American Baptist Association
Encyclopedia
The American Baptist Association (ABA), formed in 1924, is an association of nearly 2,000 theologically
conservative
churches
that are Landmark Baptist in their missions and teachings. The Association is based in the United States
and has churches primarily in Arkansas
, Louisiana
, Texas
, Mississippi
, Oklahoma
, Florida
and California
with smaller numbers of churches in almost all of the states. There are also numerous churches in Mexico
, the Philippines
and other foreign countries which affiliate with the ABA.
in the early 17th century. Baptist churches spread from New England
through New York
and Pennsylvania
, to the Midwest and the American South. The Landmark Baptist view of their origins are that Baptist churches have existed in perpetuity
since the time of the New Testament
.
based in Nashville, Tennessee
.
A series of controversies arose in the middle 19th century among the Baptist churches, primarily in the South and to a smaller degree in the North, concerning Baptist theological and governmental principles. This movement to return to Baptist distinctives became known as Landmarkism. Early Landmark leaders included James Robinson Graves
, James M. Pendleton, and Amos C. Dayton.
The Cotton Grove Resolutions, adopted in 1851 at a meeting at Cotton Grove Baptist Church near Jackson
, Tennessee
, were probably the first systematized expression of Landmarkism though all the tenets existed among Baptists in some form or another prior to them. Landmark emphases on "local church only" and "the Great Commission given to the church" led to dissatisfaction with SBC structure and programs, such as mission boards. Conflicts between Landmarkers and non-Landmarkers were behind at least four important Baptist controversies in the late 19th century – Gospel Missions, the Whitsitt Controversy, the Hayden Controversy in Texas, and the Bogard Controversy in Arkansas.
The two state controversies led to the organization of two new state associations - the Baptist Missionary Association (BMA) of Texas in 1900 and the State Association of Missionary Baptist Churches in Arkansas in 1902. Soon Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana followed. The Texas association formed its own foreign mission work, but others desired to see a national organization for Landmark Baptists. Some of these organized the General Association of Baptists in the United States of America in 1905. The General Association never garnered full support of Landmark Baptists.
Southern Baptist churches eventually decided that the standing boards or conventions were necessary to the efficient ministries of its participants and made them permanent bodies. Some local associations that withdrew from the Southern Baptist Convention still remain aloof from any national organization.
, Texas, in 1924. The BMA of Texas continued as a state organization. The General Association adjourned "sine die", and was replaced by the newly formed American Baptist Association.
The ABA suffered a serious setback in 1950 with a schism
that led to the formation of two new general bodies – the North American Baptist Association
and the Interstate & Foreign Missionary Baptist Associational Assembly of America
. Other churches withdrew and remain independent.
and oriented to the local church. Most churches participate in local and state associations in addition to the national body. Churches support local, state, interstate, and foreign missionaries
, a publishing house, several seminaries
(each sponsored by a local church), and youth camps. The ABA headquarters are in Texarkana, Texas. Among the ABA seminaries are the Heritage Baptist Institute in Missouri City
, Texas, the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock
, Arkansas, the Gulf Coast Baptist Institute in Hattiesburg
, Mississippi, and the Texas Baptist Institute in Henderson
.
According to the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, the American Baptist Association reported 1,760 congregations and 275,000 members in 2000. The numerical strength of the Association is in the Old Southwest – Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas – but there are several churches in Mississippi
, California
and Florida
. There are also several participating churches and missions in Illinois
, Indiana
, Missouri
, Michigan
and Ohio
. Initially a Midwestern and Southern movement, now there are at least a few ABA participating churches in most of the United States, and mission work has expanded the association worldwide.
From 1917 to 1934, the ABA operated Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan
, Arkansas
. Among the alumni and faculty members was Conrad N. Glover of Sheridan, who later worked with Ben T. Bogard to organize Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock
. Conrad Glover's father, Robert W. Glover
, also an ABA pastor, and uncle, David Delano Glover
, served in the Arkansas Legislature. David Glover was also a U.S. representative from 1929 to 1935.
and hold some shared principles of the Christian faith: the Book of Genesis account of Divine Creation
, the Atonement of the Blood of Jesus Christ for sin, the Triune God (ABA churches prefer this term as more specific than the Trinity
). They reject Calvinism
, specifically the Calvinistic doctrine of limited atonement
. ABA participating churches also hold to the inerrancy of the Bible. Most ABA churches use the Authorized King James Version of the Bible for services and study in English, although some prefer the New King James Version
, the New International Version
, the New American Standard Bible
, the English Standard Version
, or the New Living Translation
Bibles.
