Baptist Church Statistics in the United
States
For a fitting close to this lengthy study, I believe it is
appropriate to list the types of Baptists that are in
existence today and a little bit about them.
Wikipedia has compiled a very lengthy list of
Baptists.
They
have
provided
much
good
information about the Baptists of today.
[Wikipedia]
Baptists in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baptists in the United States make up a large
number of all Baptists worldwide.[1][ failed verification]
Approximately 15.3% of Americans identify as
Baptist, making Baptists the second largest religious
group in the United States.[2] Baptists adhere to a
structure,
so
local
church
congregations are generally self-regulating and
autonomous, meaning that their broadly Christian
religious beliefs can and do vary. Baptists make up a
significant portion of evangelicals in the United
States (although many Baptist groups are classified as mainline) and approximately one third of all
Protestants in the United States. Divisions among Baptists have resulted in numerous Baptist bodies,
some with long histories and others more recently
organized. There are also many Baptists operating
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independently or practicing their faith in entirely
independent congregations.
English Baptists migrated to the American colonies
during the seventeenth century. Baptist theological
reflection informed how the colonists understood
their presence in the New World, especially in Rhode
Island through the preaching of Roger Williams,
John Clarke, and others.[1] During the 18th century,
the Great Awakening resulted in the conversion of many slaves to Baptist churches, although they were
often segregated and relegated lower status within
Baptist churches. Although some Baptists opposed
slavery during this period, many Baptists in the south
remained slave holders and still others considered it
a political decision and not a moral issue.[3] Baptist congregations
formed
their
first
national
organization the Triennial Convention in the early 1800s.
The
current
largest
U.S.
Baptist
denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, split from Triennial Baptists over their refusal to support
slave-owning in 1845.[4] Following abolition, Black Baptist churches were formed due to continued
practices of segregation and the mistreatment of
Blacks. Today, the largest denominations among
African Americans are the National Baptist
Convention and the Progressive National Baptist
Recently, criticism has been published surrounding
the lack of diversity in mainline and evangelical
Baptist churches, including accusations of white
supremacy leveled against some churches.[6]
1 Newport Notables Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback
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2 "Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and
Statistics". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project.
Retrieved 2020-10-10.
3 Daniel, W. Harrison (January 1971). "Virginia Baptists and the
Negro in the Antebellum Era". The Journal of Negro History. 56 (1): 1–16. doi: 10.2307/2716022. ISSN 0 022-2992. JSTOR 2716022.
4 Pitts, Bill; Newman, Mark (2003-08-01). "Getting Right with God:
Southern Baptists and Desegregation, 1945-1995". Journal of Southern History. 69 (3): 740. doi: 10.2307/30040081. ISSN 0 022-
5 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-10.
Retrieved 2010-01-17.
6 Luo, Michael (2 September 2020). "American Christianity's White-
Supremacy Problem". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
[JFR]
The first association that was officially formed in the
United States was the Philadelphia Association. It
was not, however, a National Association, all though
it could be thought of as being that because the nation
only included those churches that were a part of the
Thirteen Colonies and the few Provinces that would
later become states.
[Wikipedia]
Major Baptist denominations in the U.S.
Alliance of Baptists (formerly Southern Baptist Alliance) The Alliance of Baptists was formed in
1987 as the Southern Baptist Alliance by liberal
individuals and congregations who were considering
separating from the Southern Baptist Convention as
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a
result
of
the
resurgence/fundamentalist takeover controversy.
Since 1995, many Alliance congregations and people
have also aligned with several other free church
traditions including the American Baptist Churches
(USA), the United Church of Christ, and the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
American Baptist Association The American Baptist Association (ABA), formed by a merger of
two related groups in 1924, is an association of
Baptist churches.[1] The principal founder was Ben
M. Bogard, a pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. ABA headquarters, including its bookstore and publishing house, Bogard
Press, is based in Texarkana, Texas.
American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) (formerly Northern Baptist Convention, American
Baptist Convention) The American Baptist
Churches
USA
(ABCUSA)
is
a
mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination
within the United States. The denomination
maintains
headquarters
in
Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered
mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its congregations,
including modernist, charismatic and evangelical
orientations.[1] It traces its history to the First Baptist
Church in America (1638) and the Baptist congregational associations which organized the
Triennial Convention in 1814. From 1907 to 1950, it was known as the Northern Baptist Convention,
and from 1950 to 1972 as the American Baptist
Convention.
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Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of
The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of
America (ARBCA) is an association of Reformed
Baptist churches that was founded in 1997.
Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
The Association of Welcoming & Affirming
Baptists (AWAB) is a group consisting of Baptist
individuals, organizations, and congregations that
are committed to advocating and encouraging the full
inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
persons in the lives and ministries of Baptist
churches. It is one of many LGBT-welcoming
church movements to emerge in American Christianity beginning in the 1980s.
Baptist Bible Fellowship International The Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) is a
conservative Baptist Christian denomination. It is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. The Fellowship was founded during a meeting in 1950 at
Fort Worth in 1950 by a group of 100 pastors of the
World Baptist Fellowship who disagreed with the authoritative direction of the leader. That same year,
the Baptist Bible College and the organization's headquarters were established in Springfield,
Missouri. It has established various fundamentalists
Baptist Bible churches around the world. In 2000, it
had 4,500 churches and 1,200,000 members.
According to a denomination census released in
2020, it has 4,000 churches in the United States and
has a presence in 80 countries.
