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| The General Association of Separate Baptists in Christ | |
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| Polity | Congregationalist |
| Official website | http://www.separatebaptist.org |
The Separate Baptists in Christ are a denomination of Separate Baptists found mostly in United States.
The Separate Baptists had no formal statement of faith before 1776. They purported to only follow 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 Baptists in Virginia, Elder John Waller used Corinthians 13:11 in his sermon against particular redemption which outlined the basis on which he and the ministers of churches he and they had started withdrew from the General Association to form a network of "independent" Baptist churches who were accused of being "Arminians." In the 1780s many of the Separate Baptists 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 the South Kentucky Association of the Separate Baptist in 1786. Over the years a large number of these churches folded into other groups like the United Baptists or Campbellites (also known as the Christian Churches). The South Kentucky Association of Separate Baptists choose not to stay in any union.
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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); the Christian Unity in Virginia and North Carolina (1935), and Mt. Olive (TN, 1892 Dissolved around 2016). The old Kentucky Association is now called South Kentucky Association of Separate Baptists in Christ (org. 1785). A division of the Christian Unity Separate 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 both have now 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 Baptists hold a standard orthodoxy in common with many other Baptists. They hold five ordinances, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, the anointing with oil and laying on hands for the sick,, right hand of fellowship, and feet washing. Separate Baptists hold many of these 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.
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, and have since began supporting Bro Jerry Ridge in the same mission.
Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance (1610), a theological statement submitted to the States General of the Netherlands. This expressed an attempt to moderate the doctrines of Calvinism related to its interpretation of predestination.
Baptists form a major branch of evangelical Protestantism 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 generally recognize two ordinances: baptism and communion.
Congregational polity, or congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous". Its first articulation in writing is the Cambridge Platform of 1648 in New England.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th century as a loose association of churches working towards Christian unity, then slowly forming quasi-denominational structures through missionary societies, regional associations, and an international convention. In 1968, the Disciples of Christ officially adopted a denominational structure at which time a group of churches left to remain nondenominational.
Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They believe in conscious baptism of believers by immersion, congregational government and the scriptural basis of opinion and practice. They profess a statement of faith instituted on fundamental precepts of belief. Seventh Day Baptists rest on Saturday as a sign of obedience in a covenant relationship with God and not as a condition of salvation. Many, have adopted a Baptist covenant theology, based on the concept of regenerated society.
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, which is called entire sanctification or Christian perfection. Churches aligned with the holiness movement additionally teach 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 Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant denomination from 1946 to 1968 with Arminian theology, roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed communities, and close ties to Methodism. It was formed by the merger of a majority of the congregations of the Evangelical Church founded by Jacob Albright and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The United Brethren and the Evangelical Association had considered merging off and on since the early 19th century because of their common emphasis on holiness and evangelism and their common German heritage.
The Old Regular Baptist denomination is one of the oldest in Appalachia with roots in both the Regular and Separate Baptists of the American Colonies and the Particular Baptist of Great Britain. This group has seen a marked decline in its membership during the last two decades. Part of the decline may be attributable to orthodox biblical interpretations like a dress code where men must wear long pants, not shorts, and women must wear long dresses. Other such interpretations include women not being allowed to cut their hair or speak publicly on church business, although women can frequently shout while praising. Members who do not comply with the strict dress code and norms face being "churched", i.e., being kicked out of the congregation and possibly shunned. The Old Regular Baptist Faith and order with her many branches and factions still remains the dominant Faith in some rural Central Appalachian Counties along or near the Kentucky Virginia border. In most churches, the congregation maintains a collection of photographs of deceased members.
Though the annual meeting of this group is denominated The General Association of The Baptists, they are most widely known as the Kindred Associations of Baptists. Other names associated with these churches are the Baptist Church of Christ, The Baptists, and Separate Baptists. The primary location of the churches is middle Tennessee and northern Alabama. Members from this association form the largest body of Baptists in Moore County, Tennessee.
Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal establishment is widely linked to the English theologian, Thomas Helwys who led the Baptist movement to believe in general atonement. He was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous and punishable by death. He died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of Protestant dissenters under King James I.
The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized on November 5, 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Association traces its history in the United States through two different lines: one beginning in the South in 1727 and another in the North in 1780. The "Palmer line," however, never developed as a formal denomination. It consisted of only about three churches in North Carolina. The NAFWB is the largest of the Free Will Baptist denominations.
The General Association of General Baptists is a Baptist Christian denomination in the United States. It is affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals and the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters are located in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where they operate Stinson Press.
United Baptist is name of several diverse Baptist groups of Christianity in the United States and Canada.
The Separate Baptists are a group of Baptists originating in the 18th-century United States, primarily in the South, that grew out of the Great Awakening.
The Wesleyan Church, also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Wesleyan Holiness Church depending on the region, is a Methodist Christian denomination in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Indonesia, and Australia. The church is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement and has roots in the teachings of John Wesley. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine and is a member of the World Methodist Council.
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 term "black church" may also refer to individual congregations, including in traditionally white-led denominations.
Baptist beliefs are not completely consistent from one church to another, as Baptists do not have a central governing authority. However, Baptists do hold some common beliefs among almost all Baptist churches.
Daniel Parker was an American minister in the Primitive Baptist Church in the Southern United States and the founder of numerous churches including Pilgrim Primitive Baptist Church at Elkhart, Texas, the location of the Parker family cemetery. As an elder, Parker led a group who separated from that church and formed the Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists. Parker is one of the earliest documented proponents of the doctrine of Serpent Seed among Protestant Christianity.
Elhanan Winchester was an American theologian who explored numerous theological paths before becoming an advocate for universal restoration. As a result, Winchester is considered among the early leaders of American Universalism.
According to some Christian traditions, a second work of grace is a transforming interaction with God which may occur in the life of an individual Christian. The defining characteristics of the second work of grace are that it is separate from and subsequent to the New Birth, and that it brings about significant changes in the life of the believer.