Phillippo Baptist Church is a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

church in Spanish Town,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

History

Rev. Phllippo built the Church in 1827 to replace an earlier one which he had built which was burned to the ground by

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

owners (planters), who were vehemently opposed to the preaching of religion to slaves.It is named after its founder and first minister, Reverend

James Phillippo James Phillippo (1798 in Norfolk, England – 11 May 1879, in Spanish Town, Jamaica) was an English Baptist missionary in Jamaica who campaigned for the abolition of slavery. He served in Jamaica from 1823 to his death, with some periods lobbyi ...

, a

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

who arrived in

in 1823. He campaigned for the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and for the establishment of "

Free Villages Free Villages is the term used for Caribbean settlements, particularly in Jamaica, founded in the 1830s and 1840s with land for freedmen independent of the control of plantation owners and other major estates. The concept was initiated by English ...

" for emancipated slaves. Also located on the Church grounds is a stone slab which marks where some of the shackles of slavery are buried. The slab is inscribed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Church. The Church was damaged during

Hurricane Dean Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense North Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of 2005, tying for eighth overall. Additionally, it made the fourth most intense Atl ...

in 2007, which ripped the roof off the building, and required $25m ($300,000 USD) in repairs. The Church was closed for 20 months and underwent significant restoration, reopening in June, 2009. At the official reopening ceremonies of the Church, Prime Minister

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to h ...

's representative (

Olivia Grange Olivia "Babsy" Grange , DSE (born 27 April 1946) is a Jamaican politician. She has served as Member of Parliament for Saint Catherine Central since 1997 and as Jamaica's Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture for the duration of the Jamaica Lab ...

, then culture minister) said that "Phillippo Baptist Church represents a great part of the nation's history, therefore, we need for all to be aware of the pride and joy it gives to see the restoration done. James Phillipo was even denied permission to preach to slaves several times, but this did not stop him from setting up the church".http://www.candoo.com/surnames/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1743 Phillippo Challenges Authority Golding's representative also noted that the church played a major role in the fight for the abolition of slavery, and that even by today's standards is still an impressive architectural creation.

References

{{Religion in Jamaica Churches completed in 1827 19th-century Baptist churches Baptist churches in Jamaica Buildings and structures in Saint Catherine Parish Monuments and memorials in Jamaica Spanish Town 1827 establishments in the British Empire