American Baptist History

 

The Origins and Development of Baptist Thought and Practice

American Baptists, Southern Baptists and all the scores of other Baptist bodies in the U.S. and around the world grew out of a common tradition begun in the early 17^th century.   That tradition has emphasized the Lordship and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, believers’ baptism, the competency of all believers to be in direct relationship with God and to interpret Scripture, the influence of the Holy Spirit on individual lives and ministries, and the need for autonomous congregations free from government interference or hierarchical polity.

The origins of Baptist thought and practice can be seen in the late 16^th century in English Congregationalism, which rejected the prevalent “parish” structure of church life (Church of England) where everyone in a given community was a member of a neighborhood parish and where children were baptized.

The reaction against that structure was articulated in the concept of  “the gathered church,” in which membership was voluntary and based on evidence of conversion, and where baptism (for the most part) was limited to believers.

The earliest Baptist churches (1609-1612), although comprised of English- speaking congregants, flourished in Holland, where religious toleration was much greater than in England.  Among their leaders were John Smyth, who led the first congregation of 36 men and women, and Thomas Helwys, who returned to England in 1612 to establish the first Baptist church in England.

From the beginning Baptists exercised their freedom in choosing to embrace either a strict (predestinarian) Calvinism or Arminianism, which held free will as the fundamental determinant of salvation.  General (Arminian) and Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists were among the first distinct groups formed within the Baptist faith.  Calvinism tended to characterize Baptist theology until the late 18^th century, when enthusiasm developed for evangelism and overseas missionary work.  By and large modern Baptists are motivated by an Arminian theology that stresses free will, and have emphasized evangelism and discipleship.

Most early Baptists, while not of a single theological mindset, embraced as essential components of worship and mission the notions of the individual’s “soul competency” and responsibility before God and the inviolability of church autonomy.

In the early 1630s Roger Williams, formerly a member of the Church of England, took up clerical responsibilities in Massachusetts.  However, he eventually became estranged from authorities in the Massachusetts Bay Colony over the failure of church and civil functions to be independent of one another.  About 1638 he established the first Baptist church in America in the then-uncolonized Rhode Island (Providence), which became the first government in history founded on the premise of absolute religious freedom.  At the same time John Clarke, also originally from England and also dissatisfied with religious practice in Massachusetts, founded a Baptist church in Newport, R.I.  Williams and Clarke secured a charter guaranteeing civil and religious freedom in Rhode Island from King Charles II in 1663.

Because of continuing intolerance by Puritans and others in New England,

Baptist activity developed throughout the 17^th century in New Jersey and Philadelphia.  In 1707 the Philadelphia Baptist Association formed, comprised of five congregations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  This and succeeding associations honored the autonomy of constituent churches, but served as councils for ordination, and a means of disciplining ministers and settling congregational disputes.  By 1790 there were 35 Baptist associations, and approximately 560 ministers, 750 churches and 60,000 members in the U.S. 

In the late 18^th century Isaac Backus, of Middleborough, Mass., challenged the notion that Baptists (and other Christian groups), while tolerated, still had to pay taxes to support the established (Congregational) church.  Other Baptists confronted the issue in the South, where Anglican influences were prominent.  In most cases change was slow to come, but progress in realizing separation of church and state had been made.

John Leland, a pastor from Virginia, actively supported Thomas Jefferson’s religious freedom bill passed in Virginia in 1786.  As a delegate nominee considering the proposed federal Constitution, Leland originally proposed to vote against it because of its lack of provision for religious liberty.   He offered his support, however, when his opponent for the state delegate position, James Madison, convinced him provision for religious liberty would be made in what became the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution.  The Baptist influence, thus, was significant in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….”

By 1833 all of the U.S. states had, in their constitutions, affirmed the principle of separation of church and state with full religious liberty.

 The Call to Missionary Work

British pastor William Carey was the most influential figure in beginning the modern missionary movement, articulating the call to overseas service with the question, “If the Gospel was worthy of all acceptation, why is it not preached to all?”   He served as the first overseas representative (along with John Thomas) beginning in 1793, and remained engaged in evangelistic and educational ministries for 40 years in and around Serampore, India.

