If walls could talk, the Clarksonville Baptist Church in St Ann, located in one of Jamaica’s first Free Villages, would divulge some of slavery’s most dirty secrets, but at the same time recite the joyous moments of freedom as a people shook off the last vestiges of the evil colonial system.

As Jamaica celebrated its Independence on August 6 this year, the Clarksonville Church marked its 185th anniversary, standing as a symbol of comfort to the broken slaves and a powerful bulwark of godliness every day since slavery was abolished on August 1, 1938.

On Independence Sunday, the voices of worship and exultation that wafted from the church to the valley below, might well have been mixed with the echoes of delight of the newly freed slaves who had all their lives not known what it was to be truly human.

When the chains around their lives were smashed that August morning in 1938, there was not much thought as to where the ex-slaves from the various plantations would go. Many assembled on the property of the Brown’s Town Baptist Church, also in St Ann.

This became a dilemma for the Baptist missionaries who had ministered to the slaves on the plantations from before Emancipation four years earlier. But the missionary pastors were undaunted because they were men of God and men of vision.

Led by Rev John Clarke of the Brown’s Town Church, they moved quickly to seek financial assistance to settle the ex-slaves on properties of their own. What came rapidly after that was the establishment of the now famous Free Villages in Sturge Town and at Clarksonville, from the proceeds of a loan procured from the British abolitionist and philanthropist, Joseph Sturge.

The Free Villages and missionaries immediately established Baptist churches to serve the spiritual and other needs of the ex-slaves. Rev Clarke secured the loan which purchased an ex-coffee plantation at Castleton and its adjoining property, which was renamed Clarksonville. The property was subdivided and sold to the ex-slaves and several acres reserved for church land and to build one of Jamaica’s earliest Baptist churches, known henceforth as the Clarksonville Baptist Church.

From 1838 until the end of 1976, Clarksonville Baptist Church had the distinction of being led and managed by missionary pastors, Rev Clarke being the first. He would certainly have supervised the construction of what was a wooden structure that served the recently freed slaves in the district.

Other missionary pastors followed and in 1885 a building of solid cut stones (limestone) and mortar was built which has survived hurricanes and the ravages of time, because of its superior construction. In 1977, the first native pastor of African heritage, Rev Hubert Hall, took control, succeeding the Canadian Rev Dr John W Knight.

Throughout the 185 years of its existence, Clarksonville Baptist Church has played a pivotal role in the spiritual, economic and social life of the people of south-west St Ann.

Many persons answered the call of salvation and became members of the church. It boasted hundreds of members from the district of Clarksonville and as far away as Aboukir and Cave Valley. For years it was the most popular church for residents of south-west St Ann as it boasted a number of attractive programmes up to the 1970s.

It was the only church that had Christmas and Easter cantatas in SW St Ann; Missionary Sundays featuring missionaries from Canada, the USA and even Cuban Baptist émigrés in January each year; the only Vocational Bible School up to the early 1980s, led by white Canadian missionaries from the Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto.

Throughout its 185 years and under the leadership of the missionary pastors, Clarksonville Baptist Church housed the elementary school that served thousands of students. Supported by the church, the school provided primary education for Jamaicans of African heritage but also the sons and daughters of latter-day immigrants whose parents had business at the famed agriculturally rich district of Cave Valley.

The sons and daughters of the early Lebanese families such as the Habers and Azans came to Clarksonville School, as did those of the Lindos (planters) and the Chinese merchants – the Lyns, Cooks, Chungs and Youngs, as the church-run school was the only one of status worthy to be attended by the immigrants’ children.

Almost all pastors of Clarksonville Baptist Church served on multiple primary school boards, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. External examination activities were also invigilated and managed by the pastors of this church, as the Ministry of Education could rely on their integrity and reliability.

Pastors such as Dr Knight provided strong support for agriculture at Clarksonville and even served on agricultural boards. The church has to this day retained its links to the agrarian activity of the communities it serves, unselfishly allowing small farmers to utilise church property for agriculture. The history also showed that most of the pastors indulged in farming activities in addition to their spiritual duties.

Today, Clarksonville Baptist Church continues to shine as a beacon on a hill, some 2,000 feet above sea level. It continues its spiritual mantra to save souls for Christ but it also recognises that being a part of society it has to extend itself to serve the whole man in every way possible.

Under Rev Hall, it continues its educational programme by housing an early childhood school and the Sunday school where literacy is promoted. As part of his outstanding leadership, Rev Hall has served the youth, notably the males from the district and the immediate environs. Some are now serving as Christian leaders and many have migrated to Canada and the United States where they are engaged in profitable economic activities benefiting their immediate families and those in Jamaica.

The church maintains one of the last remaining church cemeteries in Jamaica. It continues to operate charitable programmes to assist the not-so fortunate members of the church who find themselves economically deprived. Modern activities such as health fairs are usually on the church’s annual calendar of activities.

Clarksonvillle Baptist Church can proudly attest to have served the people of St Ann. Its service to the thousands over the years has been acknowledged by those whose lives it has changed for the better. From creating a Free Village for those who never knew what would be their future that fateful August day of 1838, to spiritual leadership, agrarian support, social welfare and education this devoted Baptist church should be hailed not only by those from the Garden Parish but from the wider Jamaica.

The Jamaican nation is blessed that such institutions as the Clarksonville Baptist Church was established and nurtured by men who had a Christian heart and compassion, driven by the belief that a race of people enslaved by the British could and would survive once given a chance to build a community and religious institution of their own.

— By Winston Donald, Secretary of the Jamaica Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches