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Baptists in Canada have a rich heritage and background. United Empire Loyalists and more recent arrivals from England and the U.S. formed the core and foundation of the Baptist denomination in Canada.


Statistics and changes

According to the Canada 2011 Census, the number of people in Canada who identify themselves as Baptist is 635,840, about 1.9% of the population, an decrease of about 12.8% in the 10 years since the 2001 census (see Religion in Canada). A growing practice of existing and new churches in Canada and the United States is the dropping of the term "Baptist" from their church's name. Often, this practice is due to concern over what is perceived within the church to be a negative stereotype by the general population toward the label "Baptist", but not toward the church or Baptist beliefs in general. This negative stereotype has often been perceived legalism, associated with the word "baptist". Churches who make this change are interested in attracting people who are unchurched, and who may have barriers with becoming affiliated with a denomination, or specifically becoming a "baptist". Keeping the distinct name and simply adding ''Community Church'' to the end is a common change. A name such as "Grace Community Church" is felt by these churches to be less likely to cause unnecessary negative stereotypes or offence, to signal and inspire a change in the mindset and vision of the church, and to fit in with the surrounding community better. In some congregations, this change has been a source of controversy, and has not been easily accepted by some, especially older members. The most common arguments with this type of "rebranding" are 1) it is deceptive to the public, 2) it is an abandoning of Baptist history, 3) it might lead a church to eventually compromise and abandon their Baptist beliefs in order to be more inclusive, and 4) it may make it more difficult to determine the number of "Baptist" churches and those believing in the "
Baptist distinctives Baptist beliefs are not completely consistent from one church to another, as Baptists do not have a central governing authority. However, Baptists do hold some common beliefs among almost all Baptist churches. Since the early days of the Baptist ...
".


History

Baptist missionary work began on the Atlantic coast in the 1760s but took around 100 years to reach the west coast. The first official record of a Baptist church in Canada was that of the Horton Baptist Church (now Wolfville) in
Wolfville Wolfville is a Canadian town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, located about northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax. The town is home to Acadia University and Landmark East School. The town is a tourist destination d ...
, Nova Scotia on October 29, 1778. The church was established with the assistance of the
New Light The terms Old Lights and New Lights (among others) are used in Protestant Christian circles to distinguish between two groups who were initially the same, but have come to a disagreement. These terms originated in the early 18th century from a spl ...
evangelist
Henry Alline Henry Alline (pronounced Allen) (June 14, 1748 – February 2, 1784) was a minister, evangelist, and writer who became known as "the Apostle of Nova Scotia." Born at Newport, Rhode Island. He became a New England Planter and served as an itiner ...
. Many of Alline's followers, after his death, would convert and strengthen the Baptist presence in the Atlantic region. Two major groups of Baptists formed the basis of the churches in the maritimes. These were referred to as Regular Baptist (
Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
in their doctrine) and
Free Will Baptists Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...
. The first Black Baptist churches in Nova Scotia were established by
Richard Preston Richard Preston (born August 5, 1954) is a writer for ''The New Yorker'' and bestselling author who has written books about infectious disease, bioterrorism, redwoods and other subjects, as well as fiction. Biography Preston was born in Cambri ...
. Preston established the
New Horizons Baptist Church New Horizons Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Halifax, Nova Scotia that was established by Black Refugees in 1832. When the chapel was completed, black citizens of Halifax were reported to be proud because it was evidence that former slaves ...
(formerly known as Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, African Chapel and the African Baptist Church) in 1832. Preston assisted in founding several other Baptist churches across the province and played a major major role in founding the African United Baptist Association in 1854.  The first congregations organized in Central Canada were at
Beamsville, Ontario Beamsville ( 2021 Urban area estimated population 13,323) is a community that is part of the town of Lincoln, Ontario, Canada. It is located along the southern shore of Lake Ontario and lies within the fruit belt of the Niagara Peninsula. It con ...
as early as 1776 and in 1794 at Caldwell's Manor (now
Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville, Quebec Clarenceville (''formerly called Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville, until September 22, 2022'') () is a municipality in the province of Quebec, Canada, located in the Regional County Municipality of Le Haut-Richelieu. The population as of the Canad ...
). Shortly thereafter churches were organized at Hallowell, Ontario (1795) and Haldimand Township (see
Alnwick/Haldimand The Township of Alnwick/Haldimand is a township in central Ontario, Canada, in Northumberland County, situated between Lake Ontario and Rice Lake. It was formed in 2001 by the merger of Alnwick Township in the north and Haldimand Township in th ...
). These were Regular Baptist congregations. Churches which were in agreement began to group together into associations in order to work together for achieving common goals. A variety of associations and affiliations have occurred since then. Eventually these associations joined together to form a convention. The First Baptist Church in Toronto was founded in 1826 and has the distinction of being both the very first Baptist church and the oldest Black institution in the city of Toronto. Black refugees fleeing slavery in the United States also founded several other Baptist churches in Ontario including the
Sandwich First Baptist Church __NOTOC__ The Sandwich First Baptist Church is a Black Baptist church located in the Sandwich neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was established to serve a community of refugees who had fled slavery on the Underground Railroad. The ...
in 1840 and Amherstburg First Baptist Church in 1848, both of which are National Historic Sites. The Baptist influence and mission work in Canada began to be firmly established in Toronto with the founding of the Bond Street Baptist Church in 1848.  Many of the original churches were established by specific missionary groups from the United States of America and by various ethnic or language groups, such as the Swedish Baptist Churches (
Baptist General Conference of Canada Baptist General Conference of Canada (BGCC) is a national body of evangelical Baptist churches in Canada. The districts cooperate through the General Conference and the national office is located in Edmonton, Alberta. History A church was formed ...
),
North American Baptist Conference North American Baptists (NAB) is an association of Baptists in the United States and Canada, generally of German ethnic heritage with roots in Pietism. History The roots of the NAB go back to 1839, when Konrad Anton Fleischmann began work in New ...
(German background), and the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention of Canada. Three significant shifts in associations have occurred, between 1905 and 1906, in 1927, and in 1953. From 1905 to 1906, the United Baptist Convention of the Maritime Provinces formed from the union of the Maritime Convention of Maritime Baptists, the Free Baptists of New Brunswick, and the Free Baptists of Nova Scotia. The Union of Regular Baptist Churches was formed in 1927 in Hamilton, Ontario by 77 churches who had withdrawn from the
Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) is the oldest union of Baptist churches in central Canada. The organization's headquarters is based in Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. CBOQ is a partner of Canadian Baptist Ministries. History I ...
(BCOQ). This withdrawal was due to the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy, centred on a professor at the Convention's official seminary at McMaster University, who held a liberal/modernist position of theology. In 1944, the BCOQ joined with the ''United Baptist Convention of the Maritimes'' and the ''Baptist Union of Western Canada'' to form the first national Canadian Baptist association, the ''Canadian Baptist Federation''. In 1995, they merged with the ''Canadian Baptist International Ministries'' to form
Canadian Baptist Ministries Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) or ''Ministères Baptistes Canadiens'' is a federation of four regional Baptist denominations in Canada. The federation is a member of the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarter is in Mississauga, Ontario. Hi ...
. The four conventions still exist within the association and counted over 1100 member churches in 1995. By 1953 some churches had dropped out of the ''Union of Regular Baptist Churches'', but the remainder joined with the Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches (founded 1933) and formed the
Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada is an Evangelical Baptist association in Canada. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The national headquarters are located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. In 2011 Rev. St ...
(FEBC). The ''Regular Baptist Missionary Fellowship of Alberta'' joined in 1963 and the ''Convention of Regular Baptist Churches of British Columbia'' (founded 1927) also joined in 1965. Known as "The Fellowship", it claims to be the largest evangelical group in Canada, with at least 500 member churches in Canada from coast to coast. A Regular Baptist church in British Columbia joined a Southern Baptist Convention affiliate in 1953. The first SBC association was formed in 1955 and there are now 233 churches, in most provinces and territories, with the largest concentration in western Canada.Callum Jones, "Western Canadian Baptists and the Southern Baptist 'invasion' of the 1950s." ''Baptist Quarterly'' (2014) 45#7 pp 413-429.


Associations of Baptists in Canada

The following are the major groupings of Baptists in Canada, listed alphabetically:
African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia
*
Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America The Confessional Baptist Association is an association of Reformed Baptist churches in the United States. The headquarters is in Mansfield, Texas. History On November 12–13, 1996, fifteen Reformed Baptist churches met at Heritage Church in Fa ...
*
Association of Regular Baptist Churches The Association of Regular Baptist Churches was an Independent Baptist Christian denomination in Canada. History One of its leading churches is Jarvis Street Baptist Church of Toronto, Ontario, whose well-known pastor of 45 years, Thomas Todh ...
*
Baptist General Conference of Canada Baptist General Conference of Canada (BGCC) is a national body of evangelical Baptist churches in Canada. The districts cooperate through the General Conference and the national office is located in Edmonton, Alberta. History A church was formed ...
*
Canadian Baptist Ministries Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) or ''Ministères Baptistes Canadiens'' is a federation of four regional Baptist denominations in Canada. The federation is a member of the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarter is in Mississauga, Ontario. Hi ...
, to which the following four Baptist denominations are affiliated: :* Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec :*
Canadian Baptists of Western Canada The Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, formerly the Baptist Union of Western Canada, is a moderate Baptist denomination with churches in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Headquarters is i ...
:* Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada :* Union d'Églises baptistes francophones du Canada – known in English as the ''Union of French Baptist Churches of Canada'' * Canadian National Baptist Convention *
Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada is an Evangelical Baptist association in Canada. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The national headquarters are located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. In 2011 Rev. St ...
– sometimes known in English simply as ''The Fellowship'' * L'Association des Églises Missionnaire Baptiste Landmark du Québec – known in English as the ''Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of Quebec'' *L'Association des Églises Réformées Baptistes du Québec *
North American Baptist Conference North American Baptists (NAB) is an association of Baptists in the United States and Canada, generally of German ethnic heritage with roots in Pietism. History The roots of the NAB go back to 1839, when Konrad Anton Fleischmann began work in New ...
*
Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada (SGF) is a fellowship for Reformed Baptist churches in Canada holding to either the Baptist Confession of 1644 or 1689. History The Fellowship was founded in 1983 by William Payne, pastor of Trinity Baptist ...
Independent Baptist churches also exist, not aligned with any of the groupings listed above.


Colleges/Universities/Seminaries/Lay Training Institutes (current or closed)

Baptists in Canada have had a long tradition and desire to educate their members. To this end they have built and operated a number of schools of higher education in Canada. * Acadia Divinity College Begun in 1838 as Acadia College ( Wolfville, Nova Scotia) * Baptist Bible College Canada and Theological Seminary ( Simcoe, Ontario) *Brandon College 1889–1938 at which time it became non-denominational and later (in 1967) renamed
Brandon University Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrollment of 3375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon Co ...
*Canadian Baptist Bible College (
Winkler, Manitoba Winkler is a city in Manitoba, Canada with a population of 13,745, making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the 2021 Canadian census. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Stanley, about one hundre ...
) *Canada Baptist College (1836–1849) (Montréal, Québec) *Canadian Baptist Seminary ( Langley, British Columbia) *Canadian Literary Institute (became Woodstock College in 1883 and was later folded into McMaster University) (1860–1887) ( Woodstock, Ontario) *Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary/Canadian Baptist College (
Cochrane, Alberta Cochrane ( ) is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. The town is located west of the Calgary city limits along Highway 1A. Cochrane is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, and with a population of 32,199 ...
) *
Carey Theological College Carey Theological College is Baptist theological institute based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada. History The Carey Theological College was founded in 1959 as Carey Hall by the Can ...
(Vancouver, British Columbia) *
Crandall University Crandall University is a Baptist Christian liberal arts university located in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (Canadian Baptist Ministries). History The school was founded in 1949 ...
( Moncton, New Brunswick) *Faculté de théologie évangélique (Montréal, Québec) (Affiliated with Acadia Divinity College) * FaithWay Baptist College of Canada (
Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: 126,666) is a town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal Navy cruiser ...
) *
Heritage Baptist College and Heritage Theological Seminary The Heritage College & Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. History Central Baptist Seminary was itself formed out of a split ...
(
Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 census. Along with Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge ...
) *Historic Baptist Bible Institute and Seminary (Toronto, Ontario) *Moulton College (originally the ladies department of Woodstock College) – transferred to Toronto as a preparatory school for women (closed in 1954). *
McMaster Divinity College McMaster Divinity College, also known as MDC, is a Baptist Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario affiliated with McMaster University and the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (Canadian Baptist Ministries). The institution's mission is to ...
Begun in 1881 as Toronto Baptist College (Hamilton, Ontario) *Northwest Baptist Seminary (Langley, British Columbia) * Prairie College, an accredited evangelical college is partnered with the Alberta Baptist Association.
Carey Theological College Carey Theological College is Baptist theological institute based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada. History The Carey Theological College was founded in 1959 as Carey Hall by the Can ...
, the seminary of
Canadian Baptists of Western Canada The Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, formerly the Baptist Union of Western Canada, is a moderate Baptist denomination with churches in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Headquarters is i ...
is also partnered with Prairie College (
Three Hills, Alberta Three Hills is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It takes its name from the three somewhat-larger-than-normal hills to its north. History Three Hills post office dates from 1904. Three Hills was incorporated as a village in 1912, the year ...
) *Séminaire Baptiste Évangélique Du Québec (Montréal, Québec) *The Pastor's College (Toronto, Ontario) *
Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College The Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College is a Reformed Baptist theological college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The seminary trains pastors for the Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada, the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Ca ...
(Toronto, Ontario) *Western Baptist Bible College (Calgary, Alberta) see Northwest Baptist Seminary *Baptist Leadership Training School(1949–?) (Calgary, Alberta) (Closed) *Baptist Training Institute (1957–?) (
Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independe ...
) (Closed) *Baptist Leadership Education Centre (1985–2002) ( Whitby, Ontario) (Closed)


References


Further reading

* Coops, Lorraine "'Shelter from the Storm': The Enduring Evangelical Impulse of Baptists in Canada, 1880s to 1890s,'' in G. A. Rawlyk, ed., ''Aspects of the Canadian Evangelical Experience'' (McGill-Queens Press, 1997), pp. 208-223. * Fitch, E. R., ed. . ''The Baptists of Canada'' (Toronto, 1911) * Heath, Gordon L., and Paul R. Wilson, eds. ''Baptists and Public Life in Canada'' (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2012) * McLeod, Tommy. "'To Bestir Themselves:' Canadian Baptists and the Origins of Brandon College," ''Manitoba History'' (2007), Issue 56, pp 22-31
online
* Rawlyk, George, ed. ''Canadian Baptist and Canadian Higher Education''(McGill-Queen's University Press, 1988). * Wilson, Robert S. "Patterns of Canadian Baptist Life in the Twentieth Century," ''Baptist History & Heritage'' (2001) 36# 1/2, pp 27–60. Covers the educational, social, political, missionary, and theological trends; notes that the years 1953-2000 were marked by the union of different Baptist groups.


External links


Baptist General Conference of Canada
- official Web Site
Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada
- official Web Site
Canadian National Baptist Convention
- official Web Site
Canadian Baptist Ministries
- official Web site {{Canada baptist denominations Baptist Christianity in Canada Canadian Baptists