A Profile

North American Baptist

A Profile

We are all born into a particular human family. Families have distinctive ethnic and cultural backgrounds. And these family roots are important. Likewise, when we become Christians, we are born into God’s family. When we join a local church, we become part of that family. If that local church has chosen to be a part of the North American Baptist Conference, we automatically become a part of that larger family.
Each local church is to be the church of Jesus Christ in miniature, self-governing and autonomous, but not isolated. The voluntary decision to cooperate with others is a very important witness to our unity in Christ. Our common experience with Jesus Christ and common commitment to His mission in the world is the glue that holds us together as a Conference family today.

A NORTH AMERICAN BAPTIST IS A CHRISTIAN WHO

• Believes God is revealed through His son, Jesus Christ
• Acknowledges Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior
• Professes the Christian faith as contained in the Old and New Testaments
• Believes that church membership is only for those who have personally experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ
• Publicly affirms new life in Christ through the ordinance of believer’s baptism by immersion, which symbolizes the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as the believer’s death to the old life and rising to new life in Jesus Christ
• Seeks to live a Christian life and remains a faithful member of the church, and supports it with worship participation, prayers, gifts and service
• Chooses to be a member of a local church of the North American Baptist Conference
• Regularly observes the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation
• Defends religious freedom for all and the separation of church and state – neither one controlling the other.
• Believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the only infallible authority for the Christian, uses the Bible for teaching and guidance, studies it daily, with the right to interpret the Scriptures through the illumination of the Holy Spirit Believes in soul liberty – the right of every person to approach God directly without another person as a mediator -and so communicates daily with the Lord
• Seeks to be led by the Holy Spirit and demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit in life
• Responsibly and prayerfully participates in determining and implementing the goals and ministries of the local church
• Enthusiastically participates in the worship, Bible study, and outreach of the local church
• Helps the local church to be true to the teachings and practices of the New Testament
• Evidences new life in Christ through a witness before fellow Christians and others in daily contacts
• Believes that the local church is a spiritual democracy with all members equal; affirms a congregational form of church government

NORTH AMERICAN BAPTIST CONFERENCE CHURCH MEMBERS ARE

• People of many cultures, enriched by diverse heritages; a part of more than 60,000 members who are evangelical witnesses for Christ and faithful servants of God in almost 400 churches in Canada and the United States; and witnesses through their missionary outreach overseas in Cameroon, Nigeria, Brazil, Japan, Eastern Europe, Mexico and the Philippines
• People whose church is a member of one of the 20 associations of churches and the North American Baptist Conference – churches joined together for encouragement of each other and for the support of a larger outreach throughout the world
  People who have committed themselves to Vision 2000, a strategic focus on six Biblical Imperatives to Worship, to Grow, to Witness, to Serve, to Give, and to Care
• People who, in answering the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye…”, strongly feel that their personal responsibility is world evangelization through planting churches
• People who acquaint themselves with and support the ministries of the North American Baptist College and Edmonton Baptist Seminary, Edmonton, AB, and the North American Baptist Seminary, Sioux Falls, SD, and who encourage men and women to attend these schools in preparation for Christian ministries
• People who joyfully give their time, abilities, and financial support to God through the local church to further His kingdom in their communities as well as a greater outreach through the Association and Conference ministries
  People who are a part of a fellowship of 33 million Baptists around the world who spiritually encourage one another as well as unitedly provide relief for the hungry and destitute of the world through the Baptist World Alliance
• People who have excellent gifts bestowed by God and who use them sacrificially for God’s glory and the building of the kingdom of God
• People who believe God gives them a mission to fulfill through the North American Baptist Conference

North American Baptist Conference
1 South 210 Summit Avenue
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA 60181–3994
Phone : 630–495-2000 Fax : 630–495-330

• We Believe
  • Confession of Faith
  • Church Covenant
  • Statement of Beliefs
  • A Profile
• History