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Baptist Missionary Association of America
(formerly North American Baptist Association)
The Baptist Missionary Association of America
(BMAA) is a fellowship of autonomous Baptist
churches. Historically, churches within the BMAA
have generally been associated with theological
conservatism and the Landmarkism movement.[2][3]
The association was formed as the North American
Baptist Association in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1950, when it broke with the American Baptist
Association over church representation matters. The Baptist Missionary Association of America
adopted its current name in 1969. The majority of
BMAA churches are concentrated in the Southern
United States, but the association has churches across the United States and supports missions
throughout the world. Most churches participate in
local and state associations as well as the
national/general body. However, each state and local
association is autonomous. Foreign countries with
churches that associate closely with BMAA churches
generally also have a national association in their
respective country. As of 2022, there were 1,148
congregations in the United States.
The
BMAA
owns the
Association Theological Seminary, with campuses in
Jacksonville, Texas, Conway, Arkansas, and online.
The association also operates Lifeword Media
Ministries and DiscipleGuide Church Resources,
located in Conway, Arkansas. The missions
department offices are also located in Conway,
Arkansas.
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Central Baptist Association The Central Baptist Association is an association of churches located
from South Carolina to Indiana, with most of the churches
being
in
eastern
and
southwestern Virginia. In 1956, some churches of the Eastern District Primitive Baptist Association separated
and
formed
the
Central
Baptist
Association. The churches entering this new
organization desired to be more progressive and to
provide a home for homeless and destitute children.
They adopted the name Central Baptist "as an
indication of our acceptance of the Holy Scriptures
in their entirety, varying neither to the right or left"
(Minutes, 1996, p.4). In 1996 there were almost 4000
members in 34 churches located in five states.
Currently they have headquarters in Jasper, Virginia,
including a tabernacle, a children's home and a youth
Bible camp.
Christian Unity Baptist Association The Christian Unity Baptist Association was organized
September 27-September 28, 1935 at Zion Hill
Church in Ashe County, North Carolina, by six
Baptist congregations. Some of these churches were remnants of the Macedonia Baptist Association,
which existed for a short time in the first quarter of
the 20th century. These churches had a mixed
Missionary
Baptist
and
background. Leaders in this new organization
included Frank Sturgill, F. Carl Sturgill, and Nancy
Owens.
Though the Christian Unity Association shared much
in common with fellow mountain Baptists, they
differed from the majority of them in three important
points: (1) falling from grace; (2) open communion;
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and (3) women preachers. Two women preached at
the organizational meeting.
The Christian Unity Baptist Association is defunct.
This body divided in 1969, and the majority chose to
affiliate with the General Association of Separate
Baptists. The minority represented continuity with the original constitution and articles of faith. The two
surviving churches from that fellowship (Zion Hill &
Hooks Branch in Va.), with a combined membership
of about 50, no longer hold an associational structure.
(formerly
the
Conservative Baptist Association of America)
Venture Church Network (formerly known as the
Conservative Baptist Association of America) is a
Christian association of churches in the United States with each local congregation being autonomous and responsible for their own way of functioning.
Continental Baptist Churches was an association
of "Calvinistic" Baptist churches holding New
Covenant theology, organized in June 1983. The roots of this movement are in the Baptist
Reformation Review, founded by Norbert Ward at
Nashville, Tennessee in 1972, and the Sword and the Trowel, edited by Ron McKinney of Dallas, Texas. [1]
Both of these papers espoused the doctrines
traditionally known as Calvinism. [For more
information on this group, see Wikipedia.org]
Converge (formerly Baptist General Conference, Swedish Baptist Church in America, Swedish Baptist
Conference) Converge, formerly the Baptist
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General Conference (BGC) and Converge
Worldwide, is an evangelical Baptist Christian
denomination in United States introduced by
Swedish Baptists that emerged in Radical Pietism
late in the 19th century. It is affiliated with the
Baptist World Alliance and the National Association
of Evangelicals. The headquarters is in Orlando. The current president of Converge is Scott Ridout.
The Baptist General Conference adopted the new
movement name of Converge Worldwide in 2008,
and was renamed to Converge in 2015.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a
Baptist Christian denomination in the United States.
It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Decatur, Georgia.
The Cooperative Baptist Association has its origins
in a meeting in Atlanta in 1990 of a group of
moderate churches of the Southern Baptist
Convention at odds with the denomination for its conservatism on issues such as opposition to the
ordination of women. It was officially founded in 1991. As of 1996, the association had 1,400 churches
and was still affiliated with the Southern Baptist
Convention. In 1998, it began ordaining chaplains. In 2002, it officially left the Southern Baptist
Convention and became a member of the Baptist
Enterprise Association of Regular Baptists
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The Enterprise Association of Regular Baptists is
an association of the Regular Baptist Church. Even though they don't have any other Regular Baptist
associations that correspond with them in their yearly
meetings, they do correspond with two United
Baptist associations: one from Salt Rock, West
Virginia, and the other from Missouri. They also have relationships between different Free Will
conferences
throughout
The
association has a total of 48 member churches, which
are scattered through Southern Ohio and Eastern
Kentucky. The association was organized in Enterprise (now known as Redbush) Johnson
County, Kentucky in 1894 and was incorporated in 1955, after relocating to Gallipolis, Ohio. [1] Different churches originally hosted the association's annual
meetings, but in 1995 the Enterprise Association
moved its annual meeting place to the Enterprise
Baptist Youth Camp in Gallipolis. The association
always has their meetings from the first weekend in
August (Thursday–Saturday.
