• Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Denominational Sites

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Thanks, Tom, for putting up these links. My original intent was to give information on lesser known bodies, so I had deliberately left off the SBC. But I have gradually added many larger groups. I simply overlooked the American Baptist Evangelicals. For those who aren't aware - ABE is an evangelical movement that operates within the ABCUSA.

Another update: a group that withdrew from the BBFI and was informally known as Heartland Baptist Fellowship adopted an official name at its May 9, 2001 meeting - Global Independent Baptist Fellowship.

ADDITION - the GIBF minutes link seems to no longer work. Try
this page

[ January 27, 2002: Message edited by: rlvaughn ]
 

DocCas

New Member
I will never understand why baptists keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again. The above group got started when some members of the SBC got disgruntled over the leadership of the Colleges and Seminaries and started their own group, and school, the World Baptist Fellowship. (By the way, the SBC got started when some Baptists got disgruntled over politics prior to the Civil War!) Shortly thereafter, some of the members of that new group got disgruntled over the leadership of the College/Seminary (Bible Baptist Seminary, now Arlington Baptist College) and started their own fellowship and school (BBF/BBC). Then some men got disgruntled over the leadership of the College/Seminary (BBC/BBGST) and started their own fellowship and school (the new one above centered around HBC). How long will it be before somebody gets disgruntled over the leadership of the school/fellowship and starts another break-away school/fellowship? And another, and another, and another?

By the way, I am not picking on the WBF/BBF/GIBF as other Baptist groups have done the same thing. The NBC was organized in 1907 and by 1920 a split occured starting what is now the FBF. Then the GARBC split off from that, then the IBF split off from the GARBC. Also the CBA split off, then spintered again and again into various state fellowships and at least 2 national fellowship (that I am aware of).

Don't baptists ever learn? Why not just be unaffiliated of all the conventions, associations, fellowships, etc.? It would save a lot of trouble, not to mention paper for all those ballots!
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I am bringing this back to the top since we have several new members posting in "Denominational Discussions" who have never seen this topic with its denominational links. Hope this helps.
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I have corrected several faulty links in the original post. I have found three groups whose sites are evidently down - Baptist General Conference, Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association, and Eastern District Primitive Baptist Association. If anyone knows of valid links for these bodies, I would appreciate your posting them. In the meantime, here is the Baptist General Conference of Canada.
 

ResIpsaLoquitur

New Member
Personally, I like being a part of the SBC. Even with it's problems, it's the denomaination for me. ;) Like a sign I once saw on another church's sign, "Not a Showplace for Saints but a hospital for sinners"! I know we all have our problems and can agree to disagree about religious doctrine. However, I believe if a person has accepted Christ as their personal saviour,they are saved and thats the most important decision of anyones life!
 

Mitsy

New Member
OK, now I have a question about some of these associations or "denominations"...perhaps this is the thing that I dislike about some Baptists groups in general; It seems to me that all the many different strains of Baptist that there are, that there are some groups that are merely "organizations" or "associations" unlike the Southern Baptist Convention or the Primitive Baptist Association (which are denominations separate from one another). I do not understand why some Baptists churches that choose to affiliate with two different organizations or two different groups. I've noticed that some Baptist churches claim to be...for instance in the Alliance Baptist Association while ALSO being affiliated with the General Baptist Association. Is the Alliance group not a separate group much like Southern Baptist and Primitive Baptists are separate from each other? No wonder there is so much confusion between all the Baptists groups out there. I think many different Baptist denominations is fine; it's when those various Baptist churches decide to be in several different affiliations or associations that I think it confuses people - Baptist and non-Baptist alike.

My own belief is that each Baptist church should pick an affiliation and call it good rather than to try to be in two (or 3) separate groups or be so ecumenical that they don't even know what association believes in what. Am I totally out in left field here or does anyone understand what I'm saying here? Surely, there is a simplier way to affiliate each Baptist church.
 

Rev. Joshua

<img src=/cjv.jpg>
Mitsy,

Technically, no baptists body is a denomination in the traditional sense since all baptist churches are autonomous. Baptist bodies like the SBC were created solely for the purpose of pooling resources (for missions primarily, and also for theological education and publishing). Baptist churches may cooperate with as many of these groups as they wish, since cooperation simply means writing a check to support the various programs of whichever bodies they like.

Consequently, a local baptist church may align itself with as many regional, state, and national groups as it feels are appropriate. Traditionally, a church should not be defined by those associations (since in reality they are - essentially - just charities which they support). Nevertheless, people have started to do so. "Southern Baptist" - for instance - has become an identity in a way that the forbears of the Convention never expected that it would.

Things do become a bit more complicated if clergy wish to be recognized by outside groups (federal chaplains, for instance). To accomplish that goal, some baptist conventions/associatons/groups have taken on denomination-like functions. The ABC-USA, SBC, CBF, Alliance, and Baptist General Convention of Texas all endorse chaplains.

Local churches do not have to affirm the doctrinal stance of conventions which they support, but chaplains do. As a result, chaplains are usually much pickier about where they keep their endorsement. (Mine is with the Alliance - for instance.) Likewise, to my knowledge, you cannot pick more than one endorsing agency.

The short answer then is that, with the exception of chaplains (and - to some extent - other ABC-USA clergy), a baptist makes their denominational affirmation by the local church that they join; not by the cooperative bodies whom they support.

Joshua
 

Salty

20,000 Posts Club
Administrator
I have found an excellent book "Handbook of Denominations - in the United States" The book was written by Frank S. Mead and then revised by Samuel S. Hill.

I have also come across a group called the "Continental Baptist Churches" (they are not listed in the book) Has anyone ever heard of this group?
 

Rebaros

New Member
I find this all fasinating because I've always wondered what all the differences were. I've been both Independent Baptist and Southern Baptist. Dr. Roy Grigsby (my pastor from Rheinland Baptist Church-Germany) once said there has to be a balance in your faith. (He was referring to legalistic and liberalism)
I find the closer I walk with God the more I find that to be true.
Becky
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
SaltCityBaptist, the Continental Baptist Churches is a very small association of sovereign grace Baptist churches that adhere to the 1644 London Confession. I have a link in the first post, but it appears their official site is no longer operational. KINDRED MINDS is a theological newsletter edited by one of their pastors.
 

Frogman

<img src="http://www.churches.net/churches/fubc/Fr
Bro. Vaughn,
The link for the 'Old Time Missionary Baptist' doesn't work.

It does go to a page that shows Oldtimebaptist.org or something like that, but that is all.

Just thought I would mention it, I know there is probably nothing you can do about it.

God Bless.
Bro. Dallas Eaton
 
Top