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The Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC) is a state Baptist convention affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Headquartered in Louisville, it is made up of nearly 2,400 churches and 71 local associations. [1] Membership in its churches totals more than 780,000 people. [1]
In 2025, the director is Todd Gray. [2]
The history of Baptists in Kentucky predates the KBC, which was founded in 1837. [3] In 1769, Squire Boone II became the first pastor to arrive west of the Allegheny Mountains. In April 1776, three months before the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, Thomas Tinsley and William Hickman conducted what is considered to be the first evangelical service west of the Alleghenies in Harrodsburg.
Baptists are a denomination of Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul competency, sola fide, sola scriptura and congregationalist church government. Baptists recognize generally two ordinances: baptism and communion.
West Virginia is a landlocked state in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 10th-smallest state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous state, with a population of 1,769,979 residents. The capital and most populous city is Charleston with a population of 49,055.
Lexington is a consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous city in Kentucky, the 14th-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 59th-most populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 30th-largest city.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Christian body in the United States. The SBC is a cooperation of fully autonomous, independent churches with commonly held essential beliefs that pool some resources for missions.
Corinth is a home rule-class city mostly in Grant County with a small portion of land in Scott County in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 232 as of the 2010 census, up from 181 at the 2000 census.
Elijah Craig was an American Baptist preacher, who became an educator and capitalist entrepreneur in the area of Virginia that later became the state of Kentucky. He has sometimes, although rather dubiously, been credited with the invention of bourbon whiskey.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a Baptist Christian denomination in United States, established after the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, and headquartered in Decatur, Georgia. According to a census published in 2023, the CBF claimed 1,800 churches and 750,000 members.
John Gano was an American Baptist minister, soldier, patriot, and military chaplain who allegedly baptized his friend, George Washington. He was also notable for his bravery at the Battle of White Plains and crossing the Delaware River with General Washington. Gano later served as the first chaplain of the Kentucky Legislature in 1798. He was the founder of the Gano political family, which included several generations of politicians and military officers.
Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private university in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
The Black church is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that predominantly minister to, and are also led by African Americans, as well as these churches' collective traditions and members.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The seminary has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion in the year 1892. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to a newly built campus in downtown Louisville and moved to its current location in 1926 in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. In 1953, Southern became one of the few seminaries to offer a full, accredited degree course in church music. For more than fifty years Southern has been one of the world's largest theological seminaries, with an FTE enrollment of over 3,300 students in 2015.
The Malaysia Baptist Convention is a Baptist Christian denomination in Malaysia. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Petaling Jaya.
Thom S. Rainer is an American writer, researcher, speaker, and former president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of several best selling books, including I Am a Church Member, named a CBA #1 Best Seller (2013–2014) and Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015). It was also recognized as a Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015), a Gold Medallion Award winner (2015), and a Platinum Book Award winner (2016) by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and recognized by Leadership Journal as Best of the Best in the Leaders Outer Life category (2013); Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Christian Retailing's Best Book of the Year: Church and Culture (2015); and Simple Church, the 2007 Christianity Today Book Award winner in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category. After resigning as CEO, Rainer remained as the Chief Advisory Officer On September 29, 2020, it was announced that Lifeway filed a lawsuit against Rainer after he allegedly violated a non-compete agreement by publishing a book with Tyndale Press, but on September 30 it was announced they decided to seek a non-litigation resolution and October 5 it was announced that Rainer agreed to end his relationship with Tyndale and avoid litigation
The District of Columbia Baptist Convention (DCBC) is a coalition of Baptist churches in or near the Washington, DC area. The DCBC is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. It also holds a separate membership in the Baptist World Alliance.
Richard Henry Boyd was an African-American minister and businessman who was the founder and head of the National Baptist Publishing Board and a founder of the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
Second Baptist Church Houston is a Baptist multi-site megachurch based in Houston, Texas, US. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Its senior pastor is Dr. Ben Young.
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the state of North Carolina. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, the convention is made up of 80 Baptist associations as of 2025.
First Baptist Church is a historic church on College Street in Paintsville, Kentucky.
The National Baptist Convention, USA, incorporated as the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and more commonly known as the National Baptist Convention, is a Baptist Christian denomination headquartered at the Baptist World Center in Nashville, Tennessee and affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. It is also one of the largest predominantly and traditionally African American churches in the United States, and was the second largest Baptist denomination in the world in 2016.
Paul Chitwood is an American Baptist minister who is the 13th and current president of the International Mission Board, serving since 2018. He was previously executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2011–2018) and president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2005–2006).
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