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The Holiness Baptist Association is a holiness body of Christians with Baptist historical roots.
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| Baptists |
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| Christianityportal |
The Holiness Baptist Association is a holiness body of Christians with Baptist historical roots.
In 19th century America, the Holiness movement developed out the "new measures" and teachings of revivalist Charles Grandison Finney, and the Methodist emphasis of the Wesleyan teachings of holiness. John Wesley taught that holiness, or Christian perfection, was a definite and instantaneous second work of grace received by faith, and followed by gradual sanctification. Early in the 20th century, many in the Holiness movement also embraced Pentecostalism, which equated the second work of grace with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, whose outward sign was speaking in tongues. The following bodies have primary roots in the Holiness movement and secondary roots in Pentecostalism.
The holiness movement among Baptists in south Georgia began late in the 19th century in Wilcox County among ministers in the Little River Baptist Association. At the annual session of the association in 1893, fellowship was withdrawn from two churches "because of their doctrine of holiness or carnal perfection".¹ The two excluded churches and two newly formed churches met in 1894 to organize the Holiness Baptist Association. The association was organized upon the same articles of faith and rules of decorum as the Little River Association. In 1905, the association adopted new articles of faith and decorum, bringing their statements in line with their holiness beliefs. More changes were made to the articles and decorum in 1916. They have since remained relatively the same. In 1916, the Holiness Baptists agreed to form two separate associations, and continued in that manner until they consolidated in 1925. A periodical called The Gospel Standard was started in 1918 by J. N. Salter, and has continued as the Holiness Baptist Association publication to the present. Over the years the Holiness Baptists of Georgia moved away from Baptist polity, proceeding through a Presbyterian form to a Methodist form of government, while gradually including Pentecostal distinctives, such as speaking in tongues, within their services. Their greatest period of growth was from 1905 to 1945, after which they began to decline. In 1949, the association built a camp ground and tabernacle in Coffee County near Douglas, Georgia. Annual meetings of the association are held at the tabernacle. There is one member church in Florida.
In 1934, the Baptist Purity Association was formed by members excluded from the Holiness Baptist Association for teaching and practicing the substitution of water for grape juice in the Lord's supper.
In 1977, discontented members withdrew and formed the Calvary Holiness Association.
According to historian Robert G. Gardner of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, these three Holiness Baptist bodies currently have about 50 churches with about 1,582 members. Like many other Holiness groups, they maintain strict standards of dress, require long hair for women and short hair for men, and abstain from tobacco, intoxicating beverages, dancing provocatively, gambling, television, etc.
William Jethro Walthall (1858–1931) was ordained as a Missionary Baptist preacher on May 29, 1887. In 1895 he became familiar with the holiness revival, and felt it spoke to what he believed he had already experienced. These teachings were at odds with the local Baptist teachings. Walthall was excluded from his church in 1896 and ostracized by the Red River Baptist Association. In 1899, minister J. C. Kelly and his church were excluded from the Red River Association. Walthall and Kelly continued to preach and formed new churches, mostly in southwestern Arkansas, but a few in Oklahoma Territory and Texas. By 1903 these churches had founded the Holiness Baptist Churches of Southwestern Arkansas. The first annual session was held November 6–8, 1903 at Sutton, Arkansas. This Holiness Baptist group continued until 1917. In that year, Walthall joined the Assemblies of God and brought all 36 congregations of the Holiness Baptist Churches of Southwestern Arkansas into the Assemblies of God.
Early in the 19th century, Holiness Baptist churches at Greenville, South Carolina and Hendersonville, North Carolina corresponded with the Holiness Baptist Association of Georgia. A church at Burlington, North Carolina was a member of the Georgia association for a few years. The status of these churches is unknown, though they likely were absorbed into other holiness or Pentecostal bodies.
The Church of God Mountain Assembly, though not named Holiness Baptist, began as a holiness movement among Baptists. It was formed in 1907 by ministers and churches excluded from the South Union Association of United Baptists for preaching holiness and the danger of apostasy. The Church of God Mountain Assembly corresponded with the Holiness Baptist Association of Georgia early in the 20th century.
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.
The Church of God, with headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee, United States, is an international Holiness-Pentecostal Christian denomination. The Church of God's publishing house is Pathway Press.
The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emphasis on the doctrine of a second work of grace, generally called entire sanctification or Christian perfection and by the belief that the Christian life should be free of sin. For the Holiness movement, "the term 'perfection' signifies completeness of Christian character; its freedom from all sin, and possession of all the graces of the Spirit, complete in kind." A number of evangelical Christian denominations, parachurch organizations, and movements emphasize those beliefs as central doctrine.
The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915.
