NICOLE Thomas-Stewart is a proud Spiritual Baptist.
At the St Mary’s Evangelical Spiritual Baptist Church, Pembroke, Tobago, where she has worshipped for the past 11 years, Thomas-Stewart actively participates in its services and activities. She said she would not trade the experience for anything in the world.
“I am a worshipper totally sold out for God. I practise my walk by faith in my daily lifestyle,” Thomas-Stewart, 43, told WMN.
“I participate in my church services holistically in singing, praying, praising and I contribute by bringing words of encouragement to the congregation.”
Apart from being the leader of her church’s youth group and a dutiful, committed member of its flock, Thomas-Stewart is also an evangelist who is often called upon to pray for the sick and troubled.
“I also avail myself to give advice to persons in need, whether in person or via the phone. My general assistance is given whole-heartedly to the church and any function.”
[caption id="attachment_1007624" align="alignnone" width="576"] Evangelist Nicole Thomas-Stewart is often called upon to pray for the sick and troubled. -[/caption]
Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Liberation Day, which is being observed on Thursday, commemorates the repeal on March 30, 1951 of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance. That ordinance had prevented Baptists in the region from practising their faith.
Thomas-Stewart, a teacher at Little Angels Early Childhood Centre, Pembroke, believes the Baptists’ desire to express their faith can never be suppressed.
“The Spiritual Baptist faith allows one to form a deeper connection with Almighty God through the practice of praying and fasting and as a spiritually-inclined person, it’s one of the many things I love about the faith. Worship is also filled with rhythmic vibrations, creating the perfect atmosphere for a spirit-filled service.”
A member of the Baptist faith for almost 27 years, Thomas-Stewart recalled she was about eight years old when she first visited her late grandmother, Evelyn Corbin, at the St Raphael Spiritual Baptist Church in Black Rock.
She said those experiences mesmerised her.
“My grandmother was a Mother in the church and my earliest recollection was baptism. I was drawn to the ‘catching of power’ as we would say. I was amazed at how they worshipped, danced and shouted. I was also fascinated with their style of preaching and purposed in my heart to one day become a preacher myself.”
The Glamorgan native said she has since grown deeper in the faith.
[caption id="attachment_1007625" align="alignnone" width="768"] Nicole Thomas-Stewart believes the Baptists’ desire to express their faith can never be suppressed. -[/caption]
“In my opinion, the church has contributed to my spiritual development and my walk in Christ. My faith and belief in Christ has and continues to work for me. I have seen God’s hands in the healing of the sick, simply in supplying my needs and showing up for me when I needed it the most. Overall, God has been good to me.”
She said she also tries to “br