In fact the first Baptist to evangelize in a foreign country was George Lisle, a freed slave and first ordained black in America, who sailed from Georgia to establish  churches in Jamaica in the 1770s.

Influenced by Carey Congregationalists Adoniram and Ann Judson set sail for India in 1812.  After wrestling en route with the notion of baptism (and concluding that only immersive baptism was Scriptural) both became Baptists.  No longer engaged by the Congregationalists, and forced out of India by the East India Company, they settled in another mission field, Burma.  There Judson was instrumental in church growth and discipleship until his death in 1850, and his vital legacy is acknowledged by Baptist leaders there today.

Another missionary originally set to serve with the Judsons, Luther Rice, returned from India for medical reasons and to raise support for the Judsons.

 

His greatest contribution was motivating the creation in 1814 of the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States for Foreign Missions (Triennial Convention), the first unified national missionary-sending effort formed in the U.S. and the forerunner of today’s American Baptist Board of International Ministries.

Rice preached and raised money for missionary worked in many areas.  He inspired Lott Cary, who later founded the African Missionary Society of Richmond and established the first Baptist church in Liberia.

Rice also influenced John Mason Peck, a pivotal figure in domestic missionary work across the U.S. in the early and mid 19^th century.

In 1824 Rice and others helped form the Baptist General Tract Society, which later became the American Baptist Publication Society and eventually the American Baptist Board of Educational Ministries.  The goal of that original organization was to utilize educational means “to disseminate evangelical truth and to articulate sound morals.”  Its work evolved through the printing of tracts into book and curriculum publishing.  Educational outreach was undertaken throughout many parts of the U.S. in the 19^th century, including through colporters and chapel train cars.

Within the U.S. John Mason Peck, Isaac McCoy and others exemplified the mission of the American Baptist Home Mission Society–founded in 1832; now the American Baptist Board of National Ministries–in evangelistic outreach, ministry with Native Americans and the founding of educational institutions.

Origins of American Baptist Organization

The issue of slavery reached a peak in 1845 when the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society determined that it could not appoint any candidate for service who held slaves and when the American Baptist Home Mission Society decided separate northern and southern conventions were necessary.  The Southern Baptist Convention was formed in response.

Northern Baptists remained organized as a group of societies until 1907, when the Northern Baptist Convention was formed to structure coordination of the societies’ work while maintaining the autonomy of constituent churches.

The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board, founded in 1913, was begun to meet medical, insurance and pension needs of ordained and lay church workers.

 American Baptist Life and Mission Today

As the acknowledgment that American Baptist life and mission transcends any set geographical area, the Northern Baptist Convention was renamed the American Baptist Convention in 1950.  In 1972, in the midst of reorganization that in part reemphasized the congregation-centered mission of the denomination, its name was changed again to American Baptist Churches USA.

In geographic terms American Baptists have tended to be most numerous in northern states, although church growth in many areas of the South has been realized in recent decades.  Numerically, American Baptist Churches USA, which includes about 5,800 congregations and 1.5-million members, is approximately one-tenth the size of the Southern Baptist Convention and ranks sixth in size among the largest Baptist bodies.

Growing out of the first Baptist association founded in 1707 American Baptist Churches USA now is comprised of 34 regions.  They range in size from the individual urban centers of Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Los Angeles to the 13-state American Baptist Churches of the South, from the 34 congregations of the ABC of Rochester/Genesee to the nearly 500 churches of the West Virginia Baptist Convention.

The American Baptist Churches Mission Center in Valley Forge, Pa., has served since 1962 as a major site for the ongoing planning of domestic and overseas mission work, and for the production of various resources designed to help local churches and their leaders in their ministries.

Today hundreds of American Baptist home and overseas missionaries serve in partnership with others in a variety of ministries designed to strengthen spiritual,  physical and social conditions in the U.S. and in more than 20 other countries.

