The Revd Wale Hudson-Roberts, BUGB Racial Justice Coordinator, said, "African and Caribbean Baptists were delighted by the apology that came from Council in November 2007. This was more than just a timely apology, as the UK was commemorating the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade act; it has also been a theologically powerful act.
"The truth has set many Africans and Caribbeans free. Emerging from the apology is now a willingness and enthusiasm to work towards addressing, and strategically challenging the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade with the hope that one day all Baptists will belong to a family that is free from prejudice and racism."
Pat White from Brixton Baptist Church will travel to Jamaica representing the London Baptist Association and Black and Ethnic Minority Ministers' Forum and Churches.
She said that going to Jamaica with the apology would help black and white Baptists "recognise and understand the legacy of slavery today".
"My prayer is, that the visit denotes trust, wisdom, reconciliation and true koinonia between the Baptist Union of Jamaica and the Baptist Union of Great Britain," she said.
Karl Johnson, General Secretary of the Jamaica Baptist Union said he was looking forward to meeting the delegation.
He said that the Jamaica Baptist Union had received the news of the apology made by the Baptist family in the UK "with openness, humility and appreciation".
"For years we have felt that such an action was necessary and have indeed encouraged them to consider same," he said.
"It therefore goes without saying that we are grateful to God that in God's own time and in the lifetime of some who were part of the original request in 1994, it has come to pass.
"We look forward to receiving the team in Christian love and hospitality and pray that the visit will underscore our sense of oneness and common journey."
The visit also has the support of the General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, Neville Callam, who originates from Jamaica.
"We thank God for the apology issued by British Baptists in relation to the slavery and the slave trade," he said.
"As members of the body of Christ, we treasure the solidarity we have in Christ and we know how to respond when fellow Christians admit to wrongdoing, if even by their forebears.
"We know the joy and the blessing of forgiveness. With this, true healing is possible and liberation becomes the common gain of everyone involved."
