What is the American Baptist Church?
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a Baptist denomination with over 5,200 local congregations and 1.3 million members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. As Baptist congregations, American Baptist churches emphasize salvation through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, believers’ baptism by immersion, the priesthood of all believers, the importance of the local church,…
What is the Regular Baptist Church, and what do Regular Baptists believe?
The Regular Baptist Church is a fellowship of conservative, evangelical churches within the Baptist tradition. Their organization is called the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC), with about 1,300 churches in the association. The Regular Baptist Church has its roots in various pre-Reformation groups who believed in believer’s baptism by immersion and eschewed the…
Who are the Mennonites, and what are their beliefs?
The Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist (opposed to infant baptism) denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons (1496-1561). Mennonites are committed to nonviolence, nonresistance, and pacifism. Mennonite congregations worldwide embody the full scope of Mennonite practice from old-fashioned “plain” people to those who are indistinguishable in dress and…
What is the Southern Baptist Convention, and what do Southern Baptists believe?
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is an association comprised of over 16 million members in over 42,000 churches in the United States. Individual church membership is typically a matter of accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior and submitting to believer’s baptism by immersion. The SBC is considered to be an evangelistic, mission-minded church with a…
Why do many cities have a First Baptist Church and a Second Baptist Church?
The designation “First” or “Second” in the name of a Baptist church has nothing to do with status in the community, nor it is unique to Baptist churches. Other types of churches also use those numerical designations. Likewise, ordinal designations are also frequently used in bank names (i.e., First National Bank). In the early days…
Who are the Independent Baptists, and what do they believe?
Independent Baptists, often also known as Independent Fundamental Baptists (IFB), are a group that started within the greater Baptist denominations in the late 19th to early 20th century. At the time, many national Baptist denominations were moving away from biblical inerrancy and other conservative beliefs, leading many local churches to withdraw from denominational affiliation and…
What are Baptist General Conventions?
A general convention is a collection of like-minded churches within a state or region that partner together to reach a common goal. For Baptist General Conventions, the goal is to reach more people with the gospel than a single church could reach on its own. Some Baptist General Conventions, such as the ones in Oklahoma…
What is the National Baptist Convention, USA?
The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, is the largest African-American denomination in the United States. The National Baptist Convention, USA, officially began on November 22, 1880, when 151 people met in Montgomery, Alabama, and formed the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention. Their goal was to unite Baptist African-Americans to reach the unreached…
What is the Baptist Church, and what do Baptists believe?
First Baptist, Second Baptist, American Baptist, Southern Baptist, General Baptist, Independent Baptist, Primitive Baptist – the list goes on and on. Just who are these groups, and where did they all come from? Do they believe the same things or get along with each other? Depending on whom you ask, the Baptist church can be…
Who are the Amish, and what are their beliefs?
The Amish are a group of people who follow the teachings of Jacob Ammann, a 17th-century citizen of Switzerland. It is a Protestant denomination, closely related to the Mennonites. The Amish, most of whom live in the United States, follow simple customs and refuse to take oaths, vote, or perform military service. They shun modern…