Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases ten videos of baptism service songs and chants by members of Mt Olive #2 Independent Baptist Church, Trinidad.
Mt. Olive #2 is located in 5th Company Village, Moruga. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moruga, "The district of Moruga lies on the central south coast of Trinidad at the western end of the Trinity Hills. It is in Victoria County, Trinidad and Tobago, and is served by the Princes Town Regional Corporation."...
The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the members of Mt Olive #2 Independent Baptist Church, Trinidad. And thanks to Brother L. Forbes, the publisher of these examples on YouTube.
Information about this church as well as any information about and any additional lyrics for these songs/chants would be greatly appreciated. For instance, are the composers of these songs and chants known, when were they composed, and how well are they known in Trinidad and elsewhere throughout the Caribbean?
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UPDATE: 10/4/2015
I shared information about this pancocojams post on the comment thread of two of those videos and included the questions that I wrote above. Here's the response that I received from Brother L. Forbes:
"Azizi Powell Thank you for your comment! But with reference to your question "Are the composers of our songs/chants known, throughout Trinidad and the Caribbean" I'd have to answer both yes and no. Yes, they're known by the members of the Independent Baptist Missionary Union/Independent Baptist Mission Churches. Our songs/chants are popularly given to us from God, by way of dreams, visions, revelations, or just Holy Ghost led singers while seeking or preparing for baptism. And No, there are little information about our composers to the rest of the caribbean. But keep in mind. MANY of the songs/chant sung, derived from our singers, who've never sought fame or recognition.
Feel Free To use whatever information, Videos I've posted on my Channel. But Above Be blessed."
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UPDATE: 10/4/2015
As a result of Brother L. Forbes' inclusion of the names "Independent Baptist Missionary Union/Independent Baptist Mission Churches" in his comment, I've added some information about that Trinidadian religious denomination in an Addendum below.
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With the exception of the African American originated songs that are sung twp of these videos (a variant form of "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" and a variant form of "When The Saints Go Marching In"), it appears that these Trinidian religious compositions are chants that are repeated over and over again, sometimes with some slight call & response variations.
As previously mentioned, any corrections to my comments would be greatly appreciated.
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Summary statements given for these videos indicate that they chronicalize two baptism service events- one in January 2013 (or published on YouTube in January 2013) and one held on Sunday 10th August, 2014. Videos for these two events are presented separatedly in chronological order.
VIDEOS PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 2013
Example #1: Baptism at Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church 2013 (Pt1)
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Jan 13, 2013
Baptism Service at Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church, 5th Company Village Moruga
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Here's a comment from the video's publisher in response to questions about this song:
Brother L. Forbes, 2013
"The name of this Tune is called "John Saw The Number, What a Number of souls, what a number of souls!"
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Example #2: Baptism Service At Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church (Pt.2)
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Jan 14, 2013
Chant - "I see You, I see You, I see You, By The Jordan, O Glory Hallelujah"
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Example #3: Baptism At Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church (Pt 8)
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Jan 14, 2013
Candidate # 6 Being baptized into our Lord. Held at the Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church 5th Company Village Moruga, Trinidad
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This song is a version of The African American Spiritual "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder".
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Example #4: Baptism At Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church (Pt 9)
Brother L. Forbes Published on Jan 15, 2013
Candidates (souls) after being baptized return Shouting, to receive the Right Hand of Fellowship.
Chant - "It's a Happy Day, When I married to Jesus" "It's a Happy Day, The King Of Glory Coming"
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VIDEOS OF BAPTISM SERVICE HELD ON AUGUST 10, 2014
Example #1: Baptism At Mt.Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church 2014 {No:4}
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Brother L. Forbes, Published on Aug 14, 2014
Marching To The River...
Tune: "Marching On, Marching On, When The Saints Go Marching Home, I Would Like To Be In The Number, When The Saints Go Marching Home"
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"When Ths Saints Go Marching Home" is a variant form of the African American originated religious song "When The Saints Go Marching In".
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Example #2: Baptism At Mt. Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church 2014 {No:6}
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Aug 14, 2014
Baptism Held On Sunday 10th August, 2014. At The River; The Procession Sang & Shouted "Show Me The River, Show Me The Pool, Show Me The River Where John Baptized
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Example #3: Baptism At Mt. Olive #2 Independent Baptist Church 2014 {No:8}
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Aug 14, 2014
Tune: "Happy Day, When I Married To Jesus"
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Example #4: Baptism At Mt Olive #2 Independent Baptist Church 2014 {No:10}
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Brother L. Forbes, Published on Aug 14, 2014
Tune "When Jesus In The Vessel We Can Smile At The Storm"
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Example #5: Baptism At Mt. Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church 2014 {No.12}
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Aug 16, 2014
Baptism March Returning From The River, Singing "What A Number Of Souls"!
