When you hear the word "landmarks," your mind immediately travels to a physical space, one that Waze or any other digital navigation systems can easily find.
But in the spiritual world, landmarks take on a different definition.
Ingrid Ryan Ruben took the small audience gathered on March 28 at the National Trust's headquarters, Mille Fleurs, Maraval Road, on a spiritual journey in observance of Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day.
Ryan Ruben, founder and pastor of the 13-year-old Academy of Grace Institute of the Holy Spirit (AOG), lectured on Spiritual Baptist Ancient Landmarks.
An exhibition on the same theme at runs at Mille Fleurs until April 13.
Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day was declared a national holiday in 1996 by the former Basdeo Panday-led UNC government, it commemorates the repeal of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance that prohibited the activities of the Baptist faith.
[caption id="attachment_1008364" align="alignnone" width="753"] Founder of the Academy of Grace Institute of the Holy Spirit Pastor Ingrid Ryan-Ruben walks the audience through a discussion on Spiritual Baptist Ancient Landmarks hosted by the National Trust of TT. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
Ryan Ruben opened the lecture by singing a Baptist hymn. She then moved into the definition of a landmark and then an ancient landmark.
In her definition, she said, a landmark was not just a physical space or thing but also a way of doing things.
She explained some of the church’s practices, such as "mourning," saying Spiritual Baptists baptised people with live water and used fresh/live flowers as they represented the living process.
She also explained that in the faith’s churches there were altars of different shapes, as they depended on “the spiritual inspiration.” Blessing the four corners of the church was a way of “preparing a space for the Holy Spirit to enter.”
Ryan Ruben said the centrepoles found in many Spiritual Baptist churches were the “spirit centre from which one could connect with God.”
She also explained how one is given spiritual assignments such as mother, father, teacher, and the significance and uses of candles and bells. The bells, she said, were like the voice of God.
[caption id="attachment_1008366" align="alignnone" width="1024"] AOG founder and pastor Ingrid Ryan Ruben explained the uses of various items in the Spiritual Baptist church and ceremony such as candles, alcohol-based liquids and bells. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
Ryan Ruben worried that the loss of these ancient "landmarks" of the faith was leading to “no healing, no revelations, corrupt guidance, corrupt leadership, false prophets and false healers.”
Ryan Ruben said in an interview after her lecture that more research was needed into the physical landmarks occupied by Spiritual Baptists and cited the Moruga corridor.
During the question-and-answer session, Ryan Ruben said Spiritual Baptist churches as much as 85 years old were still in existence.
Asked if she felt more research was needed into Spiritual Baptist phy