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
(FGBCF) or Full Gospel Baptist Church
Fellowship
International
(FGBCFI)
is
a
predominantly
Baptist denomination. It was founded by Black Baptist pastor and Gospel singer, Bishop Paul S.
Morton in 1992 when he separated from the National
Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. He founded the denomination as a response to the teachings of many
conservative Baptist bodies who traditionally believe
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in cessationism. The denomination advocates for and teaches the operation of the traditional Pentecostal-
Holiness/Charismatic-style spiritual gifts, while also holding to traditional Baptist church theology and
traditions.[1] The denomination's headquarters is in
Atlanta, Georgia. Bishop Joseph W. Walker III, of
Nashville, Tennessee, is the current Presiding Bishop.
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association The
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association
(FBFA)
is
an
association
of
independent
fundamentalist African-American Baptist churches.
In 1962 Reverend Richard C. Mattox, of Cleveland,
led
conservative-fundamentalist
black
ministers
and
congregations
to
form
the
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association. The
association
meets
annually
and
provides
fundamentalist black Baptist churches a means of
fellowship in the areas of evangelism and foreign
missions. Each congregation is independent and
autonomous.
A number of churches in the Fundamental Baptist
Fellowship Association hold dual affiliation with the
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.
Headquarters are in Kansas City, Kansas. In the area of Christian education, the FBFA partners with
Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio.
The FBFA is sometimes confused with the
predominantly
white
Fellowship International, whose strength is in the
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Southeast. The FBFA is predominantly black and
most of its churches are located in the Midwestern
states.
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America
The Foundations Baptist Fellowship International
(FBFI), formerly the Fundamental Baptist
Fellowship International, is a fellowship of
Independent Fundamental Baptist individuals.
General Association of Baptists (formerly Duck River and Kindred Associations) Though the annual
meeting of this group is denominated The General
Association of The Baptists, they are most widely
known as the Kindred Associations of Baptists.
Other names associated with these churches are the
Baptist Church of Christ, The Baptists, and Separate
Baptists (though they are not directly related to the
Separate Baptists in Christ). The primary location of the churches is middle Tennessee and northern
Alabama. Members from this association form the largest body of Baptists in Moore County,
General Association of General Baptists
The General Association of General Baptists is a
group of Baptists holding the doctrine of general
atonement (that Christ died for all persons), whose membership is located mostly in the Midwestern
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Though theologically similar to the General Baptists
in England and early America, this body of General Baptists arose in the Midwestern United States in the 19th century through the work of Benoni Stinson
(1798-1869), a United Baptist minister first in
Kentucky and then in Indiana. Stinson was ordained in Kentucky in 1821, and evidently was already
leaning toward or embracing Arminian theology.
Shortly after he moved to Indiana, in 1822 the
Wabash District Association decided to divide into
two bodies, for convenience sake. Stinson's church
would be in the new body, and he labored to have a
statement that "the preaching that Christ tasted death
for every man shall be no bar to fellowship" would
be included in the articles of faith. The next fall, in
1823, the Liberty Baptist Church of Howell, Indiana
was organized with 33 members, and Elder Stinson
was called as pastor. Three other churches were soon
organized, all in the Evansville, Indiana area. In October 1824, representatives from these four
churches came together and organized the Liberty
Association of General Baptists. This appears to be
the first time the name "General" was officially
associated with this movement. A number of
General Baptist local associations were organized
from 1824 to 1870. During this period, some
attempts were made by the Liberty Association to
correspond with the northern Free Will Baptists, but this appears to have eventually proved unsatisfactory
to both parties. In 1870, a convention was called to
meet with Harmony Church, Gallatin County,
Illinois, with the idea of organizing a general association comprising all the annual General Baptist
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associations. Delegates from Liberty, Mt. Olivet and
Ohio associations gathered and formed the General
Association of General Baptists. This body has
grown and developed until it now embraces about 60
associations, 816 churches and more than 73,000
members. The denominational headquarters are
located in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where they operate Stinson
Press.
The
official
denominational
publication is The General Baptist Messenger. The
General Association oversees publication of Sunday
School literature, a home mission board, a foreign
mission board, and the Oakland City University in Oakland City, Indiana. The General Association is a
member of the National Association of Evangelicals
and the Baptist World Alliance.
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
The General Association of Regular Baptist
Churches (GARBC), established in 1932 is one of
several Baptist groups in North America retaining the name "Regular Baptist".
The impact of modernism on the Northern Baptist
Convention (now called the American Baptist
Churches USA) led to the eventual withdrawal of a number
of
and
churches. The Baptist Bible Union (BBU) of 1923
was the forerunner to the GARBC. The final meeting
of the BBU in 1932 in Chicago was the first meeting of the GARBC.
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General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist
Church, Inc. (formerly Church of the Full Gospel, Inc.) The General Conference of the Evangelical
Baptist Church, Inc. was organized in 1935 as the
Church of the Full Gospel, Inc, by members of
several Free Will Baptist churches, under the leadership of William Howard Carter. The
organization currently is headquartered in Tucson,
General Six-Principle Baptists
[JFR]
Wikipedia does not give anything in its description
of this group. It does, however, have a lengthy
section on History. To look it up just go to Wikipedia
and enter General Six-Principle Baptists. I will not
include it here because of the length of the article.