The World Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is an international Pentecostal denomination.
The Calvary Holiness Association is a small holiness body of Christians in south Georgia.
The Church of God, Mountain Assembly (CGMA) is a holiness Pentecostal Christian body formed in 1907, with roots in the late 19th-century American holiness movement and early 20th-century Pentecostal revival. The denomination maintains headquarters in Jellico, Tennessee and is a member of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America.
The International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) or simply Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) is an international Holiness-Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1911 with the merger of two older denominations. Historically centered in the Southeastern United States, particularly the Carolinas and Georgia, the Pentecostal Holiness Church now has an international presence. In 2000, the church reported a worldwide membership of over one million—over three million including affiliates.
Gaston Barnabas Cashwell was an early Pentecostal leader in the southern United States. He was born in Sampson County, North Carolina.His importance lies in bringing several Holiness movements into the Pentecostal camp.
Charles F. Parham was an American preacher and evangelist. Together with William J. Seymour, Parham was one of the two central figures in the development and early spread of American Pentecostalism. It was Parham who associated glossolalia with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a theological connection crucial to the emergence of Pentecostalism as a distinct movement. Parham was the first preacher to articulate Pentecostalism's distinctive doctrine of evidential tongues, and to expand the movement.
Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Sr. was an American Holiness–Pentecostal pastor and minister. He was the founder and first Senior Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, based in Memphis, Tennessee. It developed into what is today the largest Holiness Pentecostal church denomination and one of the largest predominantly African-American Christian denominations in the United States.
The Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) is a classical Pentecostal Christian denomination in South Africa. With 1.2 million adherents, it is South Africa's largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest religious grouping in South Africa representing 7.6 percent of the population. Dr. Isak Burger has led the AFM as president since 1996 when the white and black branches of the church were united. It is a member of the Apostolic Faith Mission International, a fellowship of 23 AFM national churches. It is also a member of the South African Council of Churches.
Religion of black Americans refers to the religious and spiritual practices of African Americans. Historians generally agree that the religious life of black Americans "forms the foundation of their community life". Before 1775 there was scattered evidence of organized religion among black people in the Thirteen Colonies. The Methodist and Baptist churches became much more active in the 1780s. Their growth was quite rapid for the next 150 years, until their membership included the majority of black Americans.
The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially The General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas, who came from a variety of independent churches and networks of churches. The Assemblies of God is a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination and is the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. With a constituency of 2,928,143 in 2022, the Assemblies of God was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States.
The Fire-Baptized Holiness Church was a holiness Christian denomination in North America and much of the denomination was involved in the early formation of Pentecostalism, the advent of which caused a schism in the church; it continues today in the following denominations: International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, Bible Holiness Church and Wesleyan Holiness Alliance.
The Finished Work is a doctrine associated with Pentecostals of the Finished Work Pentecostal tradition, that locates sanctification at the time of conversion; afterward the converted Christian progressively grows in grace. This is contrary to the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification that locates complete sanctification in a definite second work of grace which Holiness Pentecostals teach is a necessary prerequisite to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Finished Work Pentecostals are generally known to have retained the doctrine of progressive sanctification from their earlier Reformed roots, while Holiness Pentecostals retained their doctrine of entire sanctification from their earlier Wesleyan roots. The term finished work arises from the aphorism "It's a Finished Work at Calvary", referring to both salvation and sanctification. Though the term is used within Pentecostal Christianity, it is not exclusively a Pentecostal doctrine.
Protestantism is the largest grouping of Christians in the United States, with its combined denominations collectively comprising about 43% of the country's population in 2019. Other estimates suggest that 48.5% of the U.S. population is Protestant. Simultaneously, this corresponds to around 20% of the world's total Protestant population. The U.S. contains the largest Protestant population of any country in the world. Baptists comprise about one-third of American Protestants. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest single Protestant denomination in the U.S., comprising one-tenth of American Protestants. Twelve of the original Thirteen Colonies were Protestant, with only Maryland having a sizable Catholic population due to Lord Baltimore's religious tolerance.
The Original Church of God or Sanctified Church is an association of holiness Christian churches headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The members and clergy of the churches are predominantly African-American. The official name of the body is The Original Church of God or Sanctified Church, General Body.
Pentecostalism is a renewal movement within Protestant Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal relationship with God and experience of God through the baptism with the Holy Spirit. For Christians, this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, as described in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. Pentecostalism was established in Kerala, India at the start of the 20th century.
The Swedish Pentecostal Movement is a Pentecostal movement in Sweden. Many, but not all, of these, are members of the Pentecostal Alliance of Independent Churches, which was founded in 2001. The Pentecostal movement spread to Sweden by 1907 from the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival and the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906.