Most ABA churches are partisans for the Landmark view of ecclesiology
. The ABA Doctrinal Statement denies the existence of a universal church
in any form, holding the church to be an exclusively local, visible entity. They instead classify all those who have repented of sin and put their faith and trust in Jesus apart from works or ceremonies, regardless of affiliation, as being in the "family of God". Most of the churches also believe their teachings predated Protestantism and reject the label "Protestant."
ABA churches observe two ordinances: Believer's baptism
and the Lord's Supper
. For baptism, most churches will not accept "alien" immersion, or that performed by non-Baptists. Candidates for membership from other ABA or other Baptist churches who have already been baptized by immersion can be admitted on "letter" or "statement" into the Missionary Baptist denomination. Those entering Missionary Baptist ranks from other Christian denominations must be baptized by immersion.
The ABA practices closed communion
, with the ordinance restricted to members in good standing of the local church. Guests in attendance may merely observe communion but not participate. Some Missionary Baptists believe that Jesus practiced closed communion with the Apostles at the Last Supper
by removing themselves from the other disciples. The SBC, conversely, invites open communion by visitors from other Baptist churches and other denominations so long as participants profess faith in Jesus Christ.
Missionary Baptist policy limits formal pulpit speakers to members of the ABA, but the SBC allows other recognized Christians to address their churches though such occasions are uncommon. The ABA is decentralized – it dispatches missionaries directly from local churches. The SBC, with far more resources available from a much greater membership, is centralized in the funding and assignment of missionaries. In most other areas of faith and practice, the ABA and SBC are compatible. In both associations, local churches call their pastors. The ABA and the SBC emphasize the Great Commission
of the Church (the sending of missionaries regionally, nationally and internationally), inerrancy of Scripture, church tithing, and the overall tenets of traditional Chrisitanity, often referred to within the denomination as "the faith once delivered unto the saints."
The ABA also endorses the eschatological view of end times known as premillennialism
. It stresses the security of the believer, meaning that once a person accepts Jesus Christ as his or her personal savior, based solely on God's grace and redeeming power of the blood of Jesus, the salvation is permanent and cannot be forfeited by sin. Missionary Baptists teach that the soul of the repenting individual is in the hands of the Almighty Father and Son (John 10: 25-30). The ABA also stresses that the believer cannot be separated from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39).
During the 1950s and 1960s, two ministers in northwest Louisiana who were previously pastors in Arkansas, Austin T. Powers
and L. L. Clover
, emerged as regional and national ABA leaders through their pastorates of churches in the small city of Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish
, located some thirty miles east of Shreveport
. Powers was moderater of the ABA from 1957-1959 and was dean of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary from 1956-1961, an institution founded by Clover in 1952. Both figures died in 1975, having been pillars of conservatism
within the association. A year before his death, Clover penned Evil Spirits Intellectualism and Logic, which includes a challenge to the theory of evolution and a ringing defense of the trustworthiness of Scripture.
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
conservative
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
churches
Church Body
A local church is a Christian religious organization that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by pastors or lay leaders, and, in nations where this is permissible, often seek seek non-profit corporate status...
that are Landmark Baptist in their missions and teachings. The Association is based in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and has churches primarily in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with smaller numbers of churches in almost all of the states. There are also numerous churches in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and other foreign countries which affiliate with the ABA.
Origins
The official organization of the American Baptist Association was on Wednesday, December 10, 1924. The Baptist movement in America began with John Clarke in Rhode IslandRhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in the early 17th century. Baptist churches spread from New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
through New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, to the Midwest and the American South. The Landmark Baptist view of their origins are that Baptist churches have existed in perpetuity
Baptist successionism
Baptist successionism is one of several theories on the origin and continuation of Baptist churches – also known as "Baptist perpetuity" or "The Trail of Blood". It is the theory that there has been an unbroken chain of churches since the days of Christ which have held similar beliefs of the...
since the time of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
Landmarkism
As Baptist churches were established in the Virginias and the Carolinas, some churches decided to convene regularly for missionary and governmental policy-making, but others did not citing local church authority. These boards or conventions gave rise first to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions and later to the Southern Baptist ConventionSouthern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
based in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
A series of controversies arose in the middle 19th century among the Baptist churches, primarily in the South and to a smaller degree in the North, concerning Baptist theological and governmental principles. This movement to return to Baptist distinctives became known as Landmarkism. Early Landmark leaders included James Robinson Graves
James Robinson Graves
James Robinson Graves was a US Baptist preacher, publisher, evangelist, debater, author, and editor. He was born in Chester, Vermont, the son of Z. C. Graves, and died in Memphis, Tennessee. His remains are interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.Though raised in a Congregational background, he...
, James M. Pendleton, and Amos C. Dayton.