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Example #6: Baptism At Mt Olive # 2 Independent Baptist Church 2014 {No.15}
Brother L. Forbes, Published on Aug 17, 2014
Held On Sunday 10th August, 2014 @ 5th Company Village, Moruga. Tune:"There Is No City On Earth For Me To Dwell, There Is No City On Earth For Me To Dwell, But There Is A City Way Over Yonder, There Is No City On Earth For Me To Dwell"
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ADDENDUM: SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE INDEPENDENT BAPTIST DENOMINATION (TRINIDAD & TOBAGO)
From http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs129/1102288672315/archive/1121532844001.html
"Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago
Baptist presence in Trinidad can be dated from 1816. The first Baptists were companies of black soldiers who had fought alongside the British during the American War of 1812-1814. At the end of the war the defeated British forces found a homeland for their supporters who could no longer remain on American soil.
Six companies were settled in Trinidad and out of this settlement emerged the Baptist community. They had embraced the Baptist faith while in slavery in the US. Through their own efforts and with the support of missionaries from the Baptist Missionary Society in the United Kingdom and later that of the Southern Baptist Convention in the US, Baptist work in Trinidad prospered. More than 100 churches were established in both the north and south of the island.
The Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago (BUTT), was formed in 1854.
During the 1940s and 1950s divisions arose in BUTT as a result of differences in opinion over modes of worship, attitudes of foreign missionaries, and minor doctrinal issues. Factions broke away and formed individual associations, conventions and unions, such as the Independent Baptist Missionary Union and the Independent International Baptist Churches. Sometime later the northern group of BUTT churches formed the Trinidad and Tobago Baptist Association (TTBA)."...
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From https://books.google.com/books?isbn=9057026104
Praising His Name in the Dance: Spirit Possession in theDance by Kenneth Anthony Lum (2000)
[summary of that book]
"The author provides a detailed portrait of the Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha Work, two religions that share a common basis in the traditional religion of the Yoruba in West Africa. Specifically, the author studies the phenomenon of spirit possession, an integral aspect of worship in both religions. In the Spiritual Baptist Faith, a person who is possessed by the Holy Spirit retains his or her own identity, while in Orisha Work, those who are possessed by the orishas (spirits), become the spirits. Both types of possession are based on the Yoruba concept of self in which identity is dependent on the spirit which animates a physical body. This common basis of religions enables the respective populations to interact extensively and explains why an individual can experience both types of spiritual possession."...
[page 33, Google books]
"George Cowan [representative of the London Baptist Missionary Society-L.B.M.S.] arrived in Trinidad in 1845 [and found schisms in the six Baptist company churches that had been formed].
[page 34].
Cowan was seen by some to be an unwelcome intruder by church members who were concerned about their loss of independence...
Cowen called for the affiliation of the six company churches under the L.B.M.S., with the latter having the final say in all matters of belief and ritual. He also called for the removal of (i) the Baptist elements of rejoicing and shouting and (ii) the manifestation of the holy spirit from worship. All of the company churches, with the exception of the Third Company church, agreed to those demands and were affiliated with the L.B.M.S. However, in the latter part of the nineteenth century, disgrunted members of the company churches withdrew and formed their own church; they became known as the Disobedient Baptists. It was from this group... that the Spiritual Baptist faith emerged, after some Disobedient Baptist moved to other parts of Trinidad, taking with them the original ways of worship of the earlier Merikin Baptist. The original Disobediant Baptist renamed themselves Independent Baptists, and they eventually formed a coalition which the London Baptist which became known as the Baptist Union Of Trinidad and Tobago."...
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From http://www.wiusbsoinc.org/history.htm
"West Indian United Spiritual Baptist Sacred Order
...The Baptist Faith has been practiced in Trinidad and Tobago for the last 190 years. It was brought here between 1815-1816 by African-American refugees of the American war of independence who were themselves members of the earliest Black Baptist Congregation in the Southern United States of America. They were ex-soldiers of the "CORPS OF COLONIAL MARINES" who had fought on the side of the British during the conflict.
The spread of “Baptist Witness” has been phenomenal. From the original seventy, [70] to an estimated one hundred thousand, (100,000) today. In fact by the end of the 19th century , three[3] variations of the Faith existed:
1. The ‘Orthodox’ London Baptist.
2. The Independent Baptist.
3. The Spiritual Baptist.
Today there are at least six [6] variations
1. The Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago. [The London Baptist].
2. The Independent Baptist.
3. The Spiritual Baptist.
4. The Sovereign Grace Mission Baptist.
5. The Fundamental Baptist.
6. The Trinidad and Tobago Baptist Association."...
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
For what it's worth, I knew nothing about the 19th century connection between African Americans and the Trinidad Baptist church until I began this research.
ReplyDeleteThis information is quite interesting to me, in part, because I'm African American, and in part because my maternal grandfather Samuel N. Banfield was from Trinidad. He and his Bajan wife and children immigrated to New Jersey in the 1920s. My mother and two of her brothers were born in the USA.
As it turned out, my grandfather was the head deacon of the Baptist church that I grew up in in the 1950s. He was also a leader in the Black Baptist association in that county, if not that state. However, if he had been affiliated with the Independent Baptist in Trinidad, the Baptist church service that I experienced in the 1950s to date (when I visit that city) was/is very far from any shouting,move to the Holy Spirit kind of service.