Baptist Missionary Association of America
Encyclopedia
The Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA) is a fellowship of autonomous Baptist
churches for the purpose of benevolence, Christian education, and missions.
Formed at Little Rock, Arkansas
in 1950 as the North American Baptist Association, the Baptist Missionary Association of America adopted its current name in 1969. This association owes its origin to a split in the American Baptist Association
, and many of its policies and programs are similar to the parent body. Its deepest roots may be found in the controversy within the Baptist General Convention of Texas
that resulted in the formation of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas in 1900. The BMA of America is an historic part of the Landmark movement
. Its concentration is in the south, with the primary membership in Texas (about 43 percent), but as a result of its mission work, the association has churches across the United States and throughout the world. According to the BMAA Missions Department, "the sun never sets on BMA Missions." The BMAA supports missionaries, a publishing house, a seminary (several state groups own junior colleges), a youth camp, and a radio ministry. Most churches participate in local and state associations as well as this national/general body. As of 2006, there were 1,254 congregations and 225,723 members in the United States. Foreign countries with churches that associate closely with BMAA churches generally also have a national association in their respective country. This includes the rapidly-growing BMA of Africa, and the BMA of the Philippines, which has begun sending out its own foreign missions personnel to neighboring East Asian nations.
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 for the purpose of benevolence, Christian education, and missions.
Formed at Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
in 1950 as the North American Baptist Association, the Baptist Missionary Association of America adopted its current name in 1969. This association owes its origin to a split in the American Baptist Association
American Baptist Association
The American Baptist Association , formed in 1924, is an association of nearly 2,000 theologically conservative churches that are Landmark Baptist in their missions and teachings...
, and many of its policies and programs are similar to the parent body. Its deepest roots may be found in the controversy within the Baptist General Convention of Texas
Baptist General Convention of Texas
The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. The churches cooperating with the Baptist General Convention of Texas partner nationally and internationally with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,...
that resulted in the formation of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas in 1900. The BMA of America is an historic part of the Landmark movement
Landmarkism
Landmarkism is a type of Baptist ecclesiology--it may also appear as Old Landmarkism in some works. Adherents are normally styled Landmark Baptists or simply Landmarkers within the United States, but are known as Landmarkists in the United Kingdom. The term Landmarkism originates in : "Remove not...
. Its concentration is in the south, with the primary membership in Texas (about 43 percent), but as a result of its mission work, the association has churches across the United States and throughout the world. According to the BMAA Missions Department, "the sun never sets on BMA Missions." The BMAA supports missionaries, a publishing house, a seminary (several state groups own junior colleges), a youth camp, and a radio ministry. Most churches participate in local and state associations as well as this national/general body. As of 2006, there were 1,254 congregations and 225,723 members in the United States. Foreign countries with churches that associate closely with BMAA churches generally also have a national association in their respective country. This includes the rapidly-growing BMA of Africa, and the BMA of the Philippines, which has begun sending out its own foreign missions personnel to neighboring East Asian nations.
Sources
- Association minutes
- Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
- Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, 2000, Glenmary Research Center
- Baptist News Service
Footnotes
- A Texas Baptist Power Struggle: The Hayden Controversy, Joseph E. Early, Jr., University of North Texas Press, 2005; ISBN 1-57441-195-0
External links
- Doctrinal Statement
- Baptist Progress: The Official Publication of the BMA of Texas
- Baptist Trumpet: The Official Publication of the BMA of Arkansas
- DiscipleGuide Church Resources
- BMAA Missions Department
- BMA of Missouri Web site
- BMA of Texas Web site
- BMA of Oklahoma Web Site
- BMA Theological Seminary
- Central Baptist College (Conway, Arkansas)
- Jacksonville College (Jacksonville, Texas)]
- http://www.southeasternbaptist.edu Southeastern Baptist College (Laurel, Mississippi)
- Lifeword Broadcast Ministries Department
- South Park Baptist Church
- Texas Baptist Home
- Park View Baptist Church, North Little Rock, Arkansas
- Oasis Church, Maumelle/North Little Rock, Arkansas
- Calvary Baptist Church, Horn Lake, Mississippi
- Fusion Church, Fountain, Colorado
- Zion Baptist Church, St Louis, Missouri
- Profile of the Baptist Missionary Association of America on the ARDA website