Baptists in Great Britain
The Baptists in Great Britain have their historical roots in the first British Baptist Church founded by Thomas Helwys in Spitalfield near London in 1611 . In the course of time, several Baptist unions emerged. The largest among them are the Baptist Union of Great Britain , the Baptist Union of Wales and the Baptist Union of Scotland .
Origins
The core group of this first congregation were English congregationalists who had left their homeland in 1606 as religious refugees and settled in Amsterdam as asylum seekers. Here they constituted themselves under Mennonite influence as a community of believingly baptized Christians . John Smyth and Thomas Helwys took over the management . While Helwys and some followers returned to England in 1611, part of the refugee community under the leadership of Smyth remained in the Netherlands and became part of the Mennonite movement throughout history. Another part emigrated to the United States , where they laid the foundation for the emergence of American Baptism (see Roger Williams ).
Already in its early years the young Baptist movement experienced a split into so-called General and Particular Baptists . While the latter taught, under Calvinist influence, that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ only has a meaning for the elect , the General Baptists emphasized that redemption through Jesus Christ applies to all people in principle; they would only have to accept it on the basis of a free will decision ( Arminianism ).
In 1792, the Calvinist-oriented Baptists founded the Particular Baptist Missionary Society among the Heathen (German: Missionsgesellschaft der Parikular-Baptisten unter den Heiden ). Andrew Fuller , John Sutcliff, and William Carey were among the leaders of this mission society .
Baptist Associations in Great Britain
Baptist Union of Great Britain
Baptist Union of Wales
Baptist Union of Scotland
Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland
The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland (en wiki) is an association of Baptist churches in Northern Ireland , the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland . The association's administrative headquarters are in Moira, Northern Ireland . You have not heard of the European Baptist Federation and the Baptist World Alliance of.
Other smaller Baptist unions
In addition to the above-mentioned associations, there are a number of other Baptist associations in Great Britain that do not belong to the European Baptist Federation or the World Baptist Federation:
- Free Baptist Churches
- Old Baptist Union
- Strict Baptists
- Association of Grace Baptist Churches
- Grace Baptist Assembly (related to the Association of Grace Baptist Churches )
In total, these unions have around 20,000 members.
literature
- Albert W. Wardin, Jr .: Baptists Around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Broadman & Holman, Nashville TN 1995, ISBN 0-8054-1076-7 .
- Ernest A. Payne: The Baptist Union. A short history . Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, London 1958.