Missionary Baptists

The Missionary Baptist church is a Christian denomination that emerged in the American South during the late 19th century. Missionary Baptists separated from the Southern Baptist Convention due to theological differences. Missionary Baptists believe in the classic tenets of the Baptist polity: the autonomy of local congregations and the view that baptism and church membership are reserved for mature congregants. The defining characteristic remains an enduring insistence on local church autonomy.

Missionary Baptists

The Christian flag
Regions with significant populations
American South
Religions
Christianity
Scriptures
The Bible
Languages
English

In the United States, two sizable Missionary Baptist church associations operate today: the American Baptist Association (ABA), established in 1924, and the Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA), established as the North American Baptist Association in 1950. The collective membership totals over a million people.^[1]

History

Missionary Baptists grew out of the missionary controversy that divided Southern Baptists in the American South during the late 19th century, with Missionary Baptists (a term used by adherents of the Landmark Movement) following the pro-missions movement position.^[2] Those who opposed the innovations became known as "anti-missions" or Primitive Baptists.^[3] Since arising in the late 19th-century, the influence of Primitive Baptists waned as "Missionary Baptists became the mainstream".^[2]