Canadian Baptist Ministries
Template:Infobox Christian denomination
Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is an Baptist Christian denomination in Canada. It is a member of the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarter is in Mississauga, Ontario.
HistoryEdit
The first Baptist church in what is now Canada was founded by an American pastor in Sackville, New Brunswick in 1763.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> More churches were founded throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Lower Canada, and Upper Canada by American pastors and itinerant preachers.
Mission BoardsEdit
The first Baptist born in Canada sent out as a missionary was Samuel S. Day, who was born in Upper Canada, and sent to India by the American Baptist Missionary Union (ABMU) in 1835.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1866, A.V. Timpany was also appoint by the ABMU to go to India, and that prompted the creation of a Canadian auxiliary to the ABMU in 1866.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1869, the Canadian auxiliary was reorganised as the Regular Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of Canada, and in 1889, the name was changed to The Board of Foreign Missions of the regular Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Meanwhile, Baptist Churches in the Maritime colonies had been supporting the work of Adoniram Judson in Burma since 1814. In 1845, the Churches sent out Rev. R.E. Burpee and his wife Laleah to Burma, also under the auspices of the ABMU. The Maritime Baptist Convention formed a Foreign Mission Board in 1865.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1874, the Canadian Baptist Foreign Missionary Society was founded in Ontario.<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 42</ref>
The Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board (CBFMB) was founded in 1912.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 338</ref> The Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board was renamed to Canadian Baptist Overseas Missions Board (CBOMB) on May 1, 1970.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Canadian Baptist Overseas Missions Board was renamed again to Canadian Baptist International Ministries (CBIM) in 1990.
National FederationEdit
Efforts to form a national Baptist body date back to 1900. In 1900, delegates from across Canada met in Winnipeg and formed the National Baptist Convention of Canada. Inexplicably, it never met again. As such, no national coordinating body of Baptists existed in Canada until the Baptist Federation of Canada was organized at Saint John, New Brunswick in 1944.<ref>William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 121</ref> The Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, and the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada initiated the Federation and were joined by l'Union d'Églises baptistes francophones du Canada in 1970.<ref>Harry A. Renfree, Heritage and Horizon: The Baptist Story in Canada, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2007, p. 275</ref>
In 1947, the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec authorized the ordination of women ministers and Muriel Spurgeon Carder was the first ordained woman. <ref> Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 73</ref> In the United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces, Josephine Moore was the first in 1954. In the Baptist Union of Western Canada, Mae Benedict was the first in 1959.
It was renamed Canadian Baptist Federation (CBF) in 1982.<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 61</ref>
MergerEdit
In 1995, the "Canadian Baptist Federation" merged with the "Canadian Baptist International Ministries" to form the Canadian Baptist Ministries.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 338</ref>
StatisticsEdit
According to a census published by the association in 2023, it claimed 971 churches and 81,685 members.<ref>Baptist World Alliance, Members, baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved May 5, 2023</ref>
Humanitarian aidEdit
CBM support humanitarian projects in Canada and worldwide.<ref>CBM, HOW WE WORK, cbmin.org, Canada, retrieved May 5, 2023</ref>
It engages in international mission on behalf of Canadian Baptist churches and brokers national cooperation among the four regional denominations and Women's groups.
RegionsEdit
It has 4 regional unions of churches : Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada and Union d'Églises baptistes francophones du Canada.<ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 496</ref>
SchoolsEdit
The regional conventions of the convention have participated in the founding of various universities which have gone public. There was the founding of Acadia University by the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada in 1838, <ref> George A. Rawlyk, Canadian Baptists and Christian Higher Education, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 1988, p. 6</ref> the founding of McMaster University by the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec in 1881<ref> Aaron W. Hughes, From Seminary to University: An Institutional History of the Study of Religion in Canada, University of Toronto Press, Canada, 2020, p. 33</ref> and Brandon University by the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada in 1890. <ref> William H. Brackney, Congregation and Campus: Baptists in Higher Education, Mercer University Press, USA, 2008, p. 137</ref>
The organization has several theological institutes affiliated and a partner university, Crandall University.<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 78</ref><ref>Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition, Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 42</ref>
BeliefsEdit
The Federation has a Baptist confession of faith.<ref>CBM, WHAT WE VALUE, cbmin.org, Canada, retrieved May 9, 2020</ref> It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance.<ref>Baptist World Alliance, Members, baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved December 5, 2020</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Canadian Baptist Mission
- McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario
- Carey Theological College, Vancouver
- Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars
- Andhra Christian Theological College, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Baptists in Canada
ReferencesEdit
- Notes
SourcesEdit
- Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
- Program & Report Book, Canadian Baptist Ministries
- From Sea to Sea: The Canadian Baptist Federation 1944- 1994, by Shirley Bentall
- The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness, by H. Leon McBeth
- Further reading
External linksEdit
- Canadian Baptist Ministries - official Web Site
- The Canadian Baptist Archives
Template:Canada baptist denominations Template:Baptist World Alliance Members Template:Christianity in Canada