Throughout their history American Baptists have been led by the Gospel mandates to be directly active in the institutions of society to promote holistic and healing change.  The tradition of social outreach and ministry extends back to the enfranchisement and education of freedmen following the Civil War, through frontline advocacy of the Civil Rights Movement, the empowerment of women in church and society, ecological responsibility and the many contemporary issues of justice.  Because of the longstanding commitment to outreach to and fellowship with all persons, American Baptist Churches USA today is the most racially inclusive body within Protestantism and will within the next few years be comprised of no racial/ethnic majority group.

In consideration of Christ’s call to worldwide ministry (Acts 1:8) American Baptists always have been actively engaged in ecumenical ministry, both locally and in such bodies as the National Council of Churches of Christ, World Council of Churches and Baptist World Alliance.

Today Baptists worldwide number 43,000,000 baptized members–and a community of more than 100,000,000 people–in approximately 160,000 churches.  The greatest growth can be seen in the two-thirds worlds of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its congregations, including  modernist, charismatic and evangelical orientations. It traces its history to the First Baptist Church in America (1638) and the Baptist congregational associations which organized the Triennial Convention in 1814. From 1907 to 1950, it was known as the Northern Baptist Convention, and from 1950 to 1972 as the American Baptist Convention.

Organization

The American Baptists Churches USA has a congregationalist polity emphasizing local church autonomy. Local churches are organized into 33 regions. The General Board makes policy for the denomination’s national agencies. However, General Board resolutions are not binding on local congregations. Three-fourths of the representatives to the General Board are nominated and elected by the regions. One-fourth of the representatives are nominated by the Nominating Committee and are elected by the regions. The General Secretary executes the policies and decisions of the General Board. Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer was called as ABCUSA General Secretary on May 8, 2017. A substantial portion of the ABCUSA consists of African-American churches that may have joint affiliations with the ABCUSA and historic bodies such as the National Baptist Convention or the Progressive National Baptist Convention.

Theology and Practice

American Baptists share the same theological beliefs with Protestant churches which believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and the final authority in matters of faith. The ABCUSA affirms the Trinity, that the one God exists as three persons in complete unity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord through whom those who believe can have fellowship with God. He died, taking on the sins of the world, and was resurrected, triumphing over sin and death.

ABCUSA churches recognize two ordinances: Believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is by immersion, and those being baptized must be of an age to understand its significance. Believing in the priesthood of all believers, the ABCUSA avoids using creeds, affirming the freedom of individual Christians and local churches to interpret scripture as the Holy Spirit leads them. The ABCUSA affirms the ordination of women.

Membership

According to a denomination census released in 2020, it claimed 5,025 churches and 1,126,527 members. Congregations are concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast United States.

Regions

The ABCUSA consists of 33 regional associations and conventions:

Region	Headquarters	Area(s) Served	Number of Churches	Executive Minister	Notes
American Baptist Churches of Alaska	Anchorage, Alaska	The state of Alaska		Alonzo B. Patterson
American Baptist Churches of Connecticut	West Hartford, Connecticut	The state of Connecticut	120	Rev. Dr. Harry Riggs II
American Baptist Churches of Greater Indianapolis	Indianapolis, Indiana	The Indianapolis Metro Area	39	Rev. Joan C. Friesen
American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky	Greenwood, Indiana	Most of Indiana (except for Indianapolis), and five churches in Kentucky	292	Rev. Dr. Jim Walter (interim)	Formerly known as the Indiana Baptist Convention
American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles, Southwest, and Hawaii	Glendale, California	Southern California (including the Los Angeles Metro Area), Hawaii, Arizona, and the Las Vegas Metro Area	151	Andrew Quient
American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts	Groton, Massachusetts	The state of Massachusetts	246	Rev. Mary Miller	One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life
American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	The Chicagoland Area	57	Rev. David Gregg	One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life
American Baptist Churches of Metro New York	New York City, New York	The New York Metropolitan Area	191	Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley	One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life
American Baptist Churches of Michigan	East Lansing, Michigan	The state of Michigan	137	Rev. Brian Johnson	Formerly known as the Michigan Baptist Convention
American Baptist Churches of Nebraska	Omaha, Nebraska	The state of Nebraska	63	Rev. Dr. Robin D. Stoops
American Baptist Churches of New Jersey	Trenton, New Jersey	The state of New Jersey	277	Rev. Miriam Mendez
American Baptist Churches of New York State	Syracuse, New York	Most of New York, except for the Rochester-Genesee and Metro NYC areas	282	Rev. Dr. James Kelsey
American Baptist Churches of Ohio	Granville, Ohio	Most of Ohio, except for the Cleveland area	250	Rev. Jane Gibbons Rev. Mark E. Click
American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Most of Pennsylvania (except for Philadelphia) and all of Delaware	300	Rev. Frank T. Frischkorn
American Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico	Carolina, Puerto Rico	The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico	113	Rev. Edgardo M. Caraballo	Known in Spanish as ‘‘Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico’’
American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island	Exeter, Rhode Island	The state of Rhode Island	69	Rev. Doug Harris
American Baptist Churches of the Central Pacific Coast	Portland, Oregon	Central and Northern California, western Oregon, and two churches in Washington	72	Steve Bils
American Baptist Churches of the Central Region	Topeka, Kansas	Kansas, two churches in Oklahoma, one church in Arkansas	220	Gregg Hemmen	Formerly known as the Kansas Baptist Convention until 1979
American Baptist Churches of the Dakotas	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	North Dakota and South Dakota	50	Randall L. Rasmussen
American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region	Springfield, Illinois	Most of Illinois (except for the Chicago area), and all of Missouri	205	Paul Gibson
American Baptist Churches of the Rochester/Genesee Region	Rochester, New York	Mainly the Rochester/Genesee area, but other churches from 11 states affiliate with this region (see notes)	49	Rev. Dr. Sandra L. DeMott Hasenauer	One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life. Churches from other states that either left or were removed from their region over the LGBTQ+ issue affiliate with this region.
American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains	Centennial, Colorado	Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming		Rev. Dr. Steve Van Ostran
American Baptist Churches of the South	Woodlawn, Maryland	Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia	234	Rev. Dr. James Mitchell Harrison
American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire	West Lebanon, New Hampshire	Vermont and New Hampshire	147	Rev. Dale R. Edwards
American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin	Elm Grove, Wisconsin	The state of Wisconsin	61	Rev. Dr. John Jones (interim)	One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life
Cleveland Baptist Association	Cleveland, Ohio	The Cleveland Metro Area	39	Rev. Dr. Yvonne B. Carter
District of Columbia Baptist Convention	Washington, D.C.	Washington, D.C.	139	Rev. Trisha Miller Manarin	This body has 151 churches total, but only 139 are affiliated with the ABCUSA. This body was dually aligned with the ABCUSA and the Southern Baptist Convention until May 2018.
Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches	Kent, Washington	Washington and portions of Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah	55	Douglas Avilesbernal	One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life
Growing Healthy Churches	Clovis, California	Mainly central California, but churches from several states affiliate with this region.	167	Dr. Timothy H. Brown
Mid-American Baptist Churches	Urbandale, Iowa	Iowa and Minnesota	123	Rev. Jacquline Saxon
Mission Northwest	Post Falls, Idaho	Primarily Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Utah, with one church each in Nevada, California, Arizona, and Alaska	156	Dr. Charles E. Revis
Philadelphia Baptist Association	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Philadelphia Metro Area	121	Rev. Dr. James E. McJunkin, Jr.	Oldest continuous association of Baptist churches, established in 1707. One of seven ABCUSA regions known to support full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons into Baptist life
West Virginia Baptist Convention	Parkersburg, West Virginia	The state of West Virginia	371	Dr. Michael Sisson

 

Baptist Denominations

See Baptist Studies Center for Research, Baylor University >

Courtesy of the American Baptist Historical Society, Wikipedia. October 11, 2021