Virgin Islands (British)

The British Virgin Islands, a British territory in the Leeward Islands chain of the Caribbean Sea, consists of four major islands—Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke—plus many smaller ones; its religious character derives from British colonialism and 20th-century American missionary activity. Tortola is the largest island, and about 82% of the population lives there. According to the 1991 census, most of the inhabitants are Christian: 33% Methodist, 17% Anglican, 10% Roman Catholic, 9% Church of God, 6% Seventh-Day Adventist, 4% Baptist, 2% Jehovah's Witnesses, and 15% other Protestant.

While the islands were initially inhabited by Arawaks and Caribs, European colonizers killed most of the native peoples even as they brought in African slaves to work on sugar plantations. After the Dutch initially settled Tortola in 1648, the English wrested control of it in 1672, along with the rest of the islands that would make up the British West Indies—until their designation as a British colony called Leeward Islands (1872–1960) and their subsequent status as an autonomous British Overseas Territory since 1967. Until the 18th century, Anglicanism was the official religion, although Anglican ministers preached to White audiences only, fearing that Christianity would make the slaves rebellious.

Moravian and Methodist missionaries began converting slaves in the 18th century. Apart from learning Christianity, the slaves gained literacy, permissible assembly, and social status among other slaves. A policy of noninterference with the political and social institutions surrounding slavery required missionaries to teach the slaves obedience to the White plantation owners and submission to secular authorities. Since Methodists like John Wesley generally opposed slavery, however, plantation owners suspected Methodists of aiding slave revolts on the islands in 1799. The enthusiastic style of worship, combined with literacy and status, helped turn most of the islands’ Black population to Methodism by the mid-19th century.

In the early 20th century, indentured workers from India immigrated to the islands, practicing Hinduism and Islam from their homes. Minority communities of Hindus and Muslims continue to live on the islands today. Laborers from Lebanon, incorrectly called Syrians, were already Christian, and most of them joined the Catholic Church.

After World War II, American fundamentalist and evangelical churches began proselytizing in the Caribbean, fueling the swift growth of these churches on the British Virgin Islands. Since the 1970s, the numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists have increased steadily. Alongside growing urbanization, the Pentecostal and Holiness traditions also expanded rapidly, incorporating African-derived shouting and ecstatic worship practices alongside Christian theology. Charismatic worship is a hallmark of many modern Caribbean churches, whether Catholic or Protestant.