Founded in 1840, the Kaskaskia Baptist Association is a Southern Baptist ministry centered in Patoka, Illinois and is active in ministry to people in Southern and South Central Illinois Named after the Kaskaskia River, it consists of thirty-three churches in Southern and South Central Illinois, and in recent years has become involved with the Southern Illinois Hispanic Outreach Project, a cooperative missions agency working with Hispanics throughout Southern Illinois.
Bimonthly it publishes the Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor, a newsletter with a circulation of about 1,000 that reports on mission projects and church news from throughout the association.
The Kaskaskia Baptist Association has a unique history.
It was formed as the Vandalia Baptist Association in 1840 by three converging movements: The Friends of Humanity, which was the group of Anti-slavery Baptists led by the Lemen family, the Sunday School Movement, and the Missions Movement, both of which were led by John Mason Peck, who was sent by the Northern (American) Baptists from the East.
Many of the churches within the present Kaskaskia Baptist Association, which predate the association, seemed to have simultaneously been formed by the Sunday School Movement and the anti-slavery movement.