| National Association of Free Will Baptists | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | NAFWB |
| Orientation | Baptist |
| Theology | Evangelical |
| Polity | Congregational |
| Executive Secretary | Dr. Edward E. Moody, Jr. |
| Origin | November 5, 1935 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Congregations | 2,045 (2019)[1] |
| Members | 156,895 (2020)[2] |
| Official website | https://nafwb.org |
TheNational Association of Free Will Baptists (NAFWB) is aChristian denomination ofFree Will Baptist churches in theUnited States andCanada, organized on November 5, 1935 inNashville,Tennessee. The NAFWB traces its history in the United States through two different lines: one beginning in theSouth in 1727 (the "Palmer line") and another in theNorth in 1780 (the "Randall line"). The denomination is the largest Free Will Baptist body.
In 1702,EnglishGeneral Baptist settlers who had immigrated to theProvince of Carolina requested help from theGeneral Assembly inEngland. The General Assembly did not provide the request assistance, so the native ministerPaul Palmer had to work there and in 1729 founded the first General Baptist church in North Carolina, inChowan County, marking the beginning of the Free Will Baptists.
The early General Baptists in North Carolina followed theStandard Confession of Faith and theOrthodox Creed as their officialconfessions of faith, drafted up by British General Baptists in the 17th century and adopted by their ecclesiastical bodies. They held togeneral atonement and "personal predestination" oreternal security. Palmer organized at least three churches in North Carolina. From one church in 1729, over 20 churches were established by 1755. After that year, the churches began to decrease and many churches and members becameParticular Baptists. By 1770, only four churches and four ministers remained General Baptists. By the end of the 18th century, these churches were being referred to as "Free Will Baptists". In the 19th century, these churches again experienced a new growth, though slowly. They organized various bodies until they finally established the General Conference of Free Will Baptists in 1921. The problem with the history of Paul Palmer, however, stems from the fact that it is uncertain exactly what view of predestination and perseverance he held. In fact, some church historians think Palmer wasCalvinistic in his views, since early General Baptists weren't strictly Arminians. Palmer had come from theWelsh Tract Baptist Church, which was openly Calvinist.
Another "Free Will Baptist" movement rose in theNorth through the work ofBenjamin Randall (1749–1808). Randall united with theRegular Baptists in 1776, but broke with them in 1779 due to his more moderate views onpredestination. In 1780, Randall formed a "Free Baptist" church inNew Durham,New Hampshire. More churches were founded, and in 1792 a Yearly Meeting was organized. This northern or "Randall" line of Free Will Baptists expanded rapidly, but the majority of the churches were absorbed into themainlineNorthern Baptist Convention, in 1911. A remnant of churches that didn't join the mainline established the Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists in 1917.
Representatives of the "Palmer" (General Conference) and "Randall" (Cooperative General Association) line of Free Will Baptists met at Cofer's Chapel in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1935 and organized theNational Association of Free Will Baptists as a merger of the two groups. The new body adopted theTreatise on the Faith and Practice of the Free Will Baptists,[3] which has been revised several times since then. As of August 2005, the denomination claims to have over 2,400 churches in 42states and 14 foreign countries. The NAFWB is actively involved inmissionary work in the United States and throughout the world. The National Association operates a publishing arm called Randall House. Three colleges,Welch College in Nashville;Randall University inMoore,Oklahoma; andSoutheastern Free Will Baptist College inWendell, North Carolina, are affiliated with the denomination. The NAFWB offices are presently maintained inAntioch, Tennessee, a neighborhood of Nashville.
The churches of the National Association of Free Will Baptists aretheologically conservative and hold anArminian view ofsalvation, notably in the belief ofconditional security and rejection of the belief ofeternal security held by many larger bodies of Baptists, such as most ofSouthern Baptists and adherents ofAfrican-American Baptist groups. The Arminian tradition was fashioned in the Netherlands in the 17th century againstscholastic Calvinism and itsdeterministic interpretation of historic Christian teachings about predestination. Similar views, albeit with different emphases from Free Will Baptists, may be found in American Christianity withinMethodism and theRestoration movement (e.g.,Disciples of Christ,Churches of Christ).
In addition, NAFWB congregations differ from most Baptists in holding that threeordinances, rather than the two observed by most of Protestantism, must be practiced by the church; specifically, in addition toBeliever's Baptism (that is, administered topersons able to understand the significance of the ordinance, with a repentant heart) and theLord's supper practiced by other Baptists, Free Will Baptists also practice the ordinance of thewashing of feet. In some churches,anointing with oil is also practiced, depending on local custom.
Since the middle of the 20th century, membership has remained near 200,000. In 2007, the Association reported having 2,369 churches and 185,798 members.[4] Membership is concentrated in the Southern United States. The states with the highest membership rates areArkansas, Oklahoma,West Virginia,Alabama, andKentucky.[5]
TheFree Will Baptist North American Ministries (known as Free Will Baptist Home Missions until 2015) has 89 active mission works in 26 states.[6] Their primary role is to sendmissionaries into North America to plantFree Will Baptist churches. David Crowe is the Director of Home Missions. They generally have anywhere between 50 and 70 missionaries on the field at any given time. As of 2011 they have missionaries in Alabama, Michigan, South Carolina, Alaska, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arizona, Mississippi, Texas, California, New Mexico, Utah, Canada, New York, Virgin Islands, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Idaho, Oklahoma, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Wisconsin, Mexico, and Rhode Island.[7]
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