Independent Baptist Church of America The Independent Baptist Church of America traces its
foundation back to a church organization by Swedish
Free Baptist immigrants at Dassel, Minnesota in 1893. The body was initially known as the
Scandinavian Baptist Church in America. In 1926
the denomination had 13 churches with 222
members. The name Independent Baptist Church of
America was adopted in 1927. In 1936, there were 5
churches in Minnesota with 82 members. In 1956,
there were 2 churches with 106 members, and down
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to 70 members in 1963. The church ceased to exist in
the 1970s.
Independent Baptist Fellowship International
The
Independent
Baptist
Fellowship
International (IBFI) was formed on May 10, 1984,
at Fort Worth, Texas, as a fellowship of independent, fundamentalist Baptist churches.
Independent Baptist Fellowship of North
The Independent Baptist Fellowship of North
America (IBFNA) is a separatist fundamentalist
independent Baptist fellowship for pastors and laymembers.
Sometimes
confused
with
the
Independent Baptist Fellowship International (IBFI), the IBFNA is a northern-oriented fellowship formed
by individuals who left the General Association of
Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC) due to what they felt was a drift of the association away from
their original separatist position. The Fellowship was
organized in October 1990 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Its constitution was ratified in 1993 at Providence,
Rhode Island. It is composed of individuals rather than churches. Individuals must renew their
membership annually; churches are recognized as
'supporting churches' by financially supporting the
Fellowship. This body is very local church oriented,
and all boards, institutions, and agencies remain in
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the hands of the churches. Articles of Faith have been
adopted, containing statements on the Scriptures, the
Triune God, Salvation, Sanctification, the Church, Biblical Separation, Civil Government, Creation,
The Fall of Man, the Devil, and End times. The Review is a quarterly published by the IBFNA. A
Conference is held annually.
Free Will Baptist is a General Baptist Christian denomination and group of people that believe in free
grace, free salvation and free will. [1] The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development
of General Baptism in England. Its formal establishment is widely linked to the English
theologian, Thomas Helwys who led the Baptist movement to believe in general atonement. He was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous and punishable by
death. He died in prison as a consequence of the
religious persecution of Protestant dissenters under
In 1702 Paul Palmer would go on to establish the movement in North Carolina and in 1727 formed the
Free Will Baptist Church of Chowan. Many
Calvinists became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century. With the establishment of Free Will Baptists
in the South, Benjamin Randall developed the movement in the Northeastern United States,
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specifically Maine, Massachusetts, and New
From their beginning, Free Will Baptists, in common
with many groups of English Dissenters and
Separatists from the Church of England, followed
Brownist notions of self-governance of local
churches. The notion of free will was a systematic rejection of the Puritan movement, due to its overall religious beliefs and lack of social mobility.
Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of
The Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference
of America is a recent division of the National
Missionary Baptist Convention of America, which was formed on November 15, 1988. When the
NMBCA was formed, Dr. S. M. Lockridge of San
Diego, California was elected president of the Convention and served until his retirement in 1994.
After his retirement a series of events and contested
elections eventually brought about the formation of
the Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of
America around 1999. Dr. H.J. Johnson, of Dallas,
Texas, General Secretary of the Convention, ran for the presidency in 1995 and again in 1998. Following
the second election defeat, Dr. Johnson and his
supporters withdrew and organized the Institutional
Missionary Baptist Conference.
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Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary
Organized in 1951 as the Interstate and Foreign
Missionary Baptist Associational Assembly of
America, this group is now known as the Interstate
and Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist
Association of America. Their purpose is to
encourage fellowship among Missionary Baptist
churches that practice ministerial support by freewill
offerings. Since they do not believe in stipulated
salaries for pastors and missionaries, they are also
known as "Faithway Baptists".
Churches of this association originally fellowshipped
with the American Baptist Association. A split in the American Baptist Association (organized 1924)
resulted in the formation of two new national
associations - the Baptist Missionary Association of
America (then called North American Baptist Association) and the Interstate and Foreign
Landmark Missionary Baptist Association. All three
of these associations adhere to the Landmark
principle of a succession of Baptist churches from the
time of Christ to the present.
Landmark Baptists Landmarkism is a type of
Baptist ecclesiology developed in the American
South in the mid-19th century. It is committed to a strong version of the perpetuity theory of Baptist origins, attributing an unbroken continuity and
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unique legitimacy to the Baptist movement since the
apostolic period. It includes belief in the exclusive validity of Baptist churches and invalidity of non-Baptist liturgical forms and practices. It led to intense
debates and splits in the Baptist community.
Liberty Baptist Fellowship is a fellowship of
independent Baptist churches that grew up around
Jerry Falwell, Thomas Road Baptist Church of
Lynchburg, Virginia, and Liberty University. Most pastors of the Fellowship are alumni of Liberty
University. In 1994, the Liberty Baptist Fellowship
had 100 churches, including the 21,000 member
Thomas Road church, which was also affiliated with
the Baptist Bible Fellowship International. In 1996, the Thomas Road church joined the newly formed
Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, thereby aligning itself with 3 Baptist bodies.
The Liberty Baptist Fellowship (LBF) was started in
1981 with the mission of planting New Testament
local churches and endorsing chaplains in the
military. Since then, hundreds of churches have been
planted and 24 chaplains are currently serving
around the world.
LBF pastors/churches and their full-time staff
receive a scholarship to the External Degree Program
at Liberty University and its schools. Many have
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taken advantage of this scholarship. In addition,
students sent from churches to Liberty University
receive a scholarship.
