Confessional Baptist Association

The Confessional Baptist Association is an association of Reformed Baptist churches in the United States. The headquarters is in Mansfield, Texas.

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History

On November 12–13, 1996, fifteen Reformed Baptist churches met at Heritage Church in Fayetteville, Georgia[1] to begin the planning of a national association of churches. Four months later on March 11, 1997, the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America was founded in Mesa, Arizona.[2] The union was founded in 1997 as the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America by 24 member churches from 14 states.[3][4][5][6][7] In 2022, it is renamed Confessional Baptist Association.

Theology

The association's churches all subscribe to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.[5][8] The association's General Assembly has noted that their adherence to this Confession means "the model for (association) churches is Puritan and not one of a number of competing contemporary ones."[9]

Theological training

ARBCA founded the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies (IRBS) at Westminster Seminary California which provides training for seminarians as part of studies toward a Master of Divinity degree program.[4][10]

Missions

In 2000, ARBCA merged with the Reformed Baptist Mission Services (RBMS), a foreign missions organization.[11] RBMS, though founded 12 years before the ARBCA,[12] now acts as the foreign mission arm of the association.[4]

The association is recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense as an endorsing agency for United States military chaplains.[13]

References
  1. History, ARBCA.
  2. Handbook of Denominations in the United States (13th ed.). Abingdon Press. 2010. p. 170.
  3. Jonas, William Glenn, ed (2006). The Baptist river: essays on many tributaries of a diverse tradition. Mercer University Press. p. 273. ISBN 0-88146-030-3. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  4. Melton, J. Gordon (2003). Encyclopedia of American Religions. Gale. p. 558. ISBN 0-7876-6384-0.
  5. "News Briefs". Christianity Today. May 19, 1997. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  6. "Church Directory" (PDF). Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  7. Handbook of denominations in the United States (12th ed., 2005), p. 211.
  8. "about". Confessional Baptist Association. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  9. Theology Committee of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (March 8, 2001). "A Position Paper Concerning the Regulative Principle of Worship" (PDF). Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  10. "Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies". Westminster Seminary California. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  11. "History". Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  12. Brackney, William H. (2009). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Scarecrow Press. p. 472. ISBN 978-0-8108-5622-6.
  13. "Armed Forces Chaplains Board Endorsements". US Department of Defense. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
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