Part of a series on Southern Baptists

Background Christianity Protestantism Anabaptists General Baptists Particular Baptists Landmarkism The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Baptism_by_immersion. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as recounted in the New Testament. ... Protestantism is one of three primary branches of Christianity. ... Anabaptists (re-baptizers, from Greek ana and baptizo; in German: Wiedertäufer) are Christians of the so-called radical wing of the Protestant Reformation. ... Baptists were first identified by the name General Baptists in 17th century England. ... The name Reformed Baptist does not refer to a distinct denomination but instead is a description of the churchs theological leaning. ... Landmarkism is a ecclesiological viewpoint held by some Baptists concerning the origin and nature of the church. ...

Baptist theology London Confession of 1689 New Hampshire Confession of 1833 Baptist Faith & Message The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith was written by Calvinistic Baptists in England to give a formal expression of the Reformed and Protestant Christian faith with an obvious Baptist perspective. ... In 1833, Baptists in the United States agreed upon a confession of faith around which they could organize a missionary society under the Triennial Convention. ... The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is a Southern Baptist Convention confession of faith. ...

Doctrinal distinctives Biblical authority Autonomy of the local church Priesthood of believers Two ordinances Individual soul liberty Separation of church and state Two offices Sola scriptura (Latin By Scripture alone) is one of five important slogans of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. ... Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation indepedently and autonomously runs its own affairs. ... The priesthood of all believers is a Protestant doctrine founded on the First Epistle of Peter, 2:9: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into... Baptist ordinances, the term for the sacraments within Baptist theology, are the Lords Supper and Believers baptism. ... Soul competency is a Christian theological perspective on the accountability of each person before God. ... Some important Baptist figures in the struggle for Separation of Church and State were John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, Edward Wightman, Leonard Busher, Roger Williams (who was a Baptist for a short period but became a seeker), John Clarke, Isaac Backus, and John Leland. ... Baptists only recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor-teacher and deacon. ...

People John Smyth John Spilsbury Charles Spurgeon Lottie Moon Billy Graham Adrian Rogers Paige Patterson John Smyth (1570 - c. ... John Spilsbury was an English Baptist minister who led the Particular Baptists during the Eighteenth Century. ... Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon, commonly C.H. Spurgeon, (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was Englands best-known and most-loved preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. ... Lottie Moon Lottie Moon (1840-1912) was a missionary to China who spent 40 years helping the Chinese - weighing only 50 lbs at her death having given away all she had to aid the starving Chinese. ... The Rev. ... Adrian Rogers Adrian Rogers,Th. ... Paige Patterson is a Southern Baptist theologian who served as the eighth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. ...

Related organizations Cooperative Program North American Mission Board International Mission Board LifeWay Christian Resources Women's Missionary Union Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Cooperative education is a structured method of combining academic education with practical work experience. ... The North American Mission Board (NAMB) was founded in 1997 out of the roots of the Home Mission Board. ... The International Mission Board (or IMB) is a missionary sending agency affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention which opperates in virtually every nation except the United States and Canada (these nations are serviced by the SBCs North American Mission Board). ... LifeWay Christian Resources is a religious publishing house based in Nashville, Tennessee owned and operated by the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. ... The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is the political advocacy agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. ...

Seminaries Golden Gate Midwestern New Orleans Southeastern Southern Southwestern Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is one of six official seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) is a seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention. ... The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is located in Louisville, Kentucky and is the flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, or SBC. Southern Seminary or SBTS is the oldest of the seminaries in the SBC and was founded in Greenville, South Carolina in 1859 by James Petigru Boyce who served... Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, located in Fort Worth, Texas, is a private, non-profit institution of higher learning associated with the Southern Baptist Convention whose stated mission is to provide theological education for individuals engaging in Christian ministry. ... This box: view • talk • edit

Women's Missionary Union is an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention that was founded in 1888. It is the largest Protestant missions organization for women in the world. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ...

History

Origins

During the meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Richmond, Virginia, in May of 1888, a group of women delegates from 12 states gathered at the Broad Street United Methodist Church and organized the Executive Committee of the Woman's Mission Societies, Auxiliary to Southern Baptist Convention. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Flag Seal Nickname: River City Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra Location Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates , Government Country State County United States Virginia Independent City Mayor L. Douglas Wilder Geographical characteristics Area     City 62. ...

In previous years, women had been meeting during the convention to discuss the possibilities of creating a missions organization. During the 1888 meeting, a constitution was adopted and the first officers were elected. Baltimore, Maryland, was chosen as headquarters.

Baltimore years

Annie Armstrong, elected as the first corresponding secretary during the organizational meeting, lived in Baltimore. WMU was originally established and remains an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, which means that it acts as a "helper" to the SBC. The auxiliary status also means that WMU is self-governing and self-supporting.

Prior to this meeting, women had been gathering to pray for missions under the leadership of women such as Ann Baker Graves. In 1871, Baptist women in Baltimore founded Woman's Mission to Woman for the purpose of prayer and dissemination of information about missionaries. Maryland Baptist women began publishing and distributing missions literature in 1887. Although many southern states had a missions organization for women, there was no central body to provide unity or coordinate efforts. The time had come for the women to organize and the founding mothers of WMU established an organization that has been supporting Baptist missions for over a century. WMU has been blessed with the leadership of seven magnificent corresponding secretaries/executive directors (Wanda Lee serves currently) and seventeen presidents (Kaye Miller serves currently).

Name change

In 1890 the women adopted the name Woman's Missionary Union, Auxiliary to Southern Baptist Convention. The headquarters of WMU was originally stationed in the Maryland Baptist Missions Reading Room where Annie Armstrong had an already established office.

Move to Birmingham

In 1921, the national headquarters was moved to Birmingham, Alabama under the guidance of Kathleen Mallory to 1111 Comer Building. As WMU grew into its own, space began to be a problem at the national headquarters. In 1951, WMU purchased property at 600 North 20th Street in downtown Birmingham.

Reorganization

The 1970s brought changes to the organizations of WMU. In October of that year, WMS, YWA, Girls' Auxiliary, and Sunbeams were changed to Baptist Women (BW), Baptist Young Women (BYW), Acteens, Girls in Action (GA), and Mission Friends.

Change in publications followed as Contempo, Accent, Discovery, Aware, and Dimension were introduced into the WMU publications family.

New headquarters

In 1984, the national headquarters moved once again to New Hope Mountain on U.S. Highway 280, just outside the Birmingham city limits.

In 1985, New Hope was created for the publication of products designed to reach a wider audience. In 1995, more changes were made to the WMU organizations and magazine publications. Baptist Women and Baptist Young Women were included in a new organization called Women on Mission.

At this time, Royal Service magazine was replaced by Missions Mosaic. Three new mission organizations were introduced in 1995 as well: Adults on Mission, Youth on Mission, and Children in Action.

WMU today

Since its beginning in 1888, WMU has become the largest Protestant missions organization for women in the world, with a membership of approximately 1 million. WMU's main purpose is to educate and involve adults, youth, children, and preschoolers in the cause of Christian missions. Although originally geared towards women, girls, and preschoolers, both genders are active participants in WMU organizations and ministries today. These ministries are: Baptist Nursing FellowshipSM, Christian Women's Job Corps®, International InitiativesSM, Missionary Housing, Project HELPSM, Pure Water, Pure LoveSM, Volunteer ConnectionSM, and WorldCraftsSM.

Purpose

The WMU "seeks to equip adults, youth, children and preschoolers with missions education to become radically involved in the mission of God. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., WMU is a nonprofit organization that offers an array of missions resources including conferences, ministry ideas and models, volunteer opportunities, curriculum for age-level organizations, leadership training, books and more."

Programs

The WMU operates the following programs:

• Women on Mission, for women 18 and up
• Adults on Mission, for men and women 18 and up
• Acteens, for girls grades 7-12
• Youth on Mission, for boys and girls grades 7-12
• Girls in Action (GAs), for girls grades 1-6
• Children in Action, for boys and girls grades 1-6
• Mission Friends, for preschool girls and boys birth through prefirst.