the Caribbean and also those many who enrich the life of our churches in this country.”
The Revd Dr Alistair Brown, General Director of BMS World Mission:
Jamaica is a beautiful island with kind, hospitable people. Parts are a tourist paradise, sadly often the same parts that were once a slave prison. The smiling, gracious faces of today are the descendants of those who were brutally, cruelly mistreated yesterday.
Not all seemed to understand why we had come. Perhaps some of the young aren’t so aware of their history, or are as distracted as any by the superficialities of 21st century life.
The callous shooting of the Baptist pastor with whom we had worshipped the previous day (the Revd Dr George Simpson) may be a sign of a tragic legacy that leaves people without hope, grasping for anything their meagre power can gain for them.
Many Christians told us they’d hardly dared hope they’d be alive at a time when British people came and apologised for slavery. They were deeply moved and deeply thankful. Some said it was time for the healing of a deep wound. Others said, rightly, it must be also the beginning of a new way of relating and working for justice for all.
It was a great privilege to preach in the church founded by and named after William Knibb, who stood with slaves like Sam Sharpe against plantation owners and who returned to Britain to persuade Parliament to pass the act which abolished slavery. But the even greater privilege was to put my arms around Jamaicans and know them as my brothers and sisters, at one and equal in Jesus Christ.
The Revd Wale Hudson-Roberts, BUGB Racial Justice Coordinator:
'The Jamaican church, despite being previously shaped by colonialism today, stands at the heart of the Jamaican community. All of the churches we visited saw social justice as a practical expression of their theology and worship. The more we travelled the clearer it became that economic empowerment, educational development, and political activism, in addition to a strong evangelistic thrust, are just some of the features that characterise the growing Jamaican church. In addition 'the contribution of the Church to the building of other nations' was an insight that I did not fully appreciate until my recent visit. Jamaica was the hub from which the gospel was taken to other parts of the world. For example, in the 1960s, the Jamaica Baptist Union was responsible for planting churches in Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama - the list continues.
Jamaica is a very impressive Island. What will always linger in my mind are the pastors’ careful attention to worship and prayer. God's work is sacred and respected.'
Ms Pat White from Brixton Baptist Church representing the London Baptist Association and Black and Ethnic Minority Ministers’ Forum and Churches on the trip:
I was pleasantly surprised by the warm reception we received from our Baptist brothers and sisters. The friendship extended to our team was very generous, and this seemed to me to make the presentation of the BUGB Apology much easier to make. Witnessing the Rev Jonathan Edwards delivery of it at a packed Mount Carey Baptist Church in St. James was for me the highlight of the visit. I felt uniquely involved in the event in that I was both a member of the team delivering the apology and because my ancestors were slaves in Jamaica, one of those receiving it.
‘’It’s been a long time coming,’’ was a fairly wide spread sentiment. Now that the Apology has been delivered and graciously accepted I hope that we can now advanced together to extend Christ Kingdom with a new sense of mutual understanding and love.