Trick question! Technically, we are not part of a denomination or larger church governing structure at all—at least not in the sense that Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans are. Another way to put it would be to say that there is no Baptist Church; there are only baptist churches.
Instead of functioning within a larger Baptist structure, we, like other baptist churches, affiliate or fellowship or form alliances with other churches in an effort to collaborate our way to more effective ministry in the world while maintaining our autonomy and freedom to set our own policies and make our own decisions regarding staff, membership and mission.
The baptist networks we support with our giving and representation include (Get ready for some acronyms!): the Alliance of Baptists (AOB), Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina (CBFSC). In addition, we support the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM), and the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB).
As these organizations are based in other cities, our primary way of affiliation these days is through email, zoom, texting and financial support; however, for the ones within striking distance, we practice the long-standing tradition of sending delegates to represent our congregation for the purpose of 1) voting on organizational policy, 2) sharing and receiving wisdom and experiences in church life with other congregations, and 3) worshiping together. As the staff liaison to our baptist affiliate relationships, I will be attending the annual gatherings of the Alliance of Baptists (April 11-14), CBFSC (April 25-26), and CBF Global (June 19-21).
2024 CBF General Assembly
re:imagine
Greensboro, N.C.
June 19-21, 2024
In addition to traveling to these gatherings this year, one of these gatherings will be traveling to us next year, as we will be hosting CBFSC’s General Assembly next spring