The Mahoning Baptist Association was an association of
Baptist churches that was established in 1820 in
Ohio's
Mahoning Valley.
[Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on ''Mahoning Baptist Association'', pp. 501-502] Two prominent early
Restoration Movement leaders,
Alexander Campbell and
Walter Scott, were closely affiliated with the Mahoning Association.
The Association was dissolved in 1830.
History
The Mahoning Baptist Association was established in 1820.
Even though the ''
Philadelphia Confession of Faith
The Confession of Faith, also called the Second London Baptist Confession, was written by Particular Baptists, who held to a Calvinistic soteriology in England to give a formal expression of their Christian faith from a Baptist perspective. ...
'' was considered its "organic law," the Association was "filled with ideas of religious reformation" and both open discussion and doctrinal diversity were accepted.
A congregation in
Wellsburg, West Virginia, which was formed by Alexander Campbell after he left the
Brush Run Church and the
Redstone Baptist Association, became a member of the Association in 1823.
[Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on ''Brush Run Church'', pages 100-101] Campbell's journal the ''
Christian Baptist'' was well received in the Association, as were his debates.
As a result, "the association heartily adopted the very same ecumenical, reforming views" in 1824 that had led to Campell's break with the Redstone Association.
Another early Restoration Movement leader,
Walter Scott, was hired by the Mahoning Association as an
evangelist in 1827.
[Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on ''Scott, Walter'', pages 673-689] Within three years he brought more than 3,000 converts into the movement.
The Association disbanded in 1830, which Campbell believed to be premature.
Some historians consider the dissolution of the Mahoning Association to mark the beginning of the
Disciples of Christ
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
, because that is the point when they became truly independent.
References
External links
*
{{Restoration Movement
Restoration Movement
Baptist Christianity
1820 establishments in Ohio