We know next to nothing of the religious practices of the original Amerindian inhabitants of Barbados or of the slaves, for most of the slavery period. The African Slaves undoubtedly brought their ancestral faiths with them, but to what extent they were able to practice these, or how they developed in Barbados, is impossible to tell from the brief and dismissive comments of white writers, or the very limited archaeological evidence available. 

The bulk of the white population were adherents of Anglicanism and in the early 19^thcentury this became the faith of most black Barbadians as well. In the 17^th century many of the indentured servants, particularly the Irish, were Roman Catholic and in the same period there were significant numbers of Jews and Quakers among the whites. In the later 18^thcentury, both the Moravians and Methodists began to have an impact. 

The picture began to change in the late 19^th century with the arrival of the Christian Mission and other revivalist churches, mostly of North American origin. These have gained a very large following between them and there are no over a hundred Christian denominations active in the island. These include many small and large churches under the umbrella of the Pentecostal Assembly, the Churches of the Nazarene, Baptists, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Brethren, the Spiritual Baptists and other small, independent, “one door” churches, as well as non-Christian faiths such as Judaism, Islam, Sai Baba and Hinduism.

While church membership and participation remain relatively strong, there is a marked preponderance of older members in most of the traditional churches and a recognized drifting away of the younger ones.

-this excerpt was taken from the Third Edition of A to Z of Barbados Heritage, page 304 – RELIGION