Triennial Convention

The Triennial Convention, formally the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions, was the oldest Baptistdenomination in the United States existing from 1814 to 1907. In that year, the Triennial Convention was reorganized into the current American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA).

The origins of the Triennial Convention date back to the colonial period, with the immigration of English and Welsh Baptist settlers to New England and the founding of Rhode Island Colony. Following an array of theological paths, Baptist churches were founded across America, most notably the First Baptist Church of Providence, in 1638. Although operating more independently, the early American Baptist churches were often unified for mutual cooperation and support in missionary activity. In the 18th century, following the church polity of the British Baptists, they established the first regional associations in America for fellowship, support, work, and education, later resulting in the founding of Brown University in 1764.

After the Second Great Awakening and the American Revolution, Baptists convened an assembly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1814, and established the Triennial Convention mainly for foreign missions. The denomination assembled every three years, hence it was named "Triennial" Convention. Other Baptist societies were developed within the convention for various missional interests, including Home Missions, Publications, and later Education. In a controversy over slavery and missions policy, the Southern associations and state conventions split from the Triennial Convention in 1845 and founded the Southern Baptist Convention, before the Civil War. The schism left the Convention largely Northern in its composition of churches and membership.