Why I Love My Religion

Beginning this week we invite readers to share with others why they love their religion. Today we will read what Shepherd Phillip has to say about his love for the Spiritual Baptist Religion. Should you want to submit an article concerning why you love the Spiritual Baptist religion, email it to editor@spiritualbaptist.org

I was a young man of 18, confused and hurt from my experiences with the world. At the time I was leaning on my friend’s shoulders for guidance and strength. My friend was working with me to accept Jesus in my life in a truly spiritual way.

I was invited to partake in a service at a church called St. Peter’s Spiritual Baptist Temple in Montreal, Quebec. I figured there was no harm in checking it out, my friend had already spoken such good things about that church. My friend asked that I attend with an open mind.

That was my first time in a church that was not Roman Catholic Church. Needless to say I was shocked by what I saw. A woman falling down on the folding chairs that served as seats for the small congregation, a tall man shaking a tambourine and just looking on as if it was a daily event and as though there was nothing to it.

I don’t remember any of the songs sang that day, only that I promised myself that I would never set foot in that church again! Was I ever wrong? That night after I went to bed I had a dream that made me fully understand my path. In my dream I saw a man who told me that he was Moses and that I was to follow a particular person who would guide me to another church, far away. He also said that I should obey otherwise it would be the end of me.

The following day I discussed my dream with someone who interpreted it to mean that I must be baptized in a different church. I was taken to a church by the person whom I was told to follow, called St. Francis I am Divine Spiritual Baptist church in Toronto, Ontario.

When I asked why so far away from home I was told that Moses led the children of Israel out of bondage to a new land and I must now do the same. I was to leave what I thought was my home to go very far away for a new start, 500 miles away. I had to go with faith and that’s what I did.

There I was a young, white, Italian Canadian who was literally suffering from major culture shock. I was surrounded by people whom I mistakenly thought were all from Trinidad and who were dancing and moving, making noise with their mouth and singing with gusto. The initial visit to the first church I had attended had prepared me somewhat for what I was seeing. No one was falling over the chairs here. The following week I was baptized.

It was an incredible experience for me. My baptism service began at 9 p.m. and went on until 5 a.m. the following morning. I was tramping and marching, all the while keeping my hands open and praying for forgiveness for my sins. My eyes were banded so I could not see and I perspired so much that I soaked down my clothes with perspiration even before I went into the water to be baptized.

I found freedom from my sins and my personal issues at the time; I found Christ and knew that He loved me. I quickly got over the shock of it all and just went with it. I enjoyed every minute of my baptism.

When members of my family and also my close friends heard that I had decided to be baptized they were shocked and confused. Most were convinced that I joined some cult since they had no knowledge about the religion. They also felt convinced that I did not belong in a "black church".

However, their questioning of my decisions have since stopped and they have pretty much all accepted my new path. They don’t even ask me about it anymore, only checking to see if I still belong to "that church".

Regardless of how many times I try to describe to them as best I can the wonderful feeling of the Holy Ghost it’s impossible to explain. It is even more impossible to relay the wonderful feeling the Holy Spirit in Africa, India and China to people who are accustomed to sitting and kneeling when told to do so by the local priest. At least if they were Pentecostal there might be hope of them understanding it to a degree.

I love the faith for all that it is and all that it isn’t. Now 33 years of age I’ve mourned three times and I am now known as Shepherd/Severer Philip. I’m still the only White man in my church. I hope to one day change that by inviting others to the faith. Thus far, the only souls for Christ which I have had any successes at in winning are from the West Indies. Neither knew anything about the faith before I introduced them to it. One is from Guyana and is of East Indian descent. Previously she was a Hindu.

This faith is to my knowledge and in my opinion the greatest and most powerful there is on the face of the planet. No other faith can attest to feeling the Holy Spirit in some many ways and have so much power to prophesy and heal as we do. I truly believe that God choose the least amongst us to grant the greatest power for He is no respecter of persons. So that none could boast in their own power or knowledge but that He might be glorified!

The time is coming and now is that time when all of Abraham’s son and daughters are called back from the east, west, north and south and called to sup with him again. Now is that time.

‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions