The Central Baptist Association is an association of churches located from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, with most of the churches being in eastern

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and southwestern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. In 1956, some churches of the Eastern District

Primitive Baptist Primitive Baptists – also known as Hard Shell Baptists, Foot Washing Baptists or Old School Baptists – are conservative Baptists adhering to a degree of Calvinist beliefs who coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th c ...

Association separated and formed the Central Baptist Association. The churches entering this new organization desired to be more progressive and to provide a home for homeless and destitute children. They adopted the name Central Baptist "as an indication of our acceptance of the Holy Scriptures in their entirety, varying neither to the right or left" (Minutes, 1996, p.4). In 1996 there were almost 4000 members in 34 churches located in five states. Currently they have headquarters in Jasper, Virginia, including a tabernacle, a children's home and a youth Bible camp. "The work of the Association includes the building of a fellowship of churches to provide, first for a general union of churches; second, to preserve inviolable a chain of communion among the churches; third, to give the churches all necessary advice and help in matters of church difficulty, so far as this is possible by peaceful methods: assisting churches in a Sunday School program for all ages, weekly prayer meetings, worship services, a monthly business meeting, an active youth program, Bible teaching, evangelistic and missionary work, visitation program, aiding established churches in organizing new churches and related projects; also support a home for adults and a children's home, youth camp, and Bible camp for all ages." (Minutes, 1996, p.4)

Sources

* Central Baptist Association minutes * Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr. * Handbook of Denominations, by Frank S. Mead and Samuel Hill {{US baptist denominations Christian organizations established in 1956 Baptist denominations in the United States Baptist denominations established in the 20th century