This Spot of Ground

Carol B. Duncan is Chair of the Department of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Her areas of research interest include Caribbean religion and culture in diasporic and transnational contexts. She has published on the Spiritual Baptists, the Black Church, black women and motherhood, and race, gender, and representation in film. Duncan is a co-author of the textbook Black Church Studies: An Introduction (Abingdon Press, 2007). In 2006 - 2007 she was a research associate in the Womens Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School and a visiting associate professor of Women's Studies and Religion and Society.

• This Spot of Ground: Spiritual Baptists in Toronto by Carol B. DuncanPrefaceAcknowledgments INTRODUCTIONThe Research SettingThe Study as a ""Talking Book""TravessaoBook Overview1. ""A PASSPORT TO HEAVEN'S GATE""Introduction""Heaven's Gate"": Canada in the North American and Caribbean Black ImaginaryChurch-Ship: Spiritual VoyagingSpiritual Baptists in Multicultural Canada: Considering Religious and National Identities in MigrationCountercultures of Modernity and the Problem of MulticulturalismA Historical Overview of Multiculturalism in CanadaMulticulturalism in the Spiritual Baptist ChurchSpiritual Baptist Perceptions and Experiences of Multiculturalism in CanadaConclusion2. ""THIS SPOT OF GROUND"": THE EMERGENCE OF SPIRITUAL BAPTISTS IN TORONTOIntroductionOrigins of the Spiritual Baptist Church in the Caribbean""This Spot of Ground"": The Spiritual Baptist Church as ""Homeplace"" in TorontoThe Founding of the First Spiritual Baptist Church in Toronto (1975-1980)Toronto Spiritual Baptist Church OrganizationConclusion3. ""SO SPIRITUALLY, SO CARNALLY"": SPIRITUAL BAPTIST RITUAL, THEOLOGY, AND THE EVERYDAY WORLD IN TORONTOIntroduction""So Carnally, So Spiritually""Ritual as Performance and Social CommentaryJoining the Spiritual Baptist Church in TorontoComing to CanadaWork Experiences""It Hurt Me Feelings"": Naming Racism""I Say You Can Call Me 'Damn Bitch'...Just Don't Call Me 'Madam'!"": Challenging Sexist RacismThe Church as Community: Support Networks in the Spiritual Baptist ChurchConclusion4. ""AFRICALAND"": ""AFRICA"" in TORONTO SPIRITUAL BAPTIST EXPERIENCEIntroductionAfricalandSacred Space and Place in the Spiritual Baptist ChurchSacred Time in the Spiritual Baptist ChurchTravelling to AfricalandAfrica as EdenAfricaland and the African DiasporaConclusion5. ""DEY GIVE ME A HOUSE TO GATHER IN DI CHIL'REN"": MOTHERS AND DAUGHTER IN THE SPIRITUAL BAPTIST CHURCHIntroductionAn Overview of Domestic Service in CanadaThe Mothers of the ChurchFamily in the Spirit: Extended Family in the Spiritual Baptist Church""If You Don't Come to Me, I'm Coming to You"": Ancestral Mother""Dey Give Me a House to Gather in di Chil'ren"": Spiritual Mother/Carnal Mother ""God Has Work for You to Do"": Nation Mother""It Makes You Feel Like Home"": Spiritual DaughterConclusion6. AUNT(Y) JEMIMA IN TORONTO SPIRITUAL BAPTIST EXPERIENCES: SPIRITUAL MOTHER OR SERVILE WOMAN?Introduction""Seeing"" Aunt Jemima(Re)Turning the Gaze on Aunt(y) JemimaRe-reading Aunt(y) Jemima and the Creole WomanTie-head WomanHead-ties and the Social Construction of IdentityConclusionCONCLUSION""To Pick It Up and Take It Forward""BibliographyIndex

``This Spot of Ground is a groundbreaking study.... [In it] Duncan has employed a range of methodological approaches in order to provide a compelling religio-cultural account of the Spiritual Baptists in Toronto. Of particular import is the presence of the narrative voice of the research subjects at the heart of the book.... [It] deserves to become an essential resource, in the first instance, for all religious scholars who profess some interest in Diasporan African religions, particularly those that are Caribbean in origin.'' -- Anthony G. Reddie, Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education,Birmingham, UK -- Black Theology: An International Journal, Vol. 7, #3, 2009, 200910