This year, our Diocese (Anglicans) celebrates 150 years of freedom from state control. (The stush word for it is "disestablishment". Read more about our anniversary plans here...). 150 years later many, if not most Jamaicans, entertain the assumption that the Church remains culturally shackled by Europe and that she is out of touch with our Caribbean cultural realities and experiences, particularly that of the masses, the Afro-Caribbean. What many do not know, however, is that the church, over the years, has encouraged the faithful to be culturally sensitive/appropriate - both in the way we theologise and in the way we express the apostolic faith. Our former Diocesan Bishop, recently reposed in Christ, The Rt Rev. Alfred Reid, was a champion of this.
Long before there was a Reggae Month, there was a Reggae Mass, commissioned by Bishop Reid.
Bishop Reid was also chair of the committee that oversaw the publication of the new hymnal for
the Church, published in 2010. Also known as the "Blue Book" or the CPWI, the new hymnal is improvement over its English predecessor, Hymns, Ancient and Modern. None of the 273 hymn entries in the ANM was first published in 1861 was from the region.
The CPWI contains twenty-six Caribbean hymns. Most are original compositions, written to rhythmic idioms associated with the Caribbean (eg. Jamaican folk, traditional spiritual, reggae and calypso). Some are written to English, Hebrew and German tunes.
Below is a list of Caribbean hymns from the CPWI that can be intentionally engaged during Reggae/Black history month. I have included only hymns appropriate for the liturgical season, as such, Christmas hymns (23.1% of all Caribbean hymns in the CPWI) are left out:
Jah is my keepa #229
The right hand of God #239
Jesus come today #245
Enter into Jerusalem #303
Gather, Christians #309
O praise ye the Lord #376
The Lord is my shepherd #477
I come to the cross like a small boat #523
By the rivers of Babylon #544
You have all our future #553
Who leads you through haze #555
O God who is the breath of life #557
Father Lord, we offer you #586
Holy Communion (Sacraments)
Let us talents and tongues employ #605
O Lord, thy blessing shower #701
All things bright and beautiful #707
In this our beauteous island #714
Thank you, Father #721
With every seed that’s planted here #726
Lord God, your name we praise #734
In addition to these, the CPWI contains four African-American spirituals. They are:
When Israel was in Egypt #548
Oh Freedom #558
We Shall Overcome #559
Let Us Break Bread Together #603
The Church has not always gotten it right in her pre and post disestablishment years. She, however, is on to something good, when, in her official hymnal, she puts to rest any doubts about her position on and movement toward a contextual identity. Maybe many, if not most of us, haven't seen it because we haven't been looking closely enough and with discernment