The Cotton Grove Resolutions, adopted in 1851 at a meeting at Cotton Grove Baptist Church near Jackson
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, were probably the first systematized expression of Landmarkism though all the tenets existed among Baptists in some form or another prior to them. Landmark emphases on "local church only" and "the Great Commission given to the church" led to dissatisfaction with SBC structure and programs, such as mission boards. Conflicts between Landmarkers and non-Landmarkers were behind at least four important Baptist controversies in the late 19th century – Gospel Missions, the Whitsitt Controversy, the Hayden Controversy in Texas, and the Bogard Controversy in Arkansas.
The two state controversies led to the organization of two new state associations - the Baptist Missionary Association (BMA) of Texas in 1900 and the State Association of Missionary Baptist Churches in Arkansas in 1902. Soon Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana followed. The Texas association formed its own foreign mission work, but others desired to see a national organization for Landmark Baptists. Some of these organized the General Association of Baptists in the United States of America in 1905. The General Association never garnered full support of Landmark Baptists.
Southern Baptist churches eventually decided that the standing boards or conventions were necessary to the efficient ministries of its participants and made them permanent bodies. Some local associations that withdrew from the Southern Baptist Convention still remain aloof from any national organization.
Formation
A move for unification of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas and the General Association came to fruition at TexarkanaTexarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
, Texas, in 1924. The BMA of Texas continued as a state organization. The General Association adjourned "sine die", and was replaced by the newly formed American Baptist Association.
The ABA suffered a serious setback in 1950 with a schism
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
that led to the formation of two new general bodies – the North American Baptist Association
Baptist Missionary Association of America
The Baptist Missionary Association of America is a fellowship of autonomous Baptist churches for the purpose of benevolence, Christian education, and missions....
and the Interstate & Foreign Missionary Baptist Associational Assembly of America
Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association
Organized in 1951 as the Interstate and Foreign Missionary Baptist Associational Assembly of America, this group is now known as the Interstate and Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of America. Their purpose is to encourage fellowship among Missionary Baptist churches that practice...
. Other churches withdrew and remain independent.
Organization
The organization of the American Baptist Association is congregationalistCongregationalist polity
Congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of church governance in which every local church congregation is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous"...
and oriented to the local church. Most churches participate in local and state associations in addition to the national body. Churches support local, state, interstate, and foreign missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, a publishing house, several seminaries
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
(each sponsored by a local church), and youth camps. The ABA headquarters are in Texarkana, Texas. Among the ABA seminaries are the Heritage Baptist Institute in Missouri City
Missouri City, Texas
Missouri City is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County with a small portion within Harris County. As of the 2000 U.S...
, Texas, the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, Arkansas, the Gulf Coast Baptist Institute in Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
, Mississippi, and the Texas Baptist Institute in Henderson
Henderson, Texas
Henderson is a city in Rusk County, Texas, United States. The population was 11,273 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Rusk County...
.
According to the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, the American Baptist Association reported 1,760 congregations and 275,000 members in 2000. The numerical strength of the Association is in the Old Southwest – Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas – but there are several churches in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. There are also several participating churches and missions in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Initially a Midwestern and Southern movement, now there are at least a few ABA participating churches in most of the United States, and mission work has expanded the association worldwide.
From 1917 to 1934, the ABA operated Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan
Sheridan, Arkansas
Sheridan is the largest city and county seat in Grant County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,872 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. .-History:Robert W...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. Among the alumni and faculty members was Conrad N. Glover of Sheridan, who later worked with Ben T. Bogard to organize Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. Conrad Glover's father, Robert W. Glover
Robert W. Glover
Robert W. Glover, sometimes known as Bob Glover , was a Baptist pastor and a Democratic politician from Sheridan in Grant County in south Arkansas.-Background:...
, also an ABA pastor, and uncle, David Delano Glover
David Delano Glover
David Delano Glover was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.-Life and work:Born in Prattsville in Grant County, Glover attended the public schools of Prattsville and Sheridan, the seat of Grant County....
, served in the Arkansas Legislature. David Glover was also a U.S. representative from 1929 to 1935.
Beliefs and practices
ABA participating churches are evangelisticEvangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
and hold some shared principles of the Christian faith: the Book of Genesis account of Divine Creation
Creation
Creation may refer to:In religion and philosophy:*Creation myth, stories of the supernatural creation of the Earth and its inhabitants*Genesis creation narrative, The Biblical account of creationIn science and technology:...
, the Atonement of the Blood of Jesus Christ for sin, the Triune God (ABA churches prefer this term as more specific than the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
). They reject Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, specifically the Calvinistic doctrine of limited atonement
Limited atonement
Limited atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology which is particularly associated with the Reformed tradition and is one of the five points of Calvinism...
. ABA participating churches also hold to the inerrancy of the Bible. Most ABA churches use the Authorized King James Version of the Bible for services and study in English, although some prefer the New King James Version
New King James Version
The New King James Version is a modern translation of the Bible published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The New Testament was published in 1979. The Psalms in 1980. The full Bible was published in 1982. It took a total of 7 years to complete...
