Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec
Encyclopedia
Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) is the oldest union of Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 churches in central Canada.

In 1880 a "Baptist Union of Canada" was formed. Since the churches were located chiefly in the central provinces, the name was changed in 1888 to "Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec"http://www.reformedreflections.ca/faith-and-life/chr-ed-baptist-tradition.pdf (BCOQ). In 1927 the "Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
The Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy was a religious controversy in the 1920s and 30s within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that later created divisions in most American Christian denominations as well. The major American denomination was torn by conflict over the...

" resulted in 77 churches splitting off to form the Union of Regular Baptist Churches - out of which the current Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada
Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada
The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, often known simply as The Fellowship is a conservative Baptist denomination in Canada. It was formed in 1953 as a result of a merger of the Union of Regular Baptist Churches of Ontario and Quebec and the Fellowship of Independent Baptist...

 merged in 1953. Even today, in the affected geographic regions, this split results in baptists to be known as either "fellowship" baptists or "convention" baptists. In 1944, the CBOQ joined with the United Baptist Convention of the Maritimes and the Baptist Union of Western Canada to form the Canadian Baptist Federation. It was renamed in 2008 to "Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec" (CBOQ) to better align with other Baptist groups in Canada: i.e. Canadian Baptists of Western Canada.

The Convention Assembly meets annually, electing officers, addressing issues, and offering workshops. According to its mission statement, "[t]he Convention exists to assist our churches to carry out their individual mission for Christ and to do that which we believe God calls us to do together." The Canadian Baptist is a quarterly newsletter published by the Convention. McMaster Divinity College
McMaster Divinity College
McMaster Divinity College, also known as MacDiv, is a Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, although in practice it is interdenominational, and could be said to more closely align with the broader Evangelical tradition...

 is affiliated with McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...

 in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

. Convention offices are located in Etobicoke, Ontario
Etobicoke, Ontario
Etobicoke is a dissolved municipality located within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the western section of the current city, it had an official population of 338,117 as measured by the 2001 Census and 334,491 people as of the 2006 Census. While it only contains 13% of...

. BCOQ is a member of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is a national parachurch association of over . All affiliated groups identify themselves as part of the evangelical movement in Canada....

, Canadian Council of Churches
Canadian Council of Churches
The was founded on September 27, 1944 at Yorkminister Baptist Church in Toronto Ontario Canada. The Canadian Council of Churches provides an agency for consultation, planning and common action. It was founded to co-ordinate the growing number of Canadian co-operative ventures in social services,...

, and Canadian Baptist Ministries.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the Convention was composed of over 450 churches with about 44,000 members. Due to internal controversies, such as fundamentalism
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...

 vs. modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...

, and the strength of the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...

 in Ontario and the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec, the CBOQ has declined to about 380 churches in 2003, with an estimated 45,000 members.

Sources

  • Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
  • The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness, by H. Leon McBeth
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