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Teacher Olga Glaud
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By:
Norma Scipio
The Roman
Catholic Church is not the only Christian organization which has recognized
individuals as Saints. Two known individuals who have been recognized as
Saints by members of the Spiritual Baptist religion are Mother of the
‘faith’, Glaud and trade unionist Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler.
The
arch-diocese known as the West Indian United Spiritual Baptist Sacred Order
recognized one of its members as a Saint. That individual was Mother Olga
Glaud of Mt. Nebo Spiritual Baptist church located at #8 Road, Cochrane
village. Mother Glaud, as she was commonly called, was the Spiritual mother
of well-known members of the faith such as Teacher MaverAshby, and Teacher
Valerie De Chien-Hopkins. Butler on the other hand has been recognized
by the leader of a church in the village he founded.
General
Secretary of the West Indian United Spiritual Baptist Sacred Order, Bishop
Austin Gittens have a different belief to the recognition of Saints. He
noted, “It’s a Roman Catholic concept that an individual is recognized as a
saint only when he is dead. As believers in Christ we are all Saints. There
are two distinctions, we are either sinners or saints.”
Mother
Glaud was recognized as a Saint before her death. She died on July 21, 2001.
She was married to Lloyd Glaud who died many years before her. Speaking
briefly on the sainthood of Mother Olga Glaud, Teacher Marva who runs Ark of
the Covenant Spiritual Baptist Church, located in
Dorchester,
Boston stated, “I was baptized into the faith by Mother Glaud and Leader
Glaud when I was 11 years old and knew her to be one way all the time.”
Teacher
Maver explained, “She was a very outstanding person as far as the word of
God was concerned. Though she was gentle by nature she was the kind of
person other could not have gone to with foolish conversation or anything
not pertaining to what the Bible instructed. She was into the word of God
and what it said. She operated through the instructions of the Holy Spirit.”
Also
commenting on the life of Saint Olga of the Spiritual Baptist Religion,
Bishop Gittens said, “I became the minister in the church after her husband
died. I knew her to be very strict when coming to the affairs of God.”
Teacher
Maver Ashby of Ark of the Covenant Spiritual Baptist Church of Boston said,
“ Teacher Olga was a very private person. She was never involved in gossip
or idle conversation.”
(More on
Saint Olga Glaud to come)
