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    National Association of Free Will Baptists

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    gooch556
    The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized in 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. The NAFWB traces its history to two lines - one beginning in the South in 1727 and another in the North in 1780. Representatives of these two groups merged in 1935 to form the NAFWB. As of 2020, the NAFWB has over 2,000 churches and 156,000 members concentrated in the Southern U.S. The NAFWB holds to an Arminian theology and practices the ordinances of believer's baptism, communion, and foot washing.

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    National Association of Free Will Baptists

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    gooch556
    23 views3 pages
    The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized in 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. The NAFWB traces its history to two lines - one beginning in the South in 1727 and another in the North in 1780. Representatives of these two groups merged in 1935 to form the NAFWB. As of 2020, the NAFWB has over 2,000 churches and 156,000 members concentrated in the Southern U.S. The NAFWB holds to an Arminian theology and practices the ordinances of believer's baptism, communion, and foot washing.

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    The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized in 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. The NAFWB traces its history to two lines - one beginning in the South in 1727 and another in the North in 1780. Representatives of these two groups merged in 1935 to form the NAFWB. As of 2020, the NAFWB has over 2,000 churches and 156,000 members concentrated in the Southern U.S. The NAFWB holds to an Arminian theology and practices the ordinances of believer's baptism, communion, and foot washing.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    23 views3 pages

    National Association of Free Will Baptists

    Uploaded by

    gooch556
    The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United States and Canada, organized in 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. The NAFWB traces its history to two lines - one beginning in the South in 1727 and another in the North in 1780. Representatives of these two groups merged in 1935 to form the NAFWB. As of 2020, the NAFWB has over 2,000 churches and 156,000 members concentrated in the Southern U.S. The NAFWB holds to an Arminian theology and practices the ordinances of believer's baptism, communion, and foot washing.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    National Association of Free Will Baptists

    The National Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is


    National Association of Free
    a national body of Free Will Baptist churches in the United
    States and Canada, organized on November 5, 1935 in Will Baptists
    Nashville, Tennessee. The Association traces its history in the Abbreviation NAFWB
    United States through two different lines: one beginning in the Orientation Baptist
    South in 1727 (the "Palmer line") and another in the North in
    1780 (the "Randall line"). The "Palmer line," however, never Theology Evangelical
    developed as a formal denomination. It consisted of only about Polity Congregational
    three churches in North Carolina. The NAFWB is the largest
    Executive Secretary Dr. Edward E.
    of the Free Will Baptist denominations.
    Moody, Jr.
    Origin November 5,
    History 1935
    Nashville,
    In 1702, English General Baptists who had settled in the
    Tennessee, U.S.
    Province of Carolina requested help from the General Baptists
    in England. Though they did not receive the requested Congregations 2,045 (2019)[1]
    assistance, native Paul Palmer labored there about 25 years Members 156,895
    later, and founded the first "General" or "Free Will" Baptist (2020)[2]
    church in Chowan County, North Carolina, in 1727. (Many
    General Baptists held to general atonement but "personal Official website https://nafwb.org
    predestination" or eternal security.) Palmer organized at least
    three churches in North Carolina. From one church in 1727, the fellowship grew to over 20 churches by
    1755. After 1755, the churches began to decrease and many churches and members became Particular
    Baptists. By 1770, only four churches and four ministers remained of the General Baptist persuasion. By
    the end of the 18th century, these churches were being referred to as "Free Will Baptist." The churches in
    the "Palmer" line would again experience growth slowly in the 19th century. They organized various
    associations and conferences, and finally organized into the General Conference of Free Will Baptists in
    1921. The problem with the history of Paul Palmer, however, stems from the fact that it is uncertain exactly
    what view of perseverance he actually held. In fact, some church historians think he was Calvinistic in his
    views. He had come from the Welsh Tract Church, which was openly Calvinistic.

    Another "Free Will" movement rose in the North through the work of Benjamin Randall (1749–1808).
    Randall united with the Regular Baptists in 1776, but broke with them in 1779 due to his more liberal
    views on predestination. In 1780, Randall formed a "Free" Baptist church in New Durham, New
    Hampshire. More churches were founded, and in 1792 a Yearly Meeting was organized. This northern line
    of Free Will Baptists expanded rapidly, but the majority of the churches merged with the Northern Baptist
    Convention in 1911. A remnant of the Randall churches organized in 1917 as the Cooperative General
    Association of Free Will Baptists.

