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Baptist Associations 

From the very first Baptist churches in the British isles there has been a desire to be interdependent (to associate) with other like-minded churches. These associations of churches have varied down through the years in size, in activity, in purpose and in patterns of meeting.

The first associating groups were for mutual support and encouragement, to stand together against pressure by the state and the state church and to provide opportunity to refer matters of doctrine and of ethics to a wider group beyond the local so as to gain assistance in determining “the mind of Christ.”

A classic association of the 1650’s was the Abingdon Association. In the north of England a group of churches bound together by the cousins William Mitchell and David Crosley were known as the Rossendale Round with causes established along the Pennine ridge and in Cumbria.

In the 1700’s, prior to the formation of a national and comprehensive Baptist Union, associations, sometime based within historic county boundaries, were formed which held annual meetings for encouragement, started to fund raise to help pastors suffering hardship and to consider where new causes might be planted.

Some of these associations faded out, but in the 1800’s many were re-formed and took on new activities with loan funds and building funds, appointing missionaries to begin new causes, supporting the development of theological education and supporting the work of the Baptist Missionary Society (founded 1792).

By the beginning of the 20th century there were associations covering all parts of England and Wales. Some were large enough to have their own full-time General Secretaries, who were normally ministers and exercised a measure of oversight and representation. Associations varied significantly in size and resources.

Alongside this pattern of associating, the Revd John H Shakespeare, the reforming Baptist Union General Secretary, proposed a pattern of twelve Baptist Union Areas, each with a General Superintendent, who was a Union employee, but appointed by a committee drawn from the Associations in the Area and representatives in the area. These areas were to facilitate ministerial settlement and to take a role in promoting the Baptist Union Home Work Fund (now titled Home Mission).

This scheme remained until the end of the twentieth century when in a period of denominational renewal the areas were abolished and regional Associations with association appointed personnel were created.

In Wales associations have generally had a bi-lingual formation with county associations have both Welsh and English gatherings.

In Scotland the Union (Baptist Union of Scotland) has been the key element.

Throughout the centuries of British Baptist life the constant element has been that Baptist churches have sought to be interdependent, with the purposes of theological reflection, financial support, ministerial support and development of co-operative mission strategy at their heart.

Histories of some key associations

  • Association Life of the Particular Baptists of Northern England, 1699-1732 by Stephen Copson (English Baptist Records 3; Baptist Historical Society, 1991)
  • Association Records of the Particular Baptists of England, Wales and Ireland to 1660.
    Part 1: South Wales and the Midlands.
    Part 2: The West Country and Ireland.
    Part 3: The Abingdon Association     edited by B. R. White (Baptist Historical Society, 1971-74)
  • Churches in Fellowship: A Short History of the English Baptist Associations of South Wales by D. Mervyn Himbury (1960)
  • Encounter in London: The Story of the London Baptist Association 1865-1965 by W. Charles Johnson (1965)
  • The Baptists of London, 1612-1928 by W. T. Whitley (Kingsgate, 1928)
  • Encountering London: London Baptists in the 21st century edited by Faith Bowers, Joe Kapolyo and Israel Olofinjana (2015)
  • Kent and Sussex Baptist Associations by Frank Buffard (1963)
  • The Baptist Churches of Surrey by Arthur Stockwell (1910)
  • A History of the Hertfordshire Baptists by David R. Watts (1978)
  • The Bedfordshire Baptists by Phil Hill (2002)
  • The Northamptonshire Baptist Association: A Short History, 1764-1964 by T. S. H. Elwyn (Carey Kingsgate, 1964)
  • A Short History of the Devon and Cornwall Baptist Associations by G. L . W. Beards (1975)
  • Twenty Golden Candlesticks: A History of Baptist Nonconformity in Western Wiltshire by William Doel (2005)
  • The Baptists of Berkshire: Through Three Centuries by Ernest A. Payne (Carey Kingsgate, 1951)
  • Bristol and District Association of Baptist Churches, 1823-1973 by Leonard Champion (1973)
  • The Southern Baptist Association and its Churches, 1824-1974 by Walter Fancutt (1974)
  • Baptists in Barrels: A History of Essex Baptists by Doris Witard (1962)
  • The Story of the Suffolk Baptists by A J Klaiber (1931)
  • The Baptists in Norfolk by C B Jewson (1957)
  • It All Began Here: The Story of the East Midland Baptist Association by Fred M. W. Harrison (1986)
  • Deep Roots, Living Branches: A History of Baptists in the English Western Midlands by Alan Betteridge (2010)
  • Baptists in the West Country: Some notes on our story of more than 300 years by Douglas Jarman (153)
  • A History of Black Country Baptists by David Watts (1994)
  • The Baptists of Derbyshire 1650-1914 by Stephen Greasley (2007)
  • Our Heritage: The Baptists of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire, 1647-1987 edited by Ian Sellers (1987)
  • The Baptists of North-East England by David F. Neil (2006)
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