Baptist groups in the USA

THANKS, webmaster, for this forum. Obviously, I am not Dr. Bob (whew! ), but I was involved in that discussion and have been involved in studying sub-groups of Baptists for over 20 years. I am going to divide the groups I know based on the categories found in Baptists Around the World and Baptist Atlas, both works by Dr. Albert W. Wardin, Jr. Total on my list = 61.

REGULAR BAPTISTS (NORTHERN-ORIENTED)

1. American Baptist Churches in the USA
2. Baptist General Conference
3. Conservative Baptist Association of America
4. North American Baptist Conference
5. Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
6. Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America
7. General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
8. Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America
9. New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship

10. New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches
STATE OR REGIONAL GROUPS RELATED TO THE NTA
11. Minnesota Baptist Association
12. Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches
13. Association of Independent Baptist Churches of Illinois
14. Dakota Baptist Association
15. Inter-Mountain Baptist Fellowship
16. Mountain States Baptist Fellowship
17. Association of Fundamental Baptist Churches of Northern California
18. Independent Fundamental Baptist Association (MI)

REGULAR BAPTISTS (SOUTHERN-ORIENTED)

19. Southern Baptist Convention
LANDMARK BAPTISTS
20. American Baptist Association
21. Baptist Missionary Association of America
22. Interstate and Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of America
23. Old Time Missionary Baptists (various local associations especially in TN & KY)

24. World Baptist Fellowship
25. Baptist Bible Fellowship International
26. Independent Baptist Fellowship International
27. Southwide Baptist Fellowship
28. Northwest Baptist Fellowship (separated recently from BBFI)
29. Missouri Valley Concord of Independent Baptist Churches (also from BBFI)
30. Liberty Baptist Fellowship

NATIONAL BAPTISTS

31. National Baptist Convention of America
32. National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
33. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
34. National Primitive Baptist Convention, Inc.
35. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

PRIMITIVISTS (SOUTHERN-ORIENTED)

36. Central Baptist Association
37. General Association of Baptists (often called Duck River and Kindred Associations)
38. Old Regular Baptists
39. Regular Baptists
40. Union Baptists
41. United Baptists
42. Old Line Primitive Baptists
43. Absolute Predestinarian Primitive Baptists
44. Progressive Primitive Baptists
45. Primitive Baptist Univeralists (4 associations of PB's that believe in Universal {not general} atonement)
46. Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists (3 churches left)
47. Jasper and Pleasant Valley Associations (GA)

FREE WILL/GENERAL BAPTISTS

48. National Association of Free Will Baptists
49. Original Free Will Baptist Convention (NC)
50. United American Free Will Baptist Church
51. General Association of General Baptists
52. General Six-Principle Baptists (1 church left, I think)
53. Separate Baptists in Christ
54. National Association of United Baptists (similar to the UB's above {# 41}, but Arminian rather than Calvinistic)

REFORMED BAPTISTS

55. Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America
56. Sovereign Grace Baptist Association
57. Continental Baptist Churches

OTHER

58. Strict Baptists (3 churches related to the Strict Baptists of England)
59. Alliance of Baptists
60. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
61. Unaffiliated Baptists - numerous churches across the country do not affiliate with any kind of group or fellowship.


Baptist "split-offs" (such as Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, Holiness Baptist Association, General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, etc.) are counted as Baptists by some compilers of such data. It is my opinion that neither Baptists, nor these groups themselves, recognize them as Baptist.

ETHNIC BAPTISTS
There are many associations, conferences, and conventions that exist separately from the major conventions because of a difference in language. These groups usually relate in some way to the larger national bodies and therefore and not usually counted as separate groups of Baptists.

GOOD SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON BAPTISTS
Baptists Around the World, Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
Encyclopedia of American Religions, by J. Gordon Melton, editor
Handbook of Denominations, by Mead and Hill
Baptist Atlas, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
Dictionary of Baptists in America, by Bill J. Leonard, editor
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, National Council of Churches

Go here for links to denominational web sites.

[ June 24, 2001: Message edited by: rlvaughn ]

 

COMMENTS ON TWO AND TWO MORE

The Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship possibly should not be counted as separate groups since they still operate to some degree within the Southern Baptist Convention. Counting thus would drop my total back to 59. I expect the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will gradually withdraw from all contact with the SBC.

Two groups that operate within the American Baptist Churches in the USA are: (1) American Baptist Evangelicals, a conservative evangelical group; and (2) the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, a pro-homosexual group.

P.S. - Dr. Bob, I hope you will also post your list, because it is probably a little different from mine.

