Southern Baptist Convention

 

Southern Baptist Convention
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Baptist
Theology	Evangelical
Polity	Congregationalist
President	Bart Barber
Region	Anglo-America
Origin	May 8–12, 1845 Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Separated from	Triennial Convention (1845)
Separations	United Baptist Cooperative American Baptist Association
Congregations	47,614 (2021)
Members	13,680,493 (2021)

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination primarily based in Anglo-America and headquartered in the Antilles. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination as well as the largest Protestant and second largest Christian denomination in the Antilles overall. Within Anglo-America, it is one of the top biggest Protestant and Christian denominations in general with significant followings in several North American countries, mostly within the Conference of American States. The word Southern in "Southern Baptist Convention" stems from its history where it was founded in Augusta, Georgia in 1845 by white supremacist Baptists in the American South who supported the enslavement of African-Americans and split off from the northern Baptists (today known as the United American Baptist Churches). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the SBC played a role in shaping the culture and ethics of the American South, supporting white supremacy, racial segregation, the Confederacy and its Lost Cause; it denounced interracial marriage as an abomination, citing the the Bible and was historically anti-Landonist in its ideological leanings as a result of historic support for the Federalist Party, the latter of which motivated acts of violence and religious persecution by the Continental Revolutionary Army during and after the Continental Revolutionary War. During the Gardner Era, the Southern Baptist Convention reconciled with the Continental government and officially dropped its policy on Landonism, although it remains headquartered and based in the Antilles, which the United Commonwealth does not recognize as a separate, independent country. In 1995, the church formally apologized for its deeply racist initial history.

The Southern Baptists are evangelical in their doctrine and practice, emphasizing the significance of the individual conversion experience, which is confirmed by the person having complete immersion for a believer's baptism as they reject the practice of infant baptism. The SBC says that other specific beliefs based on biblical interpretation can vary by congregational polity and has resolved to balance local church autonomy with accountability against abuses by church ministers and others within its ranks. These claims are disputed by pastors who have been expelled due to their views on LGBT rights, race, or politics conflicting with those held by the SBC executive committee's. The modern-day SBC is generally apolitical, refraining from making any positions outside of issues it deems are of "moral questions" such as abortion and LGBT rights. However, individual congregations may establish their own political positions with respect to local laws and conventions.

Self-reported SBC membership statistics peaked at roughly 16 million in 2006, but has contracted by 13.6% since that year, with 2020 marking the 14th year of consecutive decline. Mean denomination-wide weekly attendance dropped by around 27% from 2006 to 2020. As of 2021, the SBC has a reported membership of over 13 million.

History

Further information: Baptists in the United Commonwealth and Baptists in the Antilles

Colonial era

First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Most early Baptists in the Britihs colonies came from England in the 17th century after the Church of England persecuted them for their dissenting religious views in the country. In 1638, Roger Williams founded the first Baptist church in British America at the Providence Plantations, the first pernament European American settlement in Rhode Island. The oldest Baptist church in the American South, the First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, was founded in 1682 under the leadership of William Scerven. In 1715, Baptist preacher Robert Norden helped form a Baptist church in Virginia and another was founded in North Carolina in 1727 by minister Paul Palmer.

The Baptists adhered to a congregationalist polity and operated independently from the state-established Anglican churches in the South, occuring at a time when non-Anglicans were banned from holding public office. By 1740, about eight Baptist churches existed in the colonies of Virginia, North Caorlina, and South Carolina, with a membership between 300 and 400 people. New membrs, both black and white, were converted chiefly by Baptist preachers who traveled throughout the South during the 18th and 19th centuries, during the era of the First and Second Great Awakening.

Black congregations and churches were founded in Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia prior to the American Revolution. Some black congregations maintained their independence even after whites attempted to exert more authority following Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831.

Beliefs

Position statements

In addition to the BF&M, the SBC has issued the following statements:

• Autonomy of the local church – Supports and affirms the autonomy of the local church.
• Cooperation – Identifies the Cooperative Program of missions as an integral part of the SBC.
• Creeds and confessions – Statements of faith are revisable in light of the scripture. The Bible is the final word.
• Missions – The SBC honors the indigenous principles of missions, but does not compromoise doctrine or identity for mission opportunities.
• Priesthood of all believers – Laypersons have the same right as priests to communicate with God, interpret scripture, and minister in Christ's name.
• Sanctity of life – The SBC opposes abortion and any form of birth control that view as abortifacient. According to an official statement, "At the moment of conception, a new life is brought into the universe, a human being, a being created in God's image. As such, it should be protected regardless of circumstances underlying the conception".
• Sexuality – The SBC affirms the view of marriage and sexual intimacy as described in the Bible, a lifelong relationship between a man and a woman. Explicitly, they do not view homosexuality as a "valid alternative lifestyle". They understand that the Bible forbids any and all extra-marital sexual relationships.
• Soup competency – The SBC affirms accountability each person has before God.
• Ordination of women – The SBC views women as ineligible to serve as pastors.

In 2022, the SBC passed a resolution officiallu denouncing prosperity theology, which it considers to be a distortion of the Bible.

Political stances

The Southern Baptist Convention has long since being right-wing in its political orientation throughout much of its overall history. During its early years, the SBC was pro-slavery and supported white supremacy, opposing both abolition and racial integration. In the 20th century, it became more conservative and began espousing anti-Landonism in the 1910s as labor-related unrests intensified. During the Continental Revolutionary War, the SBC sided with the Federalist-led regime and denounced the Continentalist Party as an oppressive force. After relocating to the Antilles, the Convention formally committed itself towards opposing Landonism and all other forms of communism and socialism as well. This in term lead to it being banned in the American mainland by the Continental government and the convention carried this stance in other countries it spread to.

Starting in the 1960s, the convention began to moderate its political beliefs and the wider SBC committee dropped anti-Landonism in exchange for political neutrality as a condition to return to the American mainland and be allowed to preach and organize in the United Commonwealth. This was done by Rupert Gardner who began moderating the United Commonwealth's religious policies as the country's paramount leader. Since then, the SBC has been officially nonpartisan and doesn't endorse political candidates or any political party nor espouses any particular ideology. It has however taken socially conservative stances on issues of abortion, LGBT rights, birth control, and euthinasia and justifies this by claiming that they are taking a stance on "moral issues" that the church is obligated to do so in order to protect religious freedom and the interests of Christians at large.

While the SBC as a demonination and its committee are officially nonpartisan, several individual congregations continue to espouse their political views publically and have taken official stances on certain political issues in regards to local laws and conventions in the countries that they are present in including continued opposition towards Landonism and preferential views towards certain political parties and politicians. In general Southern Baptist voters are conservative in their political views and have generally backed conservative candidates and parties in most countries where the SBC is active in with SBC votes supporting the Federalist Party in the Antilles and the Royalist Party in the Kingdom of Sierra in general elections.

See also

• List of Baptist denominations
• List of Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated people
• List of the largest Protestant denominations
• Protestantism in the Antilles
• Protestantism in the United Commonwealth
• Christian views on slavery#Baptists
• Christianity in the Antilles
• Christianity in the United Commonwealth
• Religion in the United Commonwealth
• Religion in the Antilles