Separate Baptists in Christ
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In 1801 in Kentucky, two disparate groups of Baptists, the Regular Baptists and the Separate Baptists, adjusted their differences and merged to be called United Baptists. The same thing occurred about this same time in other areas as well. In 1803, the majority of Kentucky Baptists refused to recognize the South District Association. This Association continued and in 1806 adopted the name Kentucky Association of Separate Baptists in Christ. The present-day Separate Baptists in Christ descend from that association and others organized by it, which consists of the following surviving associations: Nolynn (KY, 1819); Ambraw (IL, 1844); Northern Indiana (IN, 1854); Central Indiana (IN, 1870); and Mt. Olive (TN, 1892). The old Kentucky Association is now called South Kentucky Association of Separate Baptists in Christ. A division of the Christian Unity Baptist Association (org. 1935) united in fellowship with the Separate Baptists in 1975. Two new associations have also been recently organized, the West Virginia Association and the Northeast Florida Association, each constituted with one church. The churches and associations labored in 1912 to organize a general association, called the General Association of Separate Baptists. A general association had previously been organized in 1877, but it dissolved. Separate Baptist Missions, Inc. was formed in 1969. They also support Sunday Schools and youth camps. All local associations of Separate Baptists had participated in the General Association, but Ambraw withdrew in 1991 and Northern Indiana in 1992, each now independent associations. This division was precipitated by the General Association's adoption of an article which rejected premillennialism: "ARTICLE 12. We believe that, at Christ's coming in the clouds of Heaven, all Christians will be gathered with Him in the clouds and that time shall be no more, thus leaving no time for a literal one thousand year reign."
Separate Baptists hold a standard orthodoxy in common with most other Baptists. They differ from the majority in holding three ordinances, Baptism, the Lord's Supper and feet washing, while most hold only two. Separate Baptists also differ from the main body of Baptists by being more Arminian in persuasion, believing "that he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved" rather than the more common view of eternal security. Separate Baptists hold this in common with Free Will Baptists, the General Six-Principle Baptists and some United Baptists. In 1999, the churches of the General Association numbered 80, with about 7500 members. The Ambraw and Northern Indiana Associations consist of approximately 1500 members in about 20 churches. This makes the total membership of all Separate Baptists about 9000 in 100 churches. There also are some Separate Baptists in Christ in India.
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[edit] Sources
- Minutes of the General Association and local associations
- Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
- Dictionary of Baptists in America, Bill J. Leonard, editor
- Handbook of Denominations, by Frank Mead, Samuel Hill & Craig D. Atwood
