Levellers

Affirming Baptists (U.K., a loose network of British Baptist congregations affirming lesbian and gay Christians.)

The Anabaptist Network (U.K.  A loose network of individuals and churches interested in the insights of the Anabaptist tradition for contemporary Christianity. )

Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand (The initiative for the establishment of the Association came out of a meeting in Tasmania in May 1995 of Christians from a variety of denominational backgrounds who had been influenced in a variety of ways by the Anabaptist tradition. To provide a means of building on the contacts established at the meeting, the Anabaptist Network of Australia and New Zealand was formed. The Anabatist Network became the the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand following its incorporation in 1998. )

All Africa Baptist Fellowship (Umbrella group of most Baptist conventions, unions, and denominations in Africa. African regional division of the Baptist World Alliance.)

Alliance of Baptists (A small denomination of progressive Baptists in the U.S.  Begun as a progressive movement within the Southern Baptist Convention [founded as the Southern Baptist Alliance in 1984], increasing fundamentalism within the SBC forced a separation.  This is my denomination. It is the newest member of the National Council of Churches [sponsored by the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ] and is working toward membership in the Baptist World Alliance and the World Council of Churches.)

American Baptist Churches, USA.  (Founded in 1907 as the Northern Baptist Convention.  When the Trienniel Convention broke apart because the Southern Baptists withdrew over slavery in 1845, the various mission societies of of the old convention took their time merging to form a formal denomination. Repeatedly wracked by splits over “liberalism vs. fundamentalism,” today American Baptists have approximately 1.5 million members.  It is the most racially/ethnically diverse denomination in the U.S., with no majority racial/ethnic group [whites are a plurality] and increasing ethnic diversity in all leadership positions.)

American Baptist Historical Society

American Baptist Women in Ministry A network of women ministers connected to the American Baptist Churches, USA.

Asian Baptist Federation (Umbrella grouping of Baptist denominations in Asia and Oceania. The Asian and Pacific regional division of the Baptist World Alliance.)

Association of Seventh Day Baptists in Australia

Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB). (A network of churches and individuals that welcome GLBT persons and affirm their sexual orientation as God given. My congregation is a member and I have personal membership.)

Atlantic Baptist Fellowship (A grassroots organization of laity and clergy in the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches which seeks to preserve and strengthen historic Baptist principles.)

Baptist Center for Ethics (An independent center in the U.S. which produces publications and curricula for churches to use in ethical reflection and action.  The BCE is most closely associated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  It’s online/email journal, EthicsDaily.com is an excellent source of critical reflection on moral and political issues and contemporary events.)

Baptist General Conference (Evangelical denomination of Baptists found primarily in the Midwest of the U.S.A. Began as an ethnic denomination of immigrant Swedish Baptists.)

Baptist Historical Society (U.K.)

Baptist History and Heritage Society

Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (Supported by 14 different Baptist denominations and conferences, the BJC works in Washington, D.C. to defend religious liberty and church-state separation vigorously.)

Baptist Peace Fellowship (U.K.) (Since 1940, the Baptist branch of the U.K.’s Fellowship of Reconciliation and a leading presence of Christian pacifism in Britain.)

Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (Formed as a 1984 merger of peacemaking efforts in the Southern Baptist Convention with the (American) Baptist Peace Fellowship–which had been around since the 1930s–the BPFNA is a grassroots network of individuals and churches in Canada, the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Mexico working for peace and justice in the world.)

Baptist Union of Australia 

Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland

Baptist Women in Ministry  A support and advocacy network for Baptist women in church-related ministries, especially (but not exclusively) ordained clergywomen.  Compiling an online database of ordained Baptist women and Baptist women serving in church-related ministries who aren’t ordained.  Because American Baptist Women in Ministry is already a highly organized network, BWIM has focused on women in churches “of Southern Baptist heritage” (i.e., either Southern Baptist or Alliance of Baptists, or Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-related) and is branching out to connect to women in African-American Baptist denominations.  I have hopes that this will become a global network.

Baptist World Alliance (The worldwide network of Baptist denominations. The BWA’s goals are to unite Baptists cooperatively worldwide; to respond to people in need; to defend human rights, including religious liberty for everyone; and to promote evangelism and missions.)

BMS World Mission (Formerly known as the Baptist Mission Society; Founded in 1792 by William Carey, founder of the modern missions movement. This is the official mission agency of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland.)

Baptists Today (English language weekly newspaper of news and opinion for Baptists worldwide.)

Canadian Baptist Ministries (Formerly known as the Canadian Baptist Federation, CBM is the “national structure” of these denominational partners: The Baptist Union of Western Canada, The Baptist Convention of Ontario & Quebec, The Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches, & Union d’églises baptistes françaises au Canada.)

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

Caribbean Baptist Fellowship (The regional umbrella of the Baptist World Alliance.)

Church of the Brethren (Founded in the 18th C. from a fusion of Anabaptist (Mennonite) and Radical German Pietist influences.)

Conservative Baptist Association (Broke from the American Baptists in 1940 over both issues of theological orthodoxy and over centrality of control.  Thus, the CBA describes itself not as a denomination, but as a “covenantal fellowship of regional Baptist church associations.”  Western Baptist Theological Seminary in Portland, OR is formally connected to the CBA.  Denver Seminary in Denver, CO is historically connected to the CBA, but has become a more generic evangelical seminary.)

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (Centrist-evangelical Baptist denomination composed mostly of churches who left the Southern Baptist Convention after it was taken over by fundamentalists, plus new churches planted since then. Primarily located in the Southern U.S.)

European Baptist Federation (Regional fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance.)

Gathering of Baptists (A network of progressive Baptist congregations in Canada formed to resist growing fundamentalism, whether home-grown or imported from the U.S.)

General Association of General Baptists (Arminian Baptists in the U.S.)

Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

Hutterites and Hutterian Brethren

Lott Carey Baptist Convention for Foreign Missions (Named after an early Black Baptist missionary to Africa, this is the major mission agency of African-American Baptists in the U.S.A. and is used by most of the various “National Baptist” groups, despite whatever other mission agencies they may have.)

Mainstream Baptists (A grassroots organization seeking to reclaim the central Baptist heritage from both fundamentalism and liberalism.)

Mennonite Central Committee (A major relief, service, peace & justice, agency used cooperatively by many Mennonite bodies.)

Mennonite Church, Canada

Mennonite Church, USA

Mennonite (US) Historical Committee and Archives

Mennonite Historical Society of Canada

Mennonite Quarterly Review (Major scholarly journal of Anabaptist history and theology.)

Mennonite Weekly Review (Online edition of the only pan-Mennonite weekly newspaper.)

Mennonite World Conference(Global Network of Anabaptist-related denominations.)

National Baptist Convention of America

National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (Both the NBC of America and the NBC, USA are historic denominations of mostly African-American Baptists.)

North American Baptist Conference (Originally an ethnic-denomination of immigrant German Baptists, this evangelical Baptist denomination crosses borders and is found in both Canada and the U.S.–primarily in the West and Mid-West of both nations.)

Progressive National Baptist Convention (A splinter group of African-American Baptists which broke away from the NBC, USA because of disagreements over tactics in the Civil Rights movement. Dedicated to peace and social justice as well as mission and evangelism.)

Roger Williams Fellowship (A grassroots organization of American Baptists working to preserve and strengthen Baptist principles of freedom in the face of the threat of fundamentalism.)

Seventh Day Baptist General Conference of the United States and Canada (Although Sabbatarian Baptists began in the 17th C., they have never been numerous.  Their theology is very similar to Calvinistic Baptists which the exception of insistence on Saturday worship.  Early Seventh Day Baptists were mostly pacifist, but this is much rarer among contemporary members. They began ordaining women in the 19th C., but have only ordained a handful since most of their (few) congregations are uncomfortable with calling women ministers. Previously, they had a seminary, but could not maintain it with their small numbers. Now, a Council on Ministry gives financial support to ministerial students going to other seminaries and holds intensive retreats for these students in which they learn SDB history and polity, theological reflection on the Sabbath, and begin to form the contacts necessary for ministerial placement.  The SDB Missionary Society, in addition to evangelistic and church-planting work in the U.S. and Canada, has missions in Myanmar (Burma), Finland, India, Jamaica, Malawi, and the Philippines.  There are also Seventh Day Baptists in the U.K., Australia, and elsewhere. The SDB General Conference of the U.S. is a member of the Seventh Day World Federation. )

Union of Baptists in Latin America (Regional division of the Baptist World Alliance.)

U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches