Barbados Pocket Guide



Barbados is a highly religious society. The African slaves, though numerous, would have travelled with their ancestral faiths but this wasn't strong enough to make any influencial impact on the white race as the majority of them were of the Anglican faith. Interestingly enough, in the early nineteenth (19th) century, Anglicanism became the faith of a number of blacks. In the seventeenth (17th) century, many of the Irish indentured slaves were Roman Catholic and a large number of whites were of the Jewish and Quaker faiths.


An expansion of the religious faiths on the island of Barbados began to take hold as the Christian Mission and other revivalist churches came on stream. This introduction has resulted in more than one hundred (100) active religions to date on the island of Barbados with the practice of Christianity being the dominant religion.


Other religions on the island of Barbados include, Anglican, Protestant, Moravian, Seventh-Day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness, Hinduism, Pentecostal, Islam, Methodist, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Roman Catholics, Baha'i, Judaism, Hinduism, Rastafarianism (Nyabinghi school) and Spiritual Baptist. The many places of worship in Barbados range from the majestic, historic churches to even worship in simple chattel house-like structures.


Across the island of Barbados, the older generation can still be seen faithfully attending church services of the Anglican faith while a majority of young people attend more 'uptempo' churches or just stay away altogether.