Alaska Baptist Convention

Alaska Baptist Convention headquarters in Anchorage viewed from O'Malley Road.

The Alaska Baptist Convention (ABC) is an autonomous association of Baptist churches located in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.^[1] The first Southern Baptist church in Alaska was established in 1943, with just 17 members, and the ABC was formed in 1946. Today, Alaskan Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in Alaska with over 20,000 members.

History

The first Southern Baptist church in Alaska was First Baptist Church, Anchorage, organized in September 1943. The new church had 17 members, including two civilians and 15 soldiers.^[2] The church was founded by soldiers at nearby Fort Richardson, and later started a number of sister churches in Alaska.^[3] The ABC was formed in 1946 as the union of several Alaskan Baptist churches. Although it petitioned the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) for recognition as a state convention in 1947, the SBC did not formally recognize the ABC until 1951, after the ABC had submitted a second petition for recognition in 1950.^[4] An amendment to the SBC's constitution had been required in order to allow the ABC, and several other small state conventions, to become associated with the SBC. In the meantime, in 1948, the ABC had received assistance from the SBC's Home Mission Board.^[5]

In the first half of the 20th century, most African American Baptists were members of churches unaffiliated with the SBC. Greater Friendship Baptist Church in Anchorage was an exception, voting to affiliate with the SBC in 1951. In 1997, this church's 11th pastor, Leon D. May, was elected president of the Alaska Baptist Convention.^[6]

In January 1975, the ABC held a three-day Evangelistic conference with the theme of "Reconciliation Through Christ" in preparation for the annual Simultaneous Revivals scheduled for March of that year.^[7] 48 Baptist missions and churches participated in the "Proclamation 76" revivals in 1976.^[8] The ABC's budget rose above $1 million for the first time in 1981.^[9] In January 1982, the Convention elected John H. Allen as their new executive director to succeed Allen Meeks, who was retiring for health reasons.^[10] Meeks had previously been education director of First Baptist Church, Anchorage and director of religious education for the Alaska Baptist Convention.^[11] At their annual meeting in August 1997, the ABC endorsed a recent SBC resolution to boycott the Disney Company for moral stewardship reasons in light of what they called an anti-family direction taken by the entertainment conglomerate.^[12]

Gennady Abramov, superintendent of the Russian Baptist Federation in Far East Russia attended the 1998 annual meeting, where a three-year partnership between Baptists in Alaska and Far East Russia was inaugurated. The budget approved at the meeting was $1,723,226.^[13] By 1999, total resident membership was 10,096. At the ABC's annual meeting in August 2000, the executive director Cloyd Sullins retired after five year in office, handing over to David Baldwin. In his retirement speech, Sullins said that evangelism and missions are major priorities for the ABC due to the partnership with Far East Russia.^[14]

As of 2000, there were 68 Southern Baptist congregations in Alaska with 22,959 adherents, making it the largest Protestant denomination and second largest Christian denomination after the Catholic Church which had 54,359 adherents.^[15] By November 2003, there were 73 Alaska Baptist churches and 28 missions.^[16] The ABC was assisted between 2000 and 2004 by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, which sent 5,667 volunteers to assist in growth of the Alaska organization during that period. Total membership had risen to 16,506 in 2004.^[17]

Organization

The mission of the ABC is to assist, challenge, and encourage affiliated churches and associations to fulfill the Great Commission, to spread the word of Jesus Christ. The Chugach, Hatcher Pass, Tanana Valley and Tongass Baptist Associations are affiliated to the ABC.^[18] The ABC's trust agency, the Alaska Baptist Foundation, raises and manages endowment funds, providing support to Alaska and Southern Baptist agencies, institutions and causes.^[19] Alaska Baptist Family Services, an agency established by the ABC and three established Southern Baptist churches in 1946, operates an orphanage for children in need, including the severely mentally disturbed.^[20]

The Wayland Baptist University has an Anchorage campus that is affiliated with the ABC. Although it is a Christian, faith-based institution, it is open to people of all faiths.^[21]

References

1. "State Conventions and Local Associations: Alaska". Southern Baptist Convention. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
2. Todd Starnes (April 7, 2000). "Cooperative Program giving boosts Alaska church's can-do attitude". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
3. Mike Ebert (February 9, 2010). "NAMB commissions 30 during AK service". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on April 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
4. Robert Andrew Baker (1980). Relations between Northern and Southern Baptists. Baptist tradition. Ayer Publishing. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-405-12457-0.
5. Jesse C. Fletcher (1994). The Southern Baptist Convention: a sesquicentennial history. Broadman & Holman. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8054-1167-6.
6. "After a century of separatism; four historic churches emerged in the SBC". Florida Baptist Witness. January 28, 2003. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
7. "Baptists Meet Tuesday". Anchorage Daily News. January 25, 1975. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
8. "People and Events". Anchorage Daily News. March 27, 1976. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
9. "Baptist paper names editor". Anchorage Daily News. August 22, 1981. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
10. "Baptist Convention Elects New Director". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
11. "Baptist Leader Steps Down". Anchorage Daily News. December 12, 1981. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
12. "Alaska Baptists begin partnership, endorse SBC's boycott of Disney". Baptist Press. August 13, 1997. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
13. "Alaskan Baptists undertake Far East Russian partnership". Baptist Press. September 1, 1998. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
14. Tony W. Cartledge (August 18, 2000). "Alaska Baptists OK new leader, constitution". Biblical Recorder. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
15. "State Membership Report – Alaska". The Association of Religion Data Archives. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
16. "Alaska convention emphasizes prayer, missions, evangelism". Baptist Press. November 4, 2003. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
17. Tony W. Cartledge (October 11, 2004). "Alaska Baptists report increases in Bible study, baptisms". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
18. "About Us". Alaska Baptist Convention. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
19. "Welcome to the website of the Alaska Baptist Foundation". Alaska Baptist Foundation. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
20. "History". Alaska Baptist Family Services. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
21. "Dean's Message". Wayland Baptist University, Anchorage. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.

Further reading

• Davis C. Wooley, ed. (1958). "Alaska Baptist Convention". Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists. Vol. 3. Broadman Press. pp. 1559–1561. ISBN 978-0-8054-6511-2.
• Alaska Baptist Convention: Baptist expansion in the last frontier: celebrating 40 years of Southern Baptist missions, 1946–1986. Anchorage: Alaska Baptist Convention. 1986.
• This Is the Work of God: Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary, 1946–1996. Anchorage, AK: Alaska Baptist Convention. 1996.

External links

• Official website

61°07′21.8″N 149°50′55″W