National Association of Free Will Baptists
The National Association of Free Will Baptists
(NAFWB) is a national body of Free Will Baptist
churches in the United States and Canada, organized on November 5, 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Association traces its history in the United States
through two different lines: one beginning in the
South in 1727 (the "Palmer line") and another in the
North in 1780 (the "Randall line"). The "Palmer line," however, never developed as a formal
denomination. It consisted of only about three
churches in North Carolina. The NAFWB is the largest of the Free Will Baptist denominations.
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
The National Baptist Convention of America
International, Inc. , (NBCA Intl or NBCA) more
commonly known as the National Baptist
Convention of America or sometimes the Boyd
Convention, is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is a predominantly African
denomination,
and
is
headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The National Baptist Convention of America has members in the
United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Africa.
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The current president of the National Baptist
Convention of America is Dr. Samuel C. Tolbert Jr.
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. , more
commonly known as the National Baptist
Convention (NBC USA or NBC), is a primarily
African American Baptist Christian denomination in
the United States. It is headquartered at the Baptist World Center in Nashville, Tennessee and affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. It is also the largest predominantly Black Christian denomination in the United States and the second largest Baptist
denomination in the world.
National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul
The National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul
Saving Assembly of the United States of America
(NBELSSA) is an African-American missions
body first formed as an auxiliary of the National
Baptist Convention of America, Inc. This body was founded in 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri by Captain Allan Arthur Banks, Sr. The NBELSSA
operated within the NBC of America until 1936 or
1937, when it became an independent group. The
main emphasis of the NBELSSA was in
evangelism (including charity & relief work) and
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education (especially its Bible correspondence
school). In 1952 this Assembly claimed 644
churches and was headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
Many of these churches were evidently dually
affiliated with other National Baptist conventions.
More recently, the NBELSSA was headquartered
at the Second Baptist Church of Detroit, Michigan,
and was still operating a correspondence school.
National Missionary Baptist Convention of
The National Missionary Baptist Convention of
America (NMBCA) was formed during a meeting
attended by Dr. S. J. Gilbert, Sr. and Dr. S. M.
Wright, along with several leaders and members
from the National Baptist Convention of America,
Inc. and took place on November 14–15, 1988 at the People's Missionary Baptist Church, Incorporated in
The meeting concerned the differences of opinion on
the relationship between the National Baptist
Convention of America, Inc. and the National Baptist
Publishing Board (now known as the R.H. Boyd
Publishing Corporation), the National Baptist
Sunday School, and the Baptist Training Union
Congress. The new body gained the support of
existing state conventions in California, Texas,
Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indiana, and has formed
others.
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The Rev. S.M. Lockridge of San Diego was elected as the first president of the newly formed convention
and served until his retirement in 1994. After Dr.
Lockridge's retirement, elections have been held, and
these men are the following Presidents. Dr. S.M.
Wright, Dr. W.T. Snead Sr., Dr. Melvin V. Wade,
Dr. C.C. Robertson, Dr. Nehemiah Davis, Dr.
Anthony E. Sharp I (2018-present)
A party led by Dr. H. J. Johnson of Dallas, Texas
withdrew and formed the Institutional Missionary
Baptist Conference of America in 1998/1999. This followed Dr. Johnson's unsuccessful campaign for
the presidency, which was won by Dr. W.T. Snead,
Sr.
National Primitive Baptist Convention (formerly Colored Primitive Baptist Church)
The National Primitive Baptist Convention, USA
is a group of Black Primitive Baptists that has adopted progressive methods and policies not in
keeping with the historical and theological
background of Primitive Baptists in general. The Convention was organized in Huntsville, Alabama in 1907. These churches have adopted the use of
instrumental music, Sunday Schools, revivals, and
church auxiliaries. The idea of a national convention
is itself foreign to standard Primitive Baptist
concepts. They still adhere the Calvinistic or Predestinarian teachings held by other Primitive
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Baptists, but in a more progressive manner and are
similar to the black National Baptist Conventions.
The NPBC churches continue with Primitive Baptist
usage in retaining the observance of feet washing as an ordinance of the church, and in calling their
ministers "elder." These churches are not in
fellowship with the remaining "old school" white
Primitive Baptists. Most of the National Primitive
Baptist Convention churches (616 in 1995) are
located in the southern United States.
North American Baptist Conference (formerly General Conference of German Baptist Churches in
North America)
North American Baptists (NAB) is an association
of Baptists in the United States and Canada,
generally of German ethnic heritage.
Old Missionary Baptists are a group of Baptists
that grew out of the missionary / anti-missionary controversy that divided Baptists in the United
States in the early part of the 19th century, with Missionary Baptists following the pro-missions
movement position. Those who opposed the
innovations became known as anti-missions or
Primitive Baptists. Since arising in the 19th
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
century, the influence of Primitive Baptists waned
as "Missionary Baptists became the mainstream".
Missionary Baptist is also a term used by adherents
of many African American Baptist churches and
Landmark Baptist churches belonging to the
American Baptist Association, the Baptist
Missionary Association of America and the
Interstate and Foreign Landmark Missionary
The Old Regular Baptist denomination is one of the oldest in Appalachia with roots in both the Regular
and Separate Baptists of the American Colonies and
the Particular Baptist of Great Britain. This group has seen a marked decline in its membership during the
last two decades. The Old Regular Baptist Faith and
order with her many branches and factions still
remains the dominant Faith in some rural Central
Appalachian Counties along or near the Kentucky
Virginia border.
