Barbados Culture: The Anglican Churches and Religion in Barbados
 The Anglican church was the first official religion
in Barbados. Today it accounts for 33% of church going members, dramatically
down from 90% reported in an 1871 survey.
Its membership is of mixed race, although slaves
were forbidden membership by the original plantation owners, who were concerned
that the church might undermine their authority over the workers. Despite this
attitude, with the abolition of slavery in 1838 many ex-slaves were drawn to
the Anglican church which fared far better than the other early Christian churches, the Methodist, Moravian and the Quakers.
Bishop William Hart Coleridge, the first Anglican
Bishop, did much to extend the church's influence by building ten chapels in
the rural areas for those who had difficulty reaching the parish churches. His
work, which began in 1825 and lasted to 1842, also led to the development of
11 chapel schools and the St. Mary Church in Bridgetown.
See Schedule of Anglican
Services
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