 

My goodness, aren't American (USA) Baptists divided?

 

QUESTIONS FOR BOB GRIFFIN:

Do you know the source of the 1980 survey mentioned in your post? I notice it follows J. Gordon Melton's divisions fairly closely (and even some of his mistakes, such as Christian Unity being Calvinistic and Baptist General Conference being Arminian).

I think you have personal experience with some of the fellowships I mentioned as related to the New Testament Association. These groups are problematic for categorization, since they are state associations. Most of them, as far as I know, are not connected to any national organization. Do you know if my numbers 11-18 have any connection with any national independent groups such as NTA, FBF, BBF, etc., or do they basically "stand on their on"? Any info will be helpful.

What is your opinion on the inclusion of the Brethren churches on this list? In my opinion, the Brethren churches, the Old German Baptists, and the German Seventh Day Baptists are probably neither theologically nor historically Baptist.

Finally (unrelated to previous posts), have you ever heard of the Colorado Reform Baptist Church? Melton's 1989
Encyclopedia of American Religions mentions it, but I have never seen it mentioned elsewhere. It is not "Reformed", but Arminian and involved in social activism. Supposedly had about 28 churches and it's Bishop was William T. Conklin of Denver, CO. Thought you might have heard of it since you're out that way.

[ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: rlvaughn ]

 

REVIEW AND COMMENTS ON 1980 SURVEY OF BAPTIST GROUPS

"...Baptist Groups that were national or regional that met the following criteria:
(1) It was the chief religious loyalty of that group
(2) It was multi-state or regional
(3) It had at least 20 congregations or two large (over 2000) congregations
Here are the nation-wide Baptist groups:"
This survey is somewhat confusing in that it sets criteria (implying that these groups are nation-wide) and yet does not follow its own criteria. For example, in 1980 the Christian Unity Association had 2 churches ( 1 in VA & 1 in NC) with about 80 members. I think that the Christian Unity should have been counted as a distinct group (for reasons I will give in another post); but the survey does not follow its own criteria here. Several other examples could be given, but this will suffice.

11. North American Baptist Association - this was the original name of the Baptist Missionary Association of America when it was formed in 1950. The present name was adopted in 1969. It is not Calvinistic Anti-Missions.

13. Primitive Baptist – Buffalo River Association; 14. Primitive Baptist – Central District Association; 15. Primitive Baptist – Hiwassee Association; 16. Primitive Baptist – Mayo Association; 17. Primitive Baptist – Old Elkhorn Association; 20. Primitive Baptist – Round Lick Primitive Baptist Association; 21. Primitive Baptist – Sandlick/Spencer Associations : This survey follows the early editions of the Encyclopedia of American Religions in listing these as primary religious bodies. They are simply local associations of Primitive Baptists that did not correspond with any other associations and may be categorized as either Regular (Old Line); Absolute Predestinarian; Progressive; or Universalist Primitive Baptists like the 1000's of other local associations of Primitive Baptists. The 1993 edition of EAR corrects this error.

GENERAL BAPTISTS – ARMINIAN (10 national groups)
24. Baptist General Conference - the BGC is no more Arminian than the SBC. It holds total depravity and eternal security.

31. Primitive Baptist Conference (of New Brunswick, Maine, and Nova Scotia) - this group no longer exists as a separate body. In 1981, they joined the National Association of Free Will Baptists and are now the Atlantic-Canada Association of FWB's. They were never connected with the Calvinistic Primitive Baptists, but were a descendant of the Free Christian Baptist movement of New England. Most other Free Baptists in the North had long ago joined the Northern Baptist Convention (now ABCUSA).

43. Independent Baptist Church of America - this originally Swedish Baptist group has been out of existence for 15-20 years.

44. Kyova Association of Regular Baptist Churches - if this group still exists, which my best resources from the area doubt, it is still simply a local association of Old Regular Baptists that doesn't fellowship with the others because they don't believe in unions.

45. Landmark American Baptist Association - no such animal; is the same as #34.

50. Old Light Baptist Churches - anyone have any information on these??

36. Association of Evangelicals for Italian Missions; 55. Russian/Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Union of the USA - these 2 bodies should probably be counted as ethnic Baptists. They have their own associations, but the churches are also related to the parent body, the ABCUSA.

62. Missionary Baptists of America - there is no denominational group with this name, but many unaffiliated independent churches, as well as others, carry the name missionary Baptists.

