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Do not fill this in! ===Formation and separation of Black Baptists=== [[File:Former First African Baptist Church.jpg|thumb|[[First African Baptist Church (Lexington, Kentucky)|First African Baptist Church]] in [[Lexington, Kentucky]]]] [[African American]]s had gathered in [[Black church|their own churches]] early on, in 1774 in [[First Baptist Church (Petersburg, Virginia)|Petersburg, Virginia]],{{Sfn | Raboteau | 2004 | p = 137}} and in [[First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia)|Savannah, Georgia]], in 1788.<ref name="Love">{{cite news| first= Emanuel King |last=Love|url = http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/love/menu.html |title=History of the First African Baptist Church, from its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888. Including the Centennial Celebration, Addresses, Sermons, etc.|publisher= The Morning News Print|year= 1888| access-date= 2006-12-08}}</ref> Some were established after 1800 on the frontier, such as the [[First African Baptist Church (Lexington, Kentucky)|First African Baptist Church]] of [[Lexington, Kentucky]]. In 1824, it was accepted by the Elkhorn Association of Kentucky, which was white-dominated. By 1850, First African had 1,820 members, the largest of any Baptist church in the state, Black or white.<ref name=Nutter>{{Citation | url = http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/ky.fayette.fbc.black.lex.html | first = HE | last = Nutter | title = A Brief History of the First Baptist Church (Black) Lexington, Kentucky | year = 1940 | access-date = Aug 22, 2010}}.</ref> In 1861, it had 2,223 members.<ref name=Spencer>{{Citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DXzZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA657 | first = John H | last = Spencer | title = A History of Kentucky Baptists: From 1769β1885 | volume = II | place = Cincinnati, OH | publisher = JR Baumes | year = 1886 | page = 657 | access-date = Aug 23, 2010}}.</ref> [[File:First African Baptist Church - Savannah, Georgia.JPG|thumb|[[First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia)|First African Baptist Church]], [[Savannah, Georgia]], constructed 1856]] Southern whites generally required Black churches to have white ministers and trustees. In churches with mixed congregations, seating was segregated, with Blacks out of sight, often in a balcony. White preaching often emphasized Biblical stipulations that enslaved people should accept their places and try to behave well toward their masters. After the [[American Civil War]], another split occurred when most [[freedmen]] set up independent [[Black church|black congregations]], regional associations, and state and national conventions. Black people wanted to practice Christianity independently of white supervision.{{sfnm |1a1=Brooks |1y=1922 |2a1=Raboteau |2y=2004}} They interpreted the Bible as offering hope for deliverance, and saw their own exodus out of enslavement as comparable to [[the Exodus]],{{sfn|Raboteau|2004}} with abolitionist [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] as their [[Moses]].<ref>{{cite book |pages=5β7 |title=A Voice from Harper's Ferry. A Narrative of Events at Harper's Ferry; with incidents prior and subsequent to its capture by John Brown and his men |first=Osborne Perry |last=Anderson |author-link=Osborne Perry Anderson |location=Boston |year=1861 |publisher=Published by the author |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUxp11UMkBMC }}</ref> They quickly left white-dominated churches and associations and set up separate state Baptist conventions.<ref name="docsouth.unc.edu" />{{sfn|Brooks|1922}} In 1866, Black Baptists of the South and West combined to form the Consolidated American Baptist Convention.{{sfn|Brooks|1922}} In 1895, they merged three national conventions to create the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|National Baptist Convention, USA.]]<ref name="docsouth.unc.edu" />{{sfn|Brooks|1922}} With more than eight million members, it is today the largest African American religious organization and second in size to the Southern Baptists. Free Black people in the North had founded churches and denominations in the early 19th century that were independent of white-dominated organizations. In the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction era]], missionaries both Black and white from several northern denominations worked in the South; they quickly attracted tens and hundreds of thousands of new members from among the millions of [[freedmen]]. The [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] attracted more new members than any other denomination.<ref name="docsouth.unc.edu">{{Cite web |title=The Church in the Southern Black Community: Introduction |url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/church/intro.html |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=University of North Carolina}}</ref> White Southern Baptist churches lost Black members to the new denominations, as well as to independent congregations which were organized by freedmen. During the [[civil rights movement]], most Southern Baptist pastors and members of their congregations rejected [[racial integration]] and accepted [[white supremacy]], further alienating African Americans.<ref name="The Southern Baptists 2012">{{Citation | title = The Southern Baptists: Luter's turn: By electing a black leader, the church shows how far it has come | newspaper = [[The Economist]] | date = March 17, 2012}}.</ref> According to historian and former Southern Baptist [[Wayne Flynt]], "The [Southern Baptist] church was the last bastion of segregation."<ref>{{cite news|title=Social change and the Southern Baptists|url=https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21676796-bittersweet-tale-prejudice-overcome-and-enduring-deep-south-love-sinner|access-date=25 October 2015|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=24 October 2015}}</ref> But it has been acknowledged that the SBC integrated seminary classrooms in 1951.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/676333342/southern-baptist-seminary-confronts-history-of-slaveholding-and-deep-racism|title=Southern Baptist Seminary Confronts History Of Slaveholding And 'Deep Racism'|first=Tom|last=Gjelten|publisher=NPR|date=December 13, 2018|access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/08/02/im-a-black-pastor-heres-why-im-staying-in-the-southern-baptist-convention/|title=I'm a black pastor. Here's why I'm staying in the Southern Baptist Convention| first=William Dwight Sr. | last=McKissic |newspaper=Washington Post|date=2 August 2017|access-date=5 January 2021}}</ref> In 1995, the convention voted to adopt a resolution in which it renounced its racist roots and apologized for its past defense of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]], and [[white supremacy]].<ref name=":10">{{cite web |title=Resolution on racial reconciliation on the 150th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention |url=http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/899 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408064550/http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/899 |archive-date=April 8, 2014 |access-date=April 8, 2014 |publisher=Southern Baptist Convention}}</ref>{{sfnm |1a1=Priest |1a2=Priest |1y=2007 |1p=275 |2a1=Priest |2a2=Nieves |2y=2007 |2p=339}} This marked the denomination's first formal acknowledgment that racism had played a profound role in both its early and modern history. [[File:President George W. Bush meets with the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention in the Oval Office, Oct. 11, 2006.jpg|thumb|right|U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] meets with the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006 in the [[Oval Office]] at the [[White House]]. Pictured with the President are [[Morris Chapman]], left, [[Frank Page (Southern Baptist)|Frank Page]] and his wife Dayle Page.]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page