Baptist Church

Baptists are one of the largest categories of Christians in the United States, and represent a large segement of the population. Since Baptists are hardly a monolithic group, it can be difficult to describe what constitutes "Baptist Faith".

That said, the Baptist Church in its simplest form consists of assemblies of Christians who believe in baptism by immersion for believers alone. This definition is often cited as the prerequisite belief of being Baptist. However, there are many other common factors that make up the typical Baptist Church. Some of these are often illustrated in the following acrostic:

Biblical Authority

Autonomy of the Local Church

Priesthood of the Believer

Two Ordinances

Individual Soul Liberty

Saved, Baptized Church Membership

Two Offices

Separation of Church and State

While this list is in no way exhaustive of Baptistic Churches, most will adhere to a similar formula. One additional distinctive of Baptist Churches is their independent governance. Most are congregationally governed. This distinguishes Baptist Churches from Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, and Episcopal forms of governemnt which all have external components. Since the churches are not formally governed by external bodies, but within the congregation. This is why there is such a great disparity of beliefs between different congregations of Baptists.