Shepherd
Philip Pizzuco
The Spiritual Baptist
church is a wonderful faith that is unmatched in its beauty and spirit.
Unfortunately it is also unmatched in its inability to attract members
outside the West Indian community. Some individuals would raise the argument
that other individuals would not understand the ins and outs of the faith.
Another group would say that unless you are from the
Caribbean
you wouldn’t understand its flavor.
There are also those who
would go as far as to say, that if you are not from the Caribbean you really
don’t belong there (in the religion) anyway. Being a white,
Italian-Canadian male can be daunting at times to fit into the church and
the community when such barriers are raided. My personal experience has
been mostly good but the negative ones have left a bad taste in my mouth.
There is a sense that the
church can never and should never change, and that allowing too many
outsiders into the faith could put it in danger.
In Toronto, it’s not
unusual for churches to "steal" each others members. In fact, some churches
have had so much success that other churches have had to close their doors
because of this.
Therein lies the problem.
The church cannot grow and will eventually shrink if we do not begin the
process of being more pro-active about membership and who we will allow in
the church.
We cannot just stare at
non-Caribbean people as they come into the church. We must go to them and
speak with them, explain what the faith is and WELCOME THEM BACK when they
return.
We shouldn’t feel
comfortable in only having them sit in the back benches either.
We must nurture them
knowing that this may be alien to them, that they have been brought there,
called even by God himself to test us, to grow the base. We must be aware
that running people from the church there will be nothing left.
Every organization goes
through a period of transition. Every nationality a period of growth and
evolution. If society did not evolve we would still be lighting out homes by
candle light, walk everywhere and not have phones to gossip to each other.
It’s a natural process.
It’s when we hold on too tightly to beliefs that we no longer challenge that
we run the risk of becoming stagnant and growth stops cold. I am of the firm
belief that the church is on the verge of an explosion of growth. That the
world will soon know about us everywhere. That everyone will be able to
speak about the Spiritual Baptists and have an opinion. It’s then that we
will have the chance to grow the faith and make it a world wide way of
worship for all who are called and the world can rejoice in truth and love,
knowing the true feel of the Holy Spirit.
Or we can continue doing
what we have been doing all along. Pushing out those that we tell ourselves
don’t belong, and being only as nice as we believe we have to. Please let
us pay heed to Luke 13:29-30 which says:
“And they shall come from
the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and
shall sit down in the
kingdom
of God.
And, behold, there are
last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”
