American Baptist Convention - Definition and Overview

The American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABCUSA) is a group of Baptist churches within the United States; headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization's Secretary-General is A. Roy Medley. The ABCUSA should not be confused with the American Baptist Association.

Historically, the ABCUSA descends from the old Triennial Convention formed in 1814, a loosely structured foreign missions organization. Baptists in the south withdrew support from the Triennial Convention and formed the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845, utilizing a more centralized organizational structure for carrying on missionary and benevolent enterprises. The majority of churches in the north continued to work through loosely associated societies for missions and benevolence, until the formation of a new convention in 1907. The Baptist churches in the north have not grown to the extent of those in the south, perhaps being less evangelical, and having greater ecumenical interests. The organization was founded as the Northern Baptist Convention on May 17, 1907 in Washington, D.C. The name was changed in 1950 to American Baptist Convention, and again in 1972 to American Baptist Churches. The ABCUSA is a member of the National Council of Churches and the Baptist World Alliance. In 2000, this group was composed of 1,417,543 members in 5555 churches [source, Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, 2000, Glenmary Research Center].

Statements by the ABC

• "American Baptists believe that the Bible...is the Word of God...the final written authority...The primary purpose, of the Bible, is to point to Jesus Christ, the living Lord of the Church."

Notable members of the ABC

• Daniel L. Buttry

External links

• ABC-USA.org (http://www.abc-usa.org/)
• American Baptist Evangelicals (http://www.abeonline.org/)