Worshippers overflowed an Anglican church on Sunday for the first Bob Marley Emancipation Mass in the Caribbean, a service that blended seven of the reggae icon’s songs with the Eucharist during the island’s Season of Emancipation. Some Rastafarians criticised the church’s use of Marley’s music at St Barnabas Anglican Church, in the run-up to Emancipation Day on August 1.

The service was the liturgy’s first staging in the Caribbean after it was developed in Toronto by retired Anglican priest Reverend Canon Dr Stephen Fields. Fields wrote the liturgy to follow the structure of the Eucharist and said the music was chosen to support, rather than sit beside, the service.

Marley songs woven into the Eucharist

The service brought together clergy, choir and worshippers in a format that was familiar in structure but unusual in musical content. Seven songs, including "Coming in from the Cold," "War," "Exodus," "Redemption Song," "Three Little Birds" and "Get Up, Stand Up," were woven into the liturgy, and used to reflect on themes that were central to the season and to Marley’s work.

As the clergy and choir entered the church, the congregation sang "Coming in from the Cold." The service ended with "Get Up, Stand Up," which Fields said had been chosen to send worshippers back into the wider world with a renewed commitment to action and justice. The music had been arranged to flow from beginning to end in a set order that matched the steps of the Eucharist.

Fields said the idea took shape while he helped to organise a service centred on the music of Leonard Cohen. He said that comparison prompted him to think more deeply about Marley’s body of work and the faith language contained in it.

"Here I was planning an event about the work of a white composer when Bob Marley had done some amazing music, and much of his lyrics related to the Bible and the teachings of the church," Fields said.

"I then said, I want to write a mass that uses Bob Marley’s lyrics and some of his songs.""

Fields rejected the view that the music was too secular for worship, arguing that the themes in Marley’s songs overlapped with Christian teaching.

"Who defines what is secular?" he asked.

"His songs are about justice and equity and peace and love and affirmation and dignity and freedom. Those are sacred words.

"If you compare those themes with the teachings of Jesus, they are remarkably similar."

Church says theology, not celebrity, guided the service

The rector of St Barnabas Anglican Church, Reverend Canon Dr Monrelle Williams, hosted Sunday’s service and said the decision to use Marley’s music was rooted in theology rather than celebrity appeal. He said the church had identified a clear spiritual thread running through the songs and believed that thread connected with the message of Scripture.

"We felt there was a theology embedded in Bob Marley’s music," Williams said.

"He spoke of liberation. He spoke of love. He spoke of justice. He spoke of peace, and these were themes that Jesus himself emphasised. They are found throughout Scripture."

Williams said a close reading of Marley’s work showed a consistent message that resonated with Christian teaching. He said the church was not trying to claim Marley as an Anglican or to reinterpret Rastafari beliefs, but rather to highlight the positive themes in the music and place them in a different worship setting.

The service also drew objections from some in Barbados’ Rastafarian community. Williams said critics argued that the Anglican Church, as part of a colonial structure, did not have the moral authority to use Marley’s music in that way. That objection reflected a wider sensitivity around Marley’s legacy and the question of who should interpret Caribbean cultural icons.

"They argued that the Anglican Church really did not have the right to use Marley’s music in that way because we are part of the colonial structure and the European structure that Bob Marley was very much against," Williams said.

Despite that criticism, the church was full, and additional attendees were seated under tents outside, following the service on screens. Williams said the turnout suggested strong interest in the service.

"It was well received, really well received," he said. "People were saying we need to do it again."