Old Regular Baptist

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1 History
2 Faith and Practice
3 Current status
4 Lined-Out Hymnody
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Most Regular Baptists merged with the Separate Baptists near the beginning of 19th century. The party names were dropped in favor of United Baptists. The use of the name "Regular" has persisted among some Baptist groups, particularly among primitivistic sects that reject modern methods, including missionary and educational auxiliaries for the churches. Most Old Regular Baptists can be traced back to the New Salem Association of United Baptists (org. in eastern Kentucky in 1825). In 1854 the name was changed to "Regular United", to "Regular Primitive" in 1870,to "Regular Baptist" in 1871 and then in 1892 to "Old Regular." The minutes of New Salem Association in 1892 indicate that they feared the extremism of some predestinarians that tended toward teaching God is the author of sin. Those associations and churches that do not trace their lineage through the New Salem, such as Mountain, Mud River, Twin Creek and others, along with some churches that are in the larger associations, may have originated in the North District Association; or else like the Mud River churches originated from the Particular Baptist. Yet others have left Primitive Baptist and United Baptist Associations and found a home among the Old Regular Baptist. The word "old" was added to Regular Baptist soon after many Regular Baptist had joined and or began to correspond with mission boards, this was done to distinguish the Old (or original) Regular Baptist from the New School Baptist that had emerged throughout the United States.

[edit] Faith and Practice

The theology of the group is "election by grace", as stated in the scripture "By Grace through faith are ye saved." Churches form local associations by which they fellowship with one another. This fellowship is formally maintained by the associations electing "correspondents" to attend the meetings of the other associations. Preachers are God-called, not trained by man, and unpaid, and preach "improvisational" (often chanted) sermons. Baptism (in running water), the Lord's supper and feet washing are held to be ordinances. Shouting is a frequent occurrence at Old Regular meeting, particularly among the female membership. Conversion experiences may be a lengthy "process," beginning with an awakening to sin, through a period of conviction and travail of the soul, to repentance and belief.

[edit] Current status

The strength of Old Regular Baptists is in the Appalachias, particularly along the Kentucky and Virginia border, although Old Regular Baptist churches exist as far north as Michigan and as far south as Florida and several churches still exist in the state of Washington. Currently there are eighteen local associations: New Salem, Northern New Salem, Old Friendship, Old Indian Bottom, Philadelphia, Sardis, Union, Bethel, Friendship, Indian Bottom, Mountain, Mountain Valley, Original Mountain Liberty, Sovereign Grace,Thornton Union,Mud River,Solid Rock,Mountain II,Little Zion. The first seven on the list maintain "correspondence" with one another, while the remaining twelve exhibit various correspondence patterns, including three that have correspondence with the Primitive Baptists and two with the United Baptists. These eighteen associations and independent bodies[not lettered to an association] contain over 400 churches with over 11,000 members. The folk singer Jean Ritchie was a member of the Old Regular Baptists in Kentucky.

Current membership among associations:

Association....................Year.....Membership

Bethel............................2006.........133

Friendship......................2005.........807

Indian Bottom.................2006........1928

Little Zion.....................2000........27

Mountain.......................2005.........550

Mountain II....................2006.........245

Mountain Valley.............2005.........174

Mud River.....................1988.........60

New Salem....................2005........1717

Northern New Salem.......2006.........606

Old Friendship...............2005.........336

Old Indian Bottom...........2005.........182

Original Mountain Liberty.2006.........161

Philadelphia...................2006.........99

Sardis...........................2006.........771

Solid Rock.....................2006.......230

Sovereign Grace............2006..........74

Thornton Union..............2006.........654

Union...........................2006........1692

Independent Churches....2006.......500

[edit] Lined-Out Hymnody

One noted feature that has gained much attention to the Old Regular Baptists is their lined-out, non-instrumental, congregational hymnody. Old Regular Baptists: Lined-out Hymnody vol.1 and Songs of the Old Regular Baptists vol.2 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings are notable in the folk music industry. Though Old Regular Baptists are not the only group to retain lined-out hymnody, theirs may be the purest, since it is the only form of singing used in their churches. According to Jeff Titon, "The leader sings the very first line, and the congregation joins in when they recognize the song. After that, the song proceeds line by line: the leader briefly chants a line alone, and then the group repeats the words but to a tune that is much longer and more elaborate than the leader's chant or lining tune." E. D. Thomas' Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1877) and Edward W. Billups' The Sweet Songster (1854) are two "words-only" hymn books preferred by these churches.

[edit] References

Dorgan, Howard. Giving Glory to God in Appalachia.
Dorgan, Howard. The Old Regular Baptists of Central Appalachia.
Leonard, Bill J., ed. Dictionary of Baptists in America.
McCauley, Deborah. Appalachian Mountain Religion: A History.
Radecki, Patricia Marie (1991). "The World in the Text and the Text in the World: A Study of Old Regular Baptist Discourse." A.D. thesis. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan.
Wicks, Sammie Ann (1983). "Life and Meaning: Singing, Praying, and the Word Among the Old Regular Baptists of Eastern Kentucky." Ph.D. dissertation. Austin, Texas: The University of Texas at Austin.