Baptism in the 20th Century

The first Baptist church was started in 1638 by Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island while his compatriot Clarke was a minister in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1764 Reverend James Manning, Reverend Samuel Stallman and other reverends of the Baptist ministerial council established a college in Providence, Rhode Island making it the seventh institution which served as the sanctuary for Baptists1. This paper traces the developments of the Baptist church in the 20th century and critiques the changes that has given the church a new public perspective. Religious trends in the 20th century There have been developments in the 20th century that have shaped the American Baptist church and the general religious life. First is the double-sided trend leading to the general decline in the number of mainstream churches and an increase in the number of evangelical churches.

Areas that were under colonial rule followed a religious expansion while opening up religious markets in other areas. The decline in mainland churches and the growth of evangelicals in the 20th century The mainline was used as a metaphor used in identifying the Protestant denominations that are comprised of mostly whites who are open to secular influences and the incorporation of modernism. There are about eight denominations which are associated with mainline religion in the United States namely the Episcopal Church, the American Baptist church, Evangelical Lutheran, the Christian church, reformed church USA, United Methodist church and the united church of Christ. Despite their immense role in the society, the church has suffered a huge loss in the number of members since 1965.

The figures from 1965 – 1994 is as follows: American Baptist Churches in the USA -3. The evangelical denominations, in this case, are the ones that teach the normal process of subscribing to the Christian life, the spiritual transformations to be expected and the combining these doctrines with the conservative opinions on political and moral issues. According to Walter Sundberg in Religious Trends in Twentieth-Century America, another major cause of the disparity in the Baptist churches during the 20th century is the issue of pluralism3. According to Scottish sociologist Steve Bruce, there has been a tendency of the emergence of a category of churches known as the liberal churches. He defines liberal churches by their character and tendency to regard human reason as being paramount to the prescribed religious doctrines.

If churches allow pluralism then how do the churches define their core beliefs and the procedure for accepting new members? The inability to close out pluralism is a damaging factor for any social organization and especially a religious one because it is defined by the fundamental nature of any religion as it breeds uncertainty. One of those political situations was the slavery concerns. The institutionalization of the prophetic office by the church welcomed politics to the church through activism. According to Albert Wu in Catholic and Protestant Individuals in Nineteenth-Century German Missionary Periodicals, since the emergence of civil rights movements of the 1960s, the ecclesiastical leaders have ended up making the denominational organizations such as the Baptist and Methodist churches as the official agents of social and political change5.

During the 20th century leaders of the mainline denominations has tried to duplicate their political success through the civil rights movement activities. Through their rationale of acting as prophetic witnesses, they have ended up participating directly political issues. In addition, the various church leadership such as Charles Finney saw the importance of women public prayer in the revival process. According to Baez-Camargo, women were key players who were involved in the whole round processes of conversion and religious upbringing of children and orphans8. In the process of revivals, the role of women was crucial in the moral and spiritual foundation of a family setting and therefore they were tasked with the important role of educating children on matters of ethics and religion.

Their role in the mission activities was even more pronounced. They formed prayer groups as theses became one of the socially acceptable forms of organizations for women in the society. Protestants to promote the spread of their faith throughout Latin America. At the beginning of 1913, the foreign missions conference decided to have a special conference to be held in the south sponsored by the churches in the north10. This activities led to the formation of the committee on cooperation in Latin America (CCLA) to handle the mission activities and manage common interests. By the end of 1925, the Protestants from the Baptist church and other denominations had gained sufficient confidence to intermingle with the Catholics in the region. Difference between the north and the south Baptist denominations in the 20th century The success of both the northern and the southern Baptist missions was relatively limited.