Original Free Will Baptist Convention
The Original Free Will Baptist Convention is a
North Carolina-based body of Free Will Baptists that split from the National Association of Free Will
Baptists in 1961.
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
The Original Free Will Baptist State Convention was
established in 1913. In 1935 the State Convention
became a charter member of the National
Association. The North Carolina convention had
developed along lines with slightly different polity
from the midwestern and northern Free Will
Baptists. They held to a more connectional form of
government and believed the annual conference
could settle disputes in and discipline a local church.
This view, different educational philosophies, and
the desire of the North Carolina convention to
operate its own press and Sunday School publishing
created tensions that ended in division. The majority
of Free Will Baptist churches in North Carolina
withdrew from the National Association, while a
minority withdrew from the State Convention to
maintain affiliation with the National Association.
Headquarters of the State Convention are in Mount
Olive, North Carolina. The Convention sponsors the Free Will Baptist Children's Home, Inc. in
Middlesex, North Carolina (established 1920), the
University of Mount Olive in Mount Olive, North
Carolina (chartered 1951), and operates the Free Will Baptist Press in Ayden. It supports foreign
missionaries in Bulgaria, India, Mexico, Nepal,
Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
The Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church
(PFWBC) is a church group in the southern United
States, best thought of as Pentecostal rather than
Baptist. The PFWBC is historically and theologically a combination of both, having begun
as a small group of churches in North Carolina that broke away from the Free Will Baptist Church to join the Holiness movement and eventually accepting certain Pentecostal doctrines.
Primitive Baptist Universalists
The Primitive Baptist Universalists are Christian
Universalist congregations located primarily in the central Appalachian region of the United States.
They are popularly known as "No-Hellers" due to
their belief that there is no Hell per se, but that Hell is actually experienced in this life.
Primitive Baptists – also known as Hard Shell
Baptists, Foot Washing Baptists or Old School
Baptists – are conservative Baptists adhering to a degree of Calvinist beliefs who coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th
century over the appropriateness of mission boards,
tract societies, and temperance societies. The adjective "primitive" in the name is used in the
sense of "original".
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Progressive National Baptist Convention
The Progressive National Baptist Convention
(PNBC), incorporated as the Progressive National
Baptist
Convention,
Inc. ,
is
a
predominantly
denomination emphasizing civil rights and social
justice. The headquarters of the Progressive National Baptist Convention are in Washington, D.C.[2] Since its organization, the denomination has member
churches outside the United States, particularly in the
Caribbean and Europe. It is a member of the National
Council of Churches and the Baptist World Alliance.
Progressive Primitive Baptists
Progressive Primitive Baptists are a Christian
denomination comprising 95 churches located in nine US states and one church in Haiti. [1] The denominational name consists of three parts. They
are identified with the Baptist tradition as they baptize only believers who have made a profession
of faith and they only baptize by immersion. The word Primitive in the name refers to their adherence
to the original principles of their Baptist ancestors,
the Particular Baptists of England. Their articles of faith are based on the 1689 Baptist Confession of
Faith. The word Progressive refers to their inclusion of musical instruments, bible studies, youth camps,
mission and charity organizations that are rejected by
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
other factions of Primitive Baptists, often referred to as "old line" or "old school".
Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as
Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are
Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology
(salvation). They can trace their history through the
early modern Particular Baptists of England. The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the
1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith was written along Calvinist Baptist lines. The name
“Reformed Baptist” dates from the latter part of the
20th Century to denote Baptists who have adopted
elements of Reformed theology, but retained
Baptist ecclesiology.
Regular Baptists are "a moderately Calvinistic
Baptist sect that is found chiefly in the southern U.S., represents the original English Baptists before the
division into Particular and General Baptists, and observes closed communion and foot washing",
according to Merriam Webster. This definition
describes Old Regular Baptists, not those who formed as a result of the Fundamentalist-Modernist
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
The most prominent Regular Baptist group is the
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.
While the term Regular Baptist was originally a
reference to the Particular Baptists, it came to be used more loosely as a synonym for orthodox. The Baptist
Bulletin of the GARBC defines them simply as groups who believe "orthodox, Baptist doctrine" and
"affirm the rule or measure of the Scripture." As
compared to General Baptists or Free Baptists,
Regular Baptists were strict in their beliefs, and
therefore also called Strict or Hard-shell Baptists. To
be a Regular Baptist church in the GARBC is to hold to distinctive baptistic ecclesiology and interpret the
Bible literally.
The Separate Baptists were an 18th-century group
of Baptists in the United States, primarily in the South, that grew out of the Great Awakening.
The Great Awakening was a religious revival and revitalization of piety among the Christian
churches. It covered English-speaking countries and swept through the American colonies between
the 1730s and the 1770s. Three important preachers
of the times were Gilbert Tennent (1703–65),
Jonathan Edwards (1703–58), and George
Whitefield (1714–70). The Separate Baptists are most directly connected to Whitefield's influence.
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
The first identifiable congregation of Separate
Baptists was formed in Boston, Massachusetts.
Whitefield preached in Boston in 1740. The pastor
of the Baptist church disapproved of the revival
excitement, while several members approved of it
and became discontented with the pastor's ministry.
They withdrew from the First Baptist Church and
formed Second Baptist Church in 1743.
The Great Awakening served to both invigorate
and divide churches. Many denominations divided
into Old Lights — holding a low view of the revivalism, and sometimes directly opposing it —
and New Lights — who enthusiastically embraced
it. Many New Lights felt that the old ways had
allowed too many unconverted church members,
and by the end of the 1740s some of the New Lights
believed the established churches could not be
reformed from within and withdrew from them. A
favorite verse among them was II Corinthians
6:17 — "Come out from among them, and be ye
separate." This led to them being called Separate.
A growing body of Separate Baptists began in New
England. They were zealous in evangelism and held to heart-felt religion. The most prominent New
England pastor and congregation was Isaac Backus
(1724–1808) and the church at Middleborough,
Backus
was
raised
a
Congregationalist and became a New Light (or
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Separatist) Congregational pastor in 1748. After
conversion to Baptist views on the doctrine of
baptism, Backus and others formed a Baptist congregation in 1756. Backus was very active in
the fight for religious liberty in America. The
Separate Baptists of New England were never truly
a separate group from the Regular Baptists. It would remain for the Separate Baptists in the South
to develop along distinct lines.
In 1745 Shubal Stearns (1706–71), a member of the Congregational church in Tolland, Connecticut,
heard evangelist George Whitefield. Stearns was
converted and adopted the Awakening's view of
revival and conversion. Stearns' church became
involved in a controversy over the proper subjects
of baptism in 1751. Soon Stearns rejected infant
baptism and sought baptism at the hands of Wait Palmer,
Baptist
minister
of
Connecticut. By March, Shubal Stearns was ordained into the ministry by Palmer and Joshua
Morse, the pastor of New London, Connecticut.
The next twenty years of Stearns' remarkable
ministry is inextricably intertwined with the rise
and expansion of the Separate Baptists.
In 1754, Stearns moved south to Opequon,
Virginia. Here he joined Daniel Marshall and wife Martha (Stearns' sister), who were already active in
a Baptist church there. On November 22, 1755,
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Stearns and his party moved further south to Sandy
Creek, in Guilford County, North Carolina. This party consisted of eight men and their wives,
mostly relatives of Stearns. Stearns pastored at
Sandy Creek until his death. From there, Separate
Baptists spread in the South. The church quickly
grew from 16 members to 606. Church members
moved to other areas and started other churches.
The Sandy Creek Association was formed in 1758.
Morgan Edwards, Baptist minister and historian contemporary with Stearns, recorded that, "in 17
years, [Sandy Creek] has spread its branches
westward as far as the great river Mississippi;
southward as far as Georgia; eastward to the sea
and Chesopeck [sic] Bay; and northward to the
waters of the Pottowmack [sic]; it, in 17 years, is
become
mother,
grandmother,
and
great
grandmother to 42 churches, from which sprang
125 ministers."
For a time these Baptists remained somewhat
distinct from the Regular Baptists. They were in the
main in agreement with the Regulars, but holding
to some minor points of difference. According to
Edwards, "These are called Separates, not because
they withdrew from the Regular-baptists but
because they have hitherto declined any union with
them. The faith and order of both are the same,
except some trivial matters not sufficient to support
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
a distinction, but less a disunion; for both avow the
Century-Confession and the annexed discipline."
One distinction was in the number of ordinances or
rites observed by the Separates. The nine rites were
baptism, the Lord's supper, love feasts, laying on of
hands, washing feet, anointing the sick, the right
hand of fellowship, kiss of charity, and devoting children. Not all the churches practiced all nine of
these, but most churches practiced more than the
two ordinances generally held by the Regular
Baptists — baptism and the Lord's supper.
With the exception of the Separate Baptists in
Christ, the denominational name Separate Baptist disappeared in many areas of the country with the
formal and informal agreements of union between
the Regular Baptists and Separate Baptists,
beginning in Virginia in 1787, in the Carolinas in
1789, and in Kentucky in 1797 & 1801. As
recorded by Benedict, the conclusion of the terms
of union in Virginia stated, "...we are united, and
desire hereafter, that the names Regular and
Separate be buried in oblivion; and that from
henceforth, we shall be known by the name of the
United Baptist Churches, in Virginia."
Descendants of the Separate Baptists include the
Separate Baptists in Christ, Landmark Missionary
Baptists, Primitive Baptists, Southern Baptists,
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
United Baptists, and The General Association of
Separate Baptists are particularly visible in
Kentucky, where a member of the denomination,
Vernie McGaha of Russell Springs, served in the
The Separate Baptists in Christ are a
denomination of Separate Baptists found mostly in
Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the
Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a covenant Baptist
theology, based on the concept of regenerated society, conscious baptism of believers by immersion, congregational government and the
scriptural basis of opinion and practice. They profess a statement of faith instituted on fundamental precepts of belief. Seventh Day Baptists rest on
Saturday as a sign of obedience in a covenant
relationship with God and not as a condition of
There are countless accounts in the history of
Christians who kept the seventh day of the week as a
day of rest and worship to God as instituted by God
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
in the creation of the world, affirmed as a fourth
commandment and reaffirmed in the teaching and example of Jesus and the Apostles. In contrast to this, it is known that most Christians and churches in
history have chosen to rest on Sunday instead of
Saturday. However, there are reports of Sabbath
keeping in different parts of the world, including an
entire nation that rested on the Saturday. The first
Christians who adopted Baptist doctrine and kept the
seventh day dates back to the middle of the 17th
century in England.
They are made up of churches all over the world,
with over 520 churches and approximately 45,000
members, having constant interaction among
themselves through conferences in each country and
through the Seventh Day Baptist World Federation.
In general, federations maintains good relations with
other Baptist churches and Protestant denominations as well as establishing links with other Christian
institutions and unions worldwide.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a
Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the
largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word
Southern in "Southern Baptist Convention" stems
from its having been organized in 1845 in Augusta,
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Georgia, by Baptists in the Southern United States
who split from the northern Baptists (known today as
the American Baptist Churches USA) over the issue of African-American enslavement; citing biblical
texts, the SBC strongly opposed its abolition.
After the American Civil War, another split occurred when most freedmen set up independent black
congregations, regional associations, and state and national conventions, such as the National Baptist
Convention, which became the second-largest Baptist convention by the end of the 19th century.
Since the 1940s, the SBC has spread across the
states, losing some of its regional identity but
nonetheless keeping its original name. While still
heavily concentrated in the Southern U.S., the SBC
has member churches across the country and 41
The Southwide Baptist Fellowship is made up of
about a thousand churches. It is a member of the
International Baptist Network.
Sovereign Grace Baptists in the broadest sense are
any "Calvinistic" Baptists that accept God's sovereign grace in salvation and predestination. In
the narrower sense, certain churches and groups have
preferred "Sovereign Grace" in their name, rather
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
than using the terms "Calvinism", "Calvinist", or
"Reformed Baptist". This includes some who prefer
the 1644 Baptist Confession of Faith to the 1689
Confession, and who are critical of covenant
All of these groups generally agree with the Five
Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints.
Groups calling themselves "Sovereign Grace
Baptists" have been particularly influenced by the
writings of John Gill in the 18th century.[7] Among American Baptists who have revived such Calvinist
ideas were Rolfe P. Barnard and Henry T. Mahan,
who organised the first Sovereign Grace Bible
Conference in Ashland, Kentucky, in 1954, though groups designated as Sovereign Grace are not
necessarily connected to them.
Groups calling themselves Strict Baptists are often
differentiated from those calling themselves
"Reformed Baptists", sharing the same Calvinist
doctrine, but differing on ecclesiastical polity;
"Strict
Baptists"
generally
prefer
a
The group of Strict Baptists called Strict and
Particular Baptists are Baptists who believe in a
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Calvinist interpretation of Christian salvation. The Particular Baptists arose in England in the 17th century and took their name from the doctrine of
particular redemption, while the term "strict" refers to the practice of closed communion.
Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists
Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists
are part of a larger sub-group of Baptists that is commonly referred to as "anti-mission" Baptists.
This sub-group includes the Duck River and
Kindred Baptists, Old Regular Baptists, some
Regular Baptists and some United Baptists. Only a
minuscule minority of Primitive Baptists adhere to the Two-Seed doctrine. The primary centers of Two-Seedism were in Northern
Alabama,
Arkansas, Eastern Tennessee, Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. As of 2002, five
churches or congregations of this faith and order
still existed in Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee, and
Texas.
United American Free Will Baptist Church
The United American Free Will Baptist Church
is the oldest national body of predominantly black
Free Will Baptists in the United States.
United American Free Will Baptist Conference
~ 477 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
United American Free Will Baptist Conference,
Inc. is the smaller of the two African-American
Free Will Baptist conferences in the United States.
United Baptist
The name "United Baptist" appears to have arisen
from two separate unions of Baptist groups: (1) the
union of Regular Baptists and Separate Baptists in
Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas in the United States late in the 18th century and near the turn of
the 19th century, and (2) the union of Regular
Baptists and Free Baptists in the Maritime Provinces of Canada near the beginning of the 20th
century. Many Baptists in the southern United
States were called United Baptists, while most in
the north were called Regular Baptists. Missionary
Baptist bodies such as the Southern Baptist
Convention, the American Baptist Association
(ABA) and even some American Baptist Churches
USA (ABCUSA) are descendants of the United
Baptists. Churches in the ABCUSA retaining the
name United Baptist are primarily in the northeast,
especially Maine, and are products of the Regular/Free Baptist union. One local association
of churches in the ABA maintained the "United
Baptist" name into the mid-1990s. A number of
churches in the United Baptist Convention of the
Atlantic Provinces (now Convention of Atlantic
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Baptist Churches) continue to use the name United Baptist.
The World Baptist Fellowship (WBF) is a
separatist fundamentalist Baptist organization. The organization was founded by J. Frank Norris (1877–
1952) of Texas, a southern fundamentalist leader in the first half of the 20th century.
Conclusion
[JFR]
That is a lot of different Baptist Churches. Even
though this list is a long one, it by no means covers
all the Baptists that are in the United States. There
are many Independent Baptists that have no
affiliation at all. No doubt not all on the list or among
the Independents are scriptural churches. God,
however, is the Judge of that.
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Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Final Conclusion
It has been said that when people do not know their
history, they are doomed to repeat it. I have seen
many times where this has been true.
To know our Church History is a very needful for
Baptists. One reason is that we can know that what
we believe is true because we can go back and see
for ourselves.
Another reason is just like knowing our United States
history, we likewise we should know our Church
History because it is through our history that we can
find perpetuity. We find it not through the names but
through the beliefs. Through the beliefs we can know
our lineage.
It is my hope and prayer that this can be informative
to all who will read this. It is by no means a complete
history of Baptists. I would rather call it an overview.
There are literally thousands upon thousands of
pages that concern church history.
The International Missionary Baptist Publishing
Ministry has many volumes of Church History in
eBook form for free. Just send an email to
director@imbmpodcasts.com and we will send a list or if a specific history is wanted, we will endeavor to
provide.
~ 480 ~
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