, the New International Version
New International Version
The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
, the New American Standard Bible
New American Standard Bible
The New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible....
, the English Standard Version
English Standard Version
The English Standard Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version...
, or the New Living Translation
New Living Translation
The New Living Translation is a translation of the Bible into modern English. Originally starting out as an effort to revise The Living Bible, the project evolved into a new English translation from Hebrew and Greek texts...
Bibles.
Most ABA churches are partisans for the Landmark view of ecclesiology
Ecclesiology
Today, ecclesiology usually refers to the theological study of the Christian church. However when the word was coined in the late 1830s, it was defined as the science of the building and decoration of churches and it is still, though rarely, used in this sense.In its theological sense, ecclesiology...
. The ABA Doctrinal Statement denies the existence of a universal church
Universal church
The phrase universal church can refer to:* Catholic Church* Ecumenism* Unitarian Universalism* Universalism* Universal Church of the Kingdom of God...
in any form, holding the church to be an exclusively local, visible entity. They instead classify all those who have repented of sin and put their faith and trust in Jesus apart from works or ceremonies, regardless of affiliation, as being in the "family of God". Most of the churches also believe their teachings predated Protestantism and reject the label "Protestant."
ABA churches observe two ordinances: Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many Protestant churches, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist tradition...
and the Lord's Supper
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. For baptism, most churches will not accept "alien" immersion, or that performed by non-Baptists. Candidates for membership from other ABA or other Baptist churches who have already been baptized by immersion can be admitted on "letter" or "statement" into the Missionary Baptist denomination. Those entering Missionary Baptist ranks from other Christian denominations must be baptized by immersion.
The ABA practices closed communion
Closed communion
Closed communion is the practice of restricting the serving of the elements of Holy Communion to those who are members of a particular church, denomination, sect, or congregation...
, with the ordinance restricted to members in good standing of the local church. Guests in attendance may merely observe communion but not participate. Some Missionary Baptists believe that Jesus practiced closed communion with the Apostles at the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
by removing themselves from the other disciples. The SBC, conversely, invites open communion by visitors from other Baptist churches and other denominations so long as participants profess faith in Jesus Christ.
Missionary Baptist policy limits formal pulpit speakers to members of the ABA, but the SBC allows other recognized Christians to address their churches though such occasions are uncommon. The ABA is decentralized – it dispatches missionaries directly from local churches. The SBC, with far more resources available from a much greater membership, is centralized in the funding and assignment of missionaries. In most other areas of faith and practice, the ABA and SBC are compatible. In both associations, local churches call their pastors. The ABA and the SBC emphasize the Great Commission
Great Commission
The Great Commission, in Christian tradition, is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing missionary work, evangelism, and baptism...
of the Church (the sending of missionaries regionally, nationally and internationally), inerrancy of Scripture, church tithing, and the overall tenets of traditional Chrisitanity, often referred to within the denomination as "the faith once delivered unto the saints."
The ABA also endorses the eschatological view of end times known as premillennialism
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
. It stresses the security of the believer, meaning that once a person accepts Jesus Christ as his or her personal savior, based solely on God's grace and redeeming power of the blood of Jesus, the salvation is permanent and cannot be forfeited by sin. Missionary Baptists teach that the soul of the repenting individual is in the hands of the Almighty Father and Son (John 10: 25-30). The ABA also stresses that the believer cannot be separated from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39).
During the 1950s and 1960s, two ministers in northwest Louisiana who were previously pastors in Arkansas, Austin T. Powers
A. T. Powers
Austin Toliver Powers, known as A. T. Powers , was a leading figure from the 1930s to the 1970s in the theologically conservative American Baptist Association, based in Texarkana, Texas...
and L. L. Clover
L. L. Clover
Leander Louis Clover, known as L. L. Clover , was an American Baptist Association clergyman who in 1952 established Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary in Minden, Louisiana...
, emerged as regional and national ABA leaders through their pastorates of churches in the small city of Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
, located some thirty miles east of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
. Powers was moderater of the ABA from 1957-1959 and was dean of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary from 1956-1961, an institution founded by Clover in 1952. Both figures died in 1975, having been pillars of conservatism
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
within the association. A year before his death, Clover penned Evil Spirits Intellectualism and Logic, which includes a challenge to the theory of evolution and a ringing defense of the trustworthiness of Scripture.
Further reading
- Association minutes
- Baptist Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
- The American Baptist Association: A Survey and Census of Its Churches and Associations, by R. L. Vaughn
- Handbook of Denominations, by Frank S. Mead and Samuel S. Hill
- Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, 2000, Glenmary Research Center