The Baptist Church is one of the well-known churches across the globe with millions of followers who take part in various activities. Missionary Baptist Congregations came up after disagreements emerged between those members who wanted missionary activities and those who were against it. The division led to the splitting of the Church into the Missionary Baptists and those who were referred to as the Primitive Baptists.
The major driving force for the Missionary Baptists Congregations is that Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples to be missionaries. Therefore, they were uncomfortable to remain in the Church doing nothing in terms of mission work. Notably, Christianity was able to spread throughout the world because of the effort put in place by missionaries who moved from place to place, country to country and from one continent to another (Walls, 2015). The missionaries preached the gospel and converted many to Christianity. Similarly, Missionary Baptist congregations devote a lot of their time and resources in preaching the gospel in various places. As such, they get to build churches and train pastors who continue to minister to individuals in new churches that are opened.
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Missionary Baptist Congregations are often involved in charity work providing basic supplies such as food and medicine to those in need. In the life of Jesus Christ, he often mingled with those in need and supplied them with food in addition to healing the sick. Missionary Baptist Congregations have embraced this technique of reaching out to those who need and providing for them. In recent years, natural calamities have been on the rise worldwide meaning more people are spending days in the cold and without food (Pelling & Uitto, 2001). The Missionary Baptist Congregations have thus taken a leading role in ensuring that these people are assisted. In addition, their mission work has sought to provide long-lasting solutions in poor communities as they are involved in building schools and promoting education among the less fortunate in the poor suburbs.
Missionary Baptist Congregations (MBC) have Bible Schools that act as a training ground. Students in the Bible Schools are taught the doctrines of the church and how to carry out effective missionary work. According to the MBC, missionary work is more effective if the missionaries are adequately trained and prepared for the work. Due to its effective missionary activities, the MBC has registered significant growth over the years, especially among the African-Americans. It is worth mentioning that the gospel of equality among all men appealed to most of the African-American converts due to the various injustices they faced in the past.
The MBC not only focuses on winning new converts only but also creating strong bonds between the new converts and those who are already in the faith. According to Lofland and Stark, 1965, as cited by Dougherty, 2004, new converts begin forming new bonds with those who are already in the faith. Consequently, it becomes difficult for them to lose these attachments because they have taken so much effort and time to build. Therefore, the members of these congregations tend to have strong bonds as they do most activities such as Bible studies and evangelism together while also supporting one another during difficult moments.
The place of music in the MBC cannot be underestimated. From the year 1945, music among the Missionary Baptist Congregations has undergone a tremendous transformation. According to Boyer, 1979, most of the singers in the MBC congregations in the early 20th century were untrained and performed poorly in terms of harmony in the music. However, from 1945, the MBC choirs have witnessed remarkable improvement in terms of harmony and coordination. Specifically, Missionary Baptist Congregations have recognized the essence of having a well-trained singing group during worship services. Indeed, music speaks to the hearts of many people who may not be moved by the mere preaching of the word. To this end, thousands of new converts have been won because of moving music.
The Main belief of the Missionary Baptists is Baptism by immersion, an outward symbol that shows someone has publicly accepted Jesus Christ (Harless & Church, 2017). In addition, it is an act of faith that demonstrates an individual has forsaken the former ways and is willing to begin living a new life that is pleasing to God. Missionary Baptists also strongly believe in the Bible as the only source of authority. Every year, the MBC conduct many missionary activities where they end up baptizing dozens into the church. Despite this common belief in baptism, the congregation has been sharply divided on other issues such as women in the clergy and homosexuality. Regrettably, such divisions have often led to breakaway churches that seek to conserve certain values they believe.
Members of the Missionary Baptist Congregations are often engaged in various programs during the week. Indeed, numerous outreach activities are organized such as Bible studies. Such initiatives are meant to enrich the spiritual lives of the members and to win more souls for God. Due to the high numbers of individuals engaging in missionary activities, the congregations often grow rapidly. According to Hadaway, 1991, several factors have contributed to the significant growth of the Missionary Baptist Congregations. However, such factors may not necessarily affect other congregations in the same way. For instance, the cooperation among members of the congregation is crucial for rapid growth. Such rapid growth has been exhibited by the MBC because of their exemplary unity and determination to take part in missionary activities (Hadaway, 1991).
Conclusively, the Missionary Baptist Congregations were established with the primary objective of mission work. Since its establishment, many churches have been established and more converts brought. Consequently, the group has witnessed enormous growth despite the divisions that are manifest through the breakaway churches keen to conserve certain values.
References
Boyer, H. (1979). “Contemporary Gospel Music.” The Black Perspective in Music, 7 (1), 5-58. doi:10.2307/1214427
Dougherty, K. (2004). “Institutional Influences on Growth in Southern Baptist Congregations.” Review of Religious Research, 46 (2), 117-131. doi:10.2307/3512228
Hadaway, C. (1991). “From Stability to Growth: A Study of Factors Related to the Statistical Revitalization of Southern Baptist Congregations.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30 (2), 181-192. doi:10.2307/1387212
Harless, J. D., & Church, T. C. C. (2017). WHY BAPTISM. Resource .
Pelling, M., & Uitto, J. I. (2001). “Small Island Developing States: Natural Disaster Vulnerability and Global Change.” Global Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards , 3 (2), 49-62.
Walls, A. F. (2015). Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith . Orbis Books.
