American Baptist Churches USA
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) (formerly: American Baptist Convention ) are a union of Baptist churches within the United States . Its headquarters are in Valley Forge , Pennsylvania . The organization is usually classified as a moderate mainline church .
ABCUSA is a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Baptist World Federation and the US National Council of Churches . The ABCUSA and the Progressive National Baptist Convention are in partnership.
In 2014, these churches reportedly had 1,198,046 members in 5,120 parishes.
history
The ABCUSA is rooted in the old so-called Triennial Convention (German: three-year conference ) from 1814, in which both the Baptists of the northern states and those of the southern states were united. The Southern Baptists withdrew from the study group in connection with the American Civil War and founded the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in 1845 . The vast majority of Northern Baptists in the north continued their work and initially formed loose associations - especially in the field of missions . On May 17, 1907 - two years after the founding of the Baptist World Federation - the Northern Baptists formed the Northern Baptist Convention (NBC) in Washington, DC . Since the work of the NBC also reached the southern regions of the USA, it was decided in 1950 to change the name. Until 1972 it was the American Baptist Convention . In order to emphasize the autonomy of the local church, which is important for Baptists, it was decided in 1972 to change the name again: American Baptist Churches, USA .
Teaching
ABCUSA has more liberal social positions than the Southern Baptist Convention. Traditionally, the autonomy of the individual churches is strongly considered in the ABCUSA ( congregationalism ). American Baptists of ABCUSA generally believe in the God-inspired Bible . The ordination of women was introduced in contrast to the Southern Baptist Convention. 9.1 percent of pastors in the American Baptist Churches USA are women. In 2016, Allyson Robinson became the first transgender minister.
Although the ABCUSA General Board stated in 2005 that "homosexuality is incompatible with biblical teaching", homosexual couples are now also married by many Baptist pastors, as the decision on this is made by the individual congregations.
Known members
- Julius Köbner , one of the founding fathers of the German Baptists, has been employed as a missionary for the German-speaking area at ABCUSA for a long time
- John D. Rockefeller , entrepreneur and philanthropist
- Frederick Taylor Gates , ordained pastor for the Northern Baptist Convention
- Martin Luther King Jr. , ordained pastor of ABCUSA
- Harvey Cox , ordained pastor of ABCUSA
Web links
- http://www.abc-usa.org/
- WCC website
- Roger Williams Fellowship ( Memento February 11, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ Regional Giving and Church Statistics Reported for the Year Ending December 31, 2014 American Baptist Churches USA
- ^ A Brief Description of American Baptist Women in Ministry ( Memento December 15, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Baptist Women in Ministry ( Memento of March 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Meet Allyson Robinson, the first openly transgender Baptist minister | Christian News on Christian Today .
- ↑ [Campbell-Reed, Eileen R. and Pamela R. Durso. "Assessing Attitudes About Women in Baptist Life (2006)]
- ^ David Roach: Gay marriage: mainline denominations affirm SCOTUS . Baptist Press. Retrieved November 26, 2015.