Separate Baptists in Christ

The General Association of Separate Baptists in Christ

Polity	Congregationalist
Official website	http://www.separatebaptist.org

The Separate Baptists in Christ are a denomination of Separate Baptists found mostly in United States.

History

The Separate Baptists had no formal statement of faith before 1776. They only followed the Bible. In 1776 there was split in the Separate Baptist movement over the Arminian system. This split was in part due to the preaching of John Walker who was known as a "very able preacher". At the 1776 session of the General Association of the Separate Baptist in Virginia, elder John Walker used Corinthians 13:11 as his text in the introductory sermon. After the 1776 association, many in the Separate Baptist who supported the Arminian view moved west into Kentucky and Tennessee. The Separate Baptists who are now known as the Separate Baptist in Christ come from these people who settled in Kentucky and Tennessee. They started the churches who formed (in 1786) the Kentucky Association of the Separate Baptist. Over the years a large number of these churches folded into other groups like the United Baptist or Campbellites (also known as the Christian Churches). The South Kentucky Association of Separate Baptist choose not to stay in any union.

Associations

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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 (org. 1785). A division of the Christian Unity Baptist Association (org. 1935) united in fellowship with the Separate Baptists in 1975. Two associations have also been recently organized, the West Virginia Association and the Northeast Florida Association, each constituted with one church, but the Northeast Florida Association dissolved. 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 1967. 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 Baptist in Christ Ordinances

The Friday Night Communion and Foot Washing Service at the Nolynn Association of Separate Baptist in Christ. September 18, 2009

Separate Baptists hold a standard orthodoxy in common with many other Baptists. They hold three ordinances, Baptism, the Lord's Supper and feet washing. Separate Baptists hold this in common with Free Will Baptists, General Association of Baptists, Christian Baptist Church of God, Primitive Baptist, Pleasant Valley and Jasper Baptist Association, United Baptists, Union Baptists, Old Regular Baptists and many Independent Baptist Associations. Separate Baptists are Arminian in persuasion, believing "that he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved" rather than eternal security. Separate Baptist believe that a "saved" person can choose to turn from God to a life of sin. This is called "backsliding." The Separate Baptist believe a backslider must ask God for forgiveness of their sin. Separate Baptists hold this in common with Free Will Baptists, General Baptist, 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.

International Separate Baptist in Christ Missions

There also are some Separate Baptists in Christ in the Ahmednagar district of India. These churches are not in association with the General Association. In 1993 Separate Baptist Missions, Inc. began contributing to missionaries Lonnie Palmer and Steve Palmer in their work among the Koulango in Ivory Coast, Africa.

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

External links

Baptist denominations in the United States

Alliance of Baptists American Baptist Association American Baptist Churches USA Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America Baptist Bible Fellowship International Baptist General Association of Virginia Baptist General Conference Baptist General Convention of Texas Baptist Missionary Association of America Central Baptist Association Christian Baptist Church of God Church of Christ, Instrumental Conservative Baptist Association of America Conservative Baptist Association of the Southeast Continental Baptist Churches Cooperative Baptist Fellowship District of Columbia Baptist Convention Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals Free Will Baptist Church Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International General Association of Baptists General Association of General Baptists General Association of Regular Baptist Churches General Six-Principle Baptists Independent Baptist Independent Baptist Church of America Independent Baptist Fellowship International Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of America Liberty Baptist Fellowship Missionary Baptists National Association of Free Will Baptists National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship North American Baptist Conference Northern Baptist Convention Old Regular Baptists Old Time Missionary Baptist Original Free Will Baptist Convention Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church Primitive Baptists Primitive Baptist Conference of New Brunswick, Maine and Nova Scotia Primitive Baptist Universalist Progressive National Baptist Convention Reformed Baptists Separate Baptists Separate Baptists in Christ Seventh Day Baptists Silver Bluff Baptist Church Southern Baptist Convention Southwide Baptist Fellowship Sovereign Grace Baptists Transformation Ministries Triennial Convention Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists Union Baptists United American Free Will Baptist Church United American Free Will Baptist Conference Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches World Baptist Fellowship

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