What is a local Baptist association?
Associations are self-governing entities made of Baptist churches sharing common faith who engage in mutual support and missions in a geographic area. The association provides avenues for fellowship and cooperative endeavors in Great Commission ministry. The primary source of funding for the local Baptist association is regular gifts from member churches within the association.
When did associations begin?
Baptist Associations started in England. As early as 1624, five General Baptist churches took joint action to oppose Mennonite views. Later, seven Baptist churches gathered to adopt a Confession of Faith in 1644 in London, England. In the United States, Baptist associations predate all Baptist state conventions and national mission boards. The first Baptist association in America was founded in 1707 as the Philadelphia Association.
How do associations operate today?
Today, both associations and churches remain autonomous and self-governing. The association has no authority over the practices of any member church. Usually, an associational mission strategist (AMS) guides the work of the association. Even though churches are independent bodies, they are interdependent by choice through membership in an association. The association is not a church, but it represents the churches working together.
What is the value of the association?
Associations guide the collaborative efforts of member churches in a geographic region. For example, in my association in Birmingham, Alabama, the association coordinates the efforts of 180 member churches in cross-cultural ministry, urban missions, church revitalization, church planting, campus ministry, and church training. Working together, we do more than churches operating in isolation.
I encourage you to participate in, contribute to, and join with the efforts of your local association. Most associations rely on the direct gifts of member churches to accomplish their mission. Contact your regional associational missions strategist (sometimes called “director of missions”) to find out how to support your association.
I grant full permission to adapt or edit this information for your organization’s purposes.
Dr. Chris Crain
Executive Director
BMBA