The Baptist Union of Southern Africa is a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It is affiliated with the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

and the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa. The headquarters is in

Roodepoort Roodepoort is a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton. Johannesburg's most famous botanical ...

in Gauteng province

History

The Baptist Union of Southern Africa has its origins in the first Baptist churches in Salem, Eastern Cape and in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana ...

founded in 1823 by William Miller, an English

pastor. The first ordained Baptist preacher to travel to South Africa was William Davies, who was sent by the

Baptist Missionary Society BMS World Mission is a Christian missionary society founded by Baptists from England in 1792. It was originally called the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen, but for most of its life was known as th ...

in England. He arrived in 1832 and ministered in Grahamstown for a short period. Work in Kariega, about 16 miles from Grahamstown, began in 1834. A German settlement around 1860 brought the first German Baptist work led by Carsten Langheim. A German pastor, Carl H. Gutsche, baptized J. D. Odendall, who founded the first Dutch-speaking Baptist church in South Africa in 1886. The ''Baptist Union'' was founded in 1877 by four English-speaking churches and one German-speaking church. The ''South African Baptist Missionary Society'' was formed in 1892. Black Baptist churches united to form the ''Bantu Baptist Church'' in 1927, under the auspices of the ''South African Baptist Missionary Society''. In 1951, the Baptist Union establishes the '' Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa'' in

Randburg Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roodepoort, ...

and the ''Cape Town Baptist Seminary'' in 1974 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. According to a denomination census released in 2020, it claimed 562 churches and 36,711 members.Baptist World Alliance
Members
baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved December 5, 2020

Associations

The Baptist Union of Southern Africa comprises a number of associations. Each association is made up of a number of autonomous local churches which prescribe to Christian tenets of belief and Baptist distinctives and hold voluntary membership with an association. *Baptist Northern Association *Western Province Baptist Association *Baptist Association of the Northern Cape *Border Baptist Association *Eastern Province Baptist Association *Free State Baptist Association *Kwa-Zulu Natal Baptist Association

References

External links

Official Website

Cape Town Baptist SeminaryBaptist Theological College of Southern Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptist Union Of Southern Africa Religious organisations based in South Africa Religious organizations established in 1877 Baptist denominations in Africa Baptist Christianity in South Africa 1877 establishments in the Cape Colony

History

Associations

See also

References

External links