{{BaptistThe Christian Unity Baptist Association was organized September 27-September 28, 1935 at Zion Hill Church in
Ashe County, North Carolina
Ashe County is a county located in the United States state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,577. Its county seat is Jefferson.
History
Historical evidence shows that Ashe County was inhabited by Native Ameri ...
, by six
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 compe ...
congregations. Some of these churches were remnants of the Macedonia Baptist Association, which existed for a short time in the first quarter of the 20th century. These churches had a mixed Missionary Baptist and
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 ...
background. Leaders in this new organization included Frank Sturgill, F. Carl Sturgill, and Nancy Owens.
Though the Christian Unity Association shared much in common with fellow mountain Baptists, they differed from the majority of them in three important points: (1) falling from grace; (2) open communion; and (3) women preachers. Two women preached at the organizational meeting.
The Christian Unity Baptist Association is defunct. This body divided in 1969, and the majority chose to affiliate with the General Association of Separate Baptists. The minority represented continuity with the original constitution and articles of faith. The two surviving churches from that fellowship (Zion Hill & Hooks Branch in Va.), with a combined membership of about 50, no longer hold an associational structure.