ETHNIC BAPTISTS
66. Baptist General Conference; 68. North American Baptist General Conference - these are counted twice (#24 & #49). Though BGC has a Swedish background and NABC a German one, these groups are seldom considered ethnic Baptist groups today, because they have long since joined the mainstream of Baptists.

54.River Brethren; 64. Seventh-Day Baptists (German); 67. Old German Baptist Brethren
69. Plymouth Brethren; 70. Ashland Brethren
71. Grace Brethren; 72. Amana - all these are Brethren groups and not Baptists in the strictest sense.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rlvaughn:
QUESTIONS FOR BOB GRIFFIN:

I think you have personal experience with some of the fellowships I mentioned as related to the New Testament Association. These groups are problematic for categorization, since they are state associations. Most of them, as far as I know, are not connected to any national organization. Do you know if my numbers 11-18 have any connection with any national independent groups such as NTA, FBF, BBF, etc., or do they basically "stand on their on"? Any info will be helpful.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


I am not Dr. Bob (thank heavens!!!) , but I have some up to date info related to your question. First of all, the FBF is a pastor's fellowship and is not an association of churches. Any pastor can be a member by agreeing with their doctrinal statement and sending in a small fee to be included in their directory and receive their magazine "Frontline." It has a great heritage dating back to 1920 as a group of pastors within the ABC who were fighting liberalism at its founding.

In the past the BBF has had a loose basis of affiliation so that if you support a BBF missionary or faithfully attend BBF state fellowship meetings your church may be listed in the directory.

With regard to the NTA (I am a board member), the state associations you mentioned are not tied in any way to the NTA. In fact, the NTA has no ties with any other organization or fellowship. Individual churches join the NTA by church vote and approval at the NTA annual meeting (Just held at Woodcrest Baptist Church in Mpls). My church happens to be a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches and the NTA, but there is no connection between the two. However, most of the churchs in our state fellowship are not a part of the NTA or any national organization.

It is true that a number of the churches in these state fellowships you listed #11-18 in a previous post are involved in their state fellowships but have no involvement beyond that.

[ June 15, 2001: Message edited by: Circuitrider ]

 

Circuitrider, thanks for the info: "My church happens to be a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches and the NTA, but there is no connection between the two. However, most of the churchs in our state fellowship are not a part of the NTA or any national organization. It is true that a number of the churches in these state fellowships you listed #11-18 in a previous post are involved in their state fellowships but have no involvement beyond that."

This illustrates part of what I mean is problematic concerning categorizing and counting these groups. I am also an independent Baptist, but when it comes to grouping and counting, independent Baptists provide perhaps the greatest challenge. As you note, many of these fellowships are not associations of churches, but rather preachers' fellowships. Where do we place these state groups categorically and statisically? They are not nationwide. But they are not really part of any national group. They are probably not much theologically different from most other ifb's, yet they cannot be counted with groups of which they are not a part. If we ignore groups that are only regional or local, quite a number of Baptists will be dismissed rather than counted toward the total Baptist population of the United States. For an opposite example - the Baptist General Convention here in Texas does not need to be listed or counted separately, because they are counted with the Southern Baptist Convention. But with the Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches, if they are not listed separately, where will these churches be counted or recognized? They are really not a part of any other organization. Would this not also be correct of most of the Minnesota BA, Assn of Ind. Baptists of Illinois, Ind. Fund. Baptist Association of Michigan, and other such groups?

 

Boy, this list is getting long. That's okay.

I am Primitive Baptist.....most would call me "Old Line" or "Hardshell".


Associations in relationship to the Primitive Baptist are generally loose associations. We fellowship with one another. It's a way for us to get together with "those of like faith".

The association has no authority over the local churh. Each church stands alone with the head of the local church being our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each church can vote to be a part or not be a part of any association. If a church is a member of an association it is generally by location or the church happens to be in a general location of the group of churches which has formed an association.

I do not really care for associations, at least the ones I have seen.

I just thought I'd share some thoughts.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!!!

Chris

 

MEMBERSHIP OF BAPTISTS BY GROUPS

The following statistics of Baptists in the United States are taken mostly from Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr., 1995, Broadman & Holman. As far as I know this represents the most recent PUBLISHED count of Baptists in the United States. The Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies' "Religious Congregations Membership Study, 2000" should be available in a year or two, and will be published by Glenmary Research. Other sources of statistics will be noted at the end of the post. This list follows my first post with a few refinements and additions to (hopefully) make the list more accurate.

1. American Baptist Churches in the USA [1,504,573 members in 5801 churches]
2. Baptist General Conference [132,994 members in 786 churches]
3. Conservative Baptist Association of America [200,000 members in 1197 churches]
4. North American Baptist Conference [42,689 members in 267 churches]
5. Seventh Day Baptist General Conference [4885 members in 78 churches]
6. Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America [402 churches]
7. General Association of Regular Baptist Churches [157,522 members in 1541 churches]
8. Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America [106 churches]
9. New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship [had 1022 members in 10 churches in 1965 - no recent statistics available]
10. SIMILAR STATE, REGIONAL, OR NATIONAL INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTAL GROUPS [estimated 66,500 members in 467 churches - includes Minnesota Baptist Association; Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches; Association of Independent Baptist Churches of Illinois; Dakota Baptist Association; Inter-Mountain Baptist Fellowship; Mountain States Baptist Fellowship; Association of Fundamental Baptist Churches of Northern California; Independent Fundamental Baptist Association of Michigan; & New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches]
11. Southern Baptist Convention [15,400,487 members in 38,458 churches]
12. American Baptist Association [approx. 250,000 members in 1731 churches]
13. Baptist Missionary Association of America [234,607 members in 1327 churches]
14. Independent Landmark Associations and Churches [estimated 85,000 members in 821 churches - includes 4 unaffiliated associations and 695 independent churches]
15. Interstate and Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of America [14,225 members in 132 churches]
16. Old Time Missionary Baptists [approx. 60,000 members in 490 churches - includes 24 unaffiliated associations and 168 independent churches]
17. Sovereign Grace Landmark Independent Baptist [417 churches]
18. United Baptist - Landmark type [23,969 members in 126 churches - Green River, South Concord, South Fork, Stockton Valley, and West Union Associations]
19. Baptist Bible Fellowship International [3395 churches]
20. Heartland Baptist Bible Fellowship [unofficial name; recently separated from BBFI, including Northwest Baptist Fellowship & Missouri Valley Concord of Independent Baptist Churches - numbers would be included in BBFI above]
21. Independent Baptist Fellowship International [540 churches]
22. Liberty Baptist Fellowship [100 churches]
23. Southwide Baptist Fellowship [912 churches]
24. World Baptist Fellowship [945 churches]
{Wardin says these southern-oriented fundamentalists (BBFI-WBF) have over 4500 churches and are approaching 2 million members. Totals of churches above will not add up correctly because many pastors participate in more than one of these fellowships. This is also true of the northern-oriented fundamentalist fellowships}
25. National Baptist Convention of America [1,700,000 members in 6716 churches]
26. National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. [6,000,000 members in 18,513 churches]
27. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America [200,000 members in 701 churches]
28. National Primitive Baptist Convention, Inc. [616 churches]
29. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. [741 churches]
30. Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship [not available]
31. Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association [approx. 9000 members in 100 churches; these churches also represent in the GARBC or CBAA]
32. Primitive Baptist - Independent African-American local associations [not available]
33. Central Baptist Association [3700 members in 33 churches]
34. General Association of Baptists (Duck River and Kindred Associations) [10,212 members in 99 churches]
35. Old Regular Baptists [15,218 members in 326 churches]
36. Regular and Union Baptists [8704 members in 111 churches]
37. United Baptists - Regular [54,248 members in 436 churches; Wardin's numbers probably include #18 and #51 on my list]
38. Primitive Baptists - Absolute Predestinarian [6495 members in 389 churches]
39. Primitive Baptists - Progressive [8000 members in 119 churches]{the Eastern District Association of Primitive Baptists is also progressive in its practice, though not using the name progressive for the churches. 67 churches are in the Eastern District Association}
40. Primitive Baptists - Regular (Old Line) [48,980 members in 1426 churches]
41. Primitive Baptist - Univeralists [582 members in 28 churches]
42. Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists [about 80 members in 4 churches]
43. Jasper, New Hope, and Pleasant Valley Associations (GA) [10,977 members in 64 churches]
44. National Association of Free Will Baptists [234,588 members in 2461 churches]
45. Original Free Will Baptist Convention [33,066 members in 236 churches]
46. United American Free Will Baptist Church [50,000 members in 816 churches] {note: this is an African-American body}
47. Independent Free Will Baptist Associations [22,000 members in 295 churches]
48. General Association of General Baptists [73,308 members in 816 churches]
49. General Six-Principle Baptists [140 members in 2 churches]
50. Separate Baptists in Christ [8318 members in 100 churches]
51. National Association of United Baptists [14,641 members in 152 churches]
52. Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America [40 churches]
53. Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches [15 churches]
54. Continental Baptist Churches [9 churches]
55. Gospel Standard Strict Baptists [3 churches]
{Wardin gives an estimated 1600 members in 400 Reformed Baptist congregations. This would include churches independent of the 4 associations mentioned above}

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship could possibly be recognized as a new Baptist group, since it operates independently of the SBC. But a number of their churches are affiliated with the SBC. I have no statistical information on them. The Colorado Reform Baptist Church is included in J. Gordon Melton's "Encyclopedia of American Religions" with 2015 members in 38 churches. They are arminian and social activists. I have no other information on them.

SOURCES OTHER THAN "BAPTISTS AROUND THE WORLD" -
9. Encyclopedia of American Religions, by J. Gordon Melton, 1989.
12. The American Baptist Association - a Survey and Census of Its Churches and Associations, by R. L. Vaughn, 1996.
13. B.M.A.A. Directory and Handbook - 2001
14. Association minutes and "Unaffiliated Landmark Baptist Church Survey" by R. L. Vaughn.
15. IFLMBA 2000 minutes.
16. Association minutes and "Unaffiliated Landmark Baptist Church Survey" by R. L. Vaughn.
17. "Unaffiliated Landmark Baptist Church Survey" by R. L. Vaughn.
18. Association minutes.
31. Association of North American Missions - www.anam-usa.org
33. Association minutes.
34. Association minutes.
39. www.associationofprimitivebaptists.cjb.net
41. Association minutes.
42. BATW, Association minutes, & conversation with a "Two-Seed" elder.
43. Association minutes.
51. Association minutes.
52. Association directory.
53. Association directory.
54. Association directory.

[ July 24, 2002, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: rlvaughn ]

 

BAPTIST GROUPS IN 1790

Maybe you will find these statistics interesting. Baptists have multiplied and divided quite a bit since then.

Source - p. 47 of The Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination in North America by John Asplund (1791; Reprinted by Church History Research and Archives, 1979).

SIX PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS - 1 association, 18 churches, 1599 members
OPEN COMMUNION BAPTISTS - 1 association, 15 churches, 1714 members
GENERAL PROVISION BAPTISTS - 3 associations, 30 churches, 1948 members
SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS - no association, 10 churches, 887 members
REGULAR (or particular) BAPTISTS - 30 associations, 795 churches, 58398 members

Total = 35 associations, 868 churches, 64546 members

Comment by Asplund - "...a large number attend the meetings, at least three times as many as have joined the church."

Asplund himself - "...I have been prevailed upon to make the tour of Baptist churches, to obtain the necessary information. With a view to this, I have travelled about 7000 miles, in about 18 months, chiefly on foot, and have visited about 215 churches, and 15 associations. I am personally acquainted with 250 Ministers of our Society..." (p. 3)

 

Yearbook of American Churches lists the following groups with over 1,000,000 members:

Southern Baptist Convention: 15,663,000 in 40,039 churches (1995)
National Baptist Convantion, U.S.A. Inc: 8,200,000 in 33,000 churches (1992)
National Baptist Convention of America: 3,500,000 in 2,500 churches (1987)
Progressive National Baptist Convention: 2,500,000 in 2,000 churches (1995)
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America: 2,500,000 in ??? churches (1992)
American Baptist Churches in the USA: 1,517,000 in 5,823 churches (1995)
Baptist Bible Fellowship International: 1,500,000 in 3,600 churches (1995)

 

BAPTISTS COMPARED TTHER GROUPS

The following information was reported in the Baptist Standard, Feb. 26, 2001 and was based on the report of the 2001 "Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches".

The ten largest churches (italics mine) in the United States are:
Roman Catholic Church, 62 million
Southern Baptist Convention, 15.85 million
United Methodist Church, 8.37 million
Church of God in Christ, 5.49 million
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 5.14 million
Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), 5.11 million
Presbyterian Church (USA), 3.56 million
National Baptist Convention of America, 3.5 million
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, 2.58 million
Assemblies of God, 2.57 million

SOME COMMENTS
1. It is hard to accurately compare Baptists with Paedobaptists, since their membership requirements and standards are so dissimilar.
2. It is somewhat hard to accurately compare presbyterian and episcopal single church entities with congregationally governed denominations. For example, the Roman Catholic Church is one single church made up of many small congregations, while each Baptist congregation is an independent church who may or may not choose to work with any group or groups they wish.
3. The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches is a good resource, but not the best resource for Baptist statistics, since they simply take the membership reports as turned in by each group. There is no accounting, as far as I know, for problems such a dual affiliation.