American Baptist Association
[1] One of the principal founders was Ben M. Bogard, a pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.
[3] J.R. Graves, a prominent Southern Baptist theologian, began writing articles on "returning to the ancient landmarks" in his Tennessee newspaper.
Graves preached that the ancient view of Baptists was that there was not an invisible, universal church of all the saved.
Only local churches had authority to baptize, to administer communion, to send missionaries, and to ordain ministers.
[5] At the beginning of the twentieth century, a large portion of Southern Baptists still held to Landmark doctrine such as local church autonomy, rejection of alien baptism, and the practice of restricting the ordinance of communion to the members of the local church.
During the period of the Second Great Awakening, a revival of unprecedented proportions swept through America, and many unchurched people were saved.
[7] This revival swelled the ranks of all denominations, and Baptist preachers saw that the gospel of salvation by grace was being preached in churches who had previously taught that works and sacraments were required to enter heaven.
Some Baptist pastors opened their doors to these people, accepting baptism from Protestant churches.
The local, visible assembly of saved, baptized believer, covenanted together to carry out the work of the Lord is the only type of church.
Pioneers in the Landmark Baptists included the preachers Ben M. Bogard (March 9, 1868 – May 29, 1951) and Doss Nathan Jackson (July 14, 1895 – November 29, 1968).
Po-Chow, An Hwei, Taian Fu and Chining Chow were also supported as national missionaries in China.
By 2009, the American Baptist Association reported that there were 1,700 preachers among 1,600 churches with a total attendance of 100,000 members (Melton).
In addition, there are many other missionaries sent out by local ABA churches who do not report statistics through the associational mission office.
The association also has a presence in several countries outside the United States, most notably Mexico and the Philippine Islands.
[13] Described as a hard-core segregationist group, in 1965 church leader James Berry stated "Christian civilization for 1900 years prior to this century held that segregation of the races in social, religious, and marital life is a divine command.
Doctor Joe M. Morell served as the President of the 91st Annual Session of the American Baptist Association.
The Messenger Body of the 91st Annual Session of the American Baptist Association stood in agreement of this action.
[16] This action intended to acknowledge former hurt while indicating that those in attendance did not hold the same convictions or beliefs as earlier segregationists, welcoming the integration of all ethnicities.
Dr. Morell stated "Someone has said, perhaps the most striking insight from Scripture that hits home is this: When Jesus refers to the 'nations' (ethnos), He is not speaking of countries whose borders change with the fickleness of the next war, but rather he is referring to groupings of people which the nation is not determined by political boundaries, but by the language and culture.
Its organization is designed to be minimal to ensure the complete independence and equal representation of every church in the association.
[18] A key doctrinal position of the churches of the American Baptist Association that sets them apart from many other Baptist groups is the practice of closed communion, also known as "Restricted Lord's Supper," in which the ordinance of communion is restricted to members of the local church body observing the ordinance.