    Representatives of the "Palmer" (General Conference) and "Randall" (Cooperative General Association)
    groups of Free Will Baptists met at Cofer's Chapel in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1935 and organized the
    National Association of Free Will Baptists as a merger of the two groups. The new association adopted the
    Treatise on the Faith and Practice of the Free Will Baptists,[3] which has been revised several times since
    then. As of August 2005, the Association claims to have over 2,400 churches in 42 states and 14 foreign
    countries. The NAFWB is actively involved in missionary work in the United States and throughout the
    world. The Association operates a publishing arm called Randall House. Three colleges, Welch College
    (formerly the Free Will Baptist Bible College) in Nashville; Randall University (formerly known as
    Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College) in Moore, Oklahoma; and Southeastern Free Will Baptist College in
    Wendell, North Carolina are affiliated with the Association. The NAFWB offices are presently maintained
    in Antioch, Tennessee, a neighborhood of Nashville.

    Theology
    The churches of the National Association of Free Will Baptists are theologically conservative and hold an
    Arminian view of salvation, notably in the belief of conditional security and rejection of the belief of eternal
    security held by many larger bodies of Baptists, such as most of Southern Baptists and adherents of
    African-American Baptist groups. The Arminian tradition was fashioned in the Netherlands in the 17th
    century against scholastic Calvinism and its deterministic interpretation of historic Christian teachings about
    predestination. Similar views, albeit with different emphases from Free Will Baptists, may be found in
    American Christianity within Methodism and the Restoration movement (e.g., Disciples of Christ,
    Churches of Christ).

    In addition, NAFWB congregations differ from most Baptists in holding that three ordinances, rather than
    the two observed by most of Protestantism, must be practiced by the church; specifically, in addition to
    Believer's Baptism (that is, administered to persons able to understand the significance of the ordinance,
    with a repentant heart) and the Lord's supper practiced by other Baptists, Free Will Baptists also practice the
    ordinance of the washing of feet. In some churches, anointing with oil is also practiced, depending on local
    custom.

    Membership
    Since the middle of the 20th century, membership has remained near 200,000. In 2007, the Association
    reported having 2,369 churches and 185,798 members.[4] Membership is concentrated in the Southern
    United States. The states with the highest membership rates are Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia,
    Alabama, and Kentucky.[5]

    Free Will Baptist North American Ministries (known as Free Will Baptist Home Missions until 2015) has
    89 active mission works in 26 states.[6] Their primary role is to send missionaries into North America to
    plant Free Will Baptist churches. Larry Powel is the Director of Home Missions. They generally have
    anywhere between 50 and 70 missionaries on the field at any given time. As of 2011 they have missionaries
    in Alabama, Michigan, South Carolina, Alaska, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arizona, Mississippi, Texas,
    California, New Mexico, Utah, Canada, New York, Virgin Islands, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Idaho,
    Oklahoma, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Wisconsin, Mexico,
    and Rhode Island.[7]

    References
    1. NAFWB website (https://nafwb.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/21-Leader-Program-We
    b.pdf)}, 2021 Leadership Conference Program, page 14.
    2. The ARDA website (https://thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?t=4
    &y=2020) U.S. Membership Report (2020)
    3. Bethel Free Will Baptist Church website, Free Will Baptist Treatise (https://bethelfwb.org/abo
    ut/free-will-baptist-treatise/)
    4. The ARDA website (http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1075.asp) National Council of
    Churches' Historic Archive CD and Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches
    5. The ARDA website (http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1075_d.asp) 2000 Religious
    Congregations and Membership Study
    6. "History" (https://www.fwbnam.com/about/history/). North American Ministries. Retrieved
    26 September 2022.
    7. "National Association of Free Will Baptists" (http://www.homemissions.net). Home Missions.
    Retrieved 2011-08-14.

    Sources
    Davidson, William (2001). The Free Will Baptists in History. Nashville: Randall House
    Publications. ISBN 0-89265-955-6.
    Jones, Dale (2002). Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States 2000 (http
    s://archive.org/details/religiouscongreg0000unse). Atlanta: Glenmary Research Center.
    ISBN 0-914422-26-X.
    Pinson, J. Matthew (1998). A Free Will Baptist Handbook: Heritage, Beliefs, and Ministries.
    Nashville: Randall House Publications. ISBN 0-89265-688-3.
    Wardin, Albert (1995). Baptists around the World. Nashville: Broadman & Holman. ISBN 0-
    8054-1076-7.

    External links
    National Association of Free Will Baptists (http://www.nafwb.org)
    Randall House Publishing (http://www.randallhouse.com/)
    ONE Magazine: The Magazine for Free Will Baptists (http://www.onemag.org/)
    A Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (http://
    www.nafwb.org/files/images/FWBTreatise.pdf)
    Profile of the National Association of Free Will Baptists on the Association of Religion Data
    Archives website (https://thearda.com/us-religion/group-profiles/groups?D=558)

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?


    title=National_Association_of_Free_Will_Baptists&oldid=1186518658"

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