Tashieka Mair, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

After years of consultation and deliberation, the Baptist Union of the United Kingdom (UK) made a public apology on Jamaican soil Sunday for England's role in the transatlantic slave trade.

The Rev Jonathan Edwards, secretary general of the Baptist Missionary Society and the Baptist Union of the UK, tendered the apology during the St James Baptist Association's mid-year worship service at the Mount Carey Baptist Church.

Witnessed by a packed congregation, Edwards, who delivered the sermon, said, "We have heard the pain of our hurting brothers and sisters and we have heard God speaking to us. In a spirit of weakness, humility and vulnerability, we acknowledge that we are only at the start of a journey, we acknowledge our share and our nations participation in the transatlantic slave trade."

Explaining that the apology was crafted and unanimously agreed on by the Baptist Union Council after the St James Baptist Association raised the issue of such an apology in the 1990s, Edwards added, "We offer our apology to our brothers and sisters for all who have created and still perpetuate slavery and the hurt which originated from the horror of slavery. We repent of the hurt we have caused."

'Godly fighters'

During his sermon, he also acknowledged the great work of "godly fighters" like Jamaican National Hero Sam Sharpe and William Knibb who played an active role in the fight for freedom.

"We (Baptist Union of UK) worship with you today, ashamed that our countrymen were part of this degrading and hellish act against your ancestors," he added.

The apology was well received by the congregation, and retired pastor, the Rev Clement Gayle, noted that the act of contrition was important.

The transatlantic slave trade facilitated the forced transfer of Africans to colonies in the Americas from the 1500s to the 19th century. Most slaves were shipped from West and Central Africa. The British West Indies slave trade was abolished in 1807.