St Barnabas Anglican Church has defended its planned Bob Marley Mass, insisting the service is a legitimate act of Christian worship and reflection, after Rastafari leaders condemned it as “spiritual and cultural piracy” and called for its cancellation.
The special Eucharistic service, scheduled for this weekend to mark emancipation from slavery in 1838 incorporates the music of reggae icon Robert Nesta Marley into an Anglican liturgical framework. While church officials said the intention is to engage theologically with themes in Marley’s work, the National Rastafari Registry Secretariat and Trust argued the event misappropriates a central figure of their faith and disregards the community’s lived experience.
“The suggestion that the Mass seeks to appropriate or exploit the Rastafari faith does not reflect its purpose,” St Barnabas said in a statement. “Rather, it offers a Christian theological engagement with the music of Bob Marley and the biblical themes that permeate his work. His songs consistently proclaim justice, liberation, repentance, hope, peace, reconciliation, love, and the dignity of every person. These themes resonate deeply with the Christian Scriptures.”
The liturgy was composed in 2025 by Canon Dr Stephen Fields while serving as sub-dean of St James Cathedral in Toronto, Canada, and was first staged there during Black History Month to mark the 80th anniversary of Marley’s birth. Canon Dr Monrelle Williams, priest-in-charge at St Barnabas, later sought to bring the service here as part of Emancipation commemorations.
Church officials also confirmed that all musical arrangements had been formally licensed through Fifty Six Hope Road Music Limited, which manages Marley’s estate.
But the National Rastafari Registry Secretariat and Trust has strongly opposed the religious service, calling for its immediate withdrawal “out of fundamental respect for the Rastafari faith and the very meaning of African emancipation”.
In a statement, the Secretariat questioned both the timing and intent of the service, pointing to what it described as the Anglican Church’s silence on the civil and constitutional rights of Rastafarians in Barbados, in a direct reference to the sect’s campaign for the legalisation of cannabis as part of Rastafarian ritual.
It was not immediately known whether Rastafarian leaders had reached out to either the Anglican Diocese or the Barbados Christian Council.
“We must ask the leadership of the Anglican Church: what is the true aim of this activity?” the statement said. “You cannot ignore the living Rastafari community, remain silent while our constitutional rights are stripped away, and then turn around to exploit our Prophet for Emancipation Day marketing. This is not inclusivity; it is spiritual and cultural piracy.”
The group also argued that incorporating Marley’s work into a traditional Christian service distorts his message, noting that his music often criticised European Christian institutions and supported the sacramental use of cannabis, a practice not recognised by the Anglican Church.
“Bob Marley was not a supporter of European Christianity,” the statement continued. “To force his revolutionary, anti-colonial music into an Anglican liturgical setting is a desecration of his artistic intent. Emancipation Day represents liberation from the exact mental and spiritual slavery that the colonial church enforced. To host a ‘Bob Marley Mass’ within the walls of the historical oppressor, while continuing to ignore the struggles of living Rastafarians, mocks the very essence of freedom.”
St Barnabas Church acknowledged the concerns raised by Rastafari representatives about discrimination and social exclusion, describing them as meaningful and deserving of national attention.
“These concerns should not be dismissed. They present an opportunity for honest reflection and constructive dialogue,” the church said. “The Church recognises that reconciliation is achieved not merely through words but through listening, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to justice. The celebration of the Mass may well be the catalyst for a long overdue conversation about the rights of the Rastafari community in our country.”
Church officials also cited Marley’s own complex spiritual journey, noting both his Rastafari identity and his baptism into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church shortly before his death in May 1981, and said the service was not intended to redefine his legacy but to highlight shared values.
Despite the invitation to dialogue, the Rastafarian body insisted that meaningful engagement must begin with the cancellation of the service, an apology, and what it described as tangible action to address Rastafari constitutional rights and historical grievances.
Rastafarian theology is deeply shaped by Christianity, especially the Bible, but it re-reads Christian scripture through the lens of African liberation, resistance to oppression and the experience of the Black diaspora.
Many Rastas regard mainstream Christianity as bound up with colonial power, while still drawing on biblical language, prophetic imagery and the life of Jesus in ways that support their own spiritual and historical worldview.
(RR)
