Baptists

===Baptist origins in North America===
{{See also|Baptists in the United States|Baptists in Canada}}
[[File:First_Baptist_Church_in_America_from_Angell_St_2.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[First Baptist Church in America]] located in [[Providence, Rhode Island]]]]

Both [[Roger Williams]] and [[John Clarke (Baptist minister)|John Clarke]] are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America.<ref name="Newport">{{citation|url=http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/notables/clarke.htm |title=Newport Notables |publisher=Redwood Library |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927062252/http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/notables/clarke.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}.</ref> In 1639 Williams established a Baptist church in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], and Clarke began a Baptist church in [[Newport, Rhode Island]]. According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking."<ref name= "Brackney">{{Cite book| author-link = William H. Brackney| last = Brackney | first = William H |title= Baptists in North America: an historical perspective| publisher= Blackwell Publishing | year = 2006 | page = 22 | isbn = 978-1-4051-1865-1}}</ref><ref>Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins, ''Baptists in America: A History'' (2015)</ref>

The [[First Great Awakening]] energized the Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth. Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the enslaved Black population.<ref name="ODCC self" />

Baptist missionary work in Canada began in the British colony of [[Nova Scotia]] (present day Nova Scotia and [[New Brunswick]]) in the 1760s.{{Sfn | Bumstead | 1984 | p = 40}} The first official record of a Baptist church in Canada was Horton Baptist Church (now Wolfville) in [[Wolfville]], Nova Scotia on 29 October 1778.{{Sfn | Bumstead | 1984 | p = 62}} The church was established with the assistance of the [[Old and New Lights|New Light]] evangelist [[Henry Alline]]. Many of Alline's followers, after his death, converted and strengthened the Baptist presence in the Atlantic region.<ref name = "Rawlyk">{{Cite book | editor-last = Rawlyk | editor-first = George A |title= The Sermons of Henry Alline | publisher = Lancelot Press for Acadia Divinity College and the Baptist Historical Committee of the United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces | place = Hantsport |year= 1986|page=32}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Bell | first = DG | title = Henry Alline and Maritime Religion | publisher = Canadian Historical Association | place = Ottawa | year = 1993}}.</ref> Two major groups of Baptists formed the basis of the churches in [[the Maritimes]]. These were referred to as Regular Baptist (Calvinistic in their doctrine) and [[Free Will Baptist|Free Will Baptists]] (Arminian in their doctrine).<ref name="Rawlyk" />

In May 1845, the Baptist congregations in the United States split over slavery and missions. The [[American Baptist Home Mission Society|Home Mission Society]] prevented slaveholders from being appointed as missionaries.<ref name="Early">{{Citation |title=Readings in Baptist History: Four Centuries of Selected Documents |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ieENRXoO1YC&pg=PA100 |pages=100–101 |year=2008 | publisher=B&H Publishing |editor-last=Early |editor-first=Joe |access-date=25 August 2010 |isbn=9780805446746}}.</ref> The split created the [[Southern Baptist Convention]], while the northern congregations formed their own umbrella organization now called the [[American Baptist Churches USA]] (ABC-USA).<ref name="Southern Baptist Beginnings">{{cite web|url=http://www.baptisthistory.org/sbaptistbeginnings.htm |title=Southern Baptist Beginnings |first=Robert A. |last=Baker |publisher=Baptist History & Heritage Society |year=1979 |access-date=28 October 2012 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018074627/http://www.baptisthistory.org/sbaptistbeginnings.htm |archive-date=18 October 2012 }}</ref> In 2015, [[Baptists in the United States|Baptists in the U.S.]] number 50 million people and constitute roughly one-third of [[Protestantism in the United States|American Protestants]].<ref>{{cite web|date=12 May 2015|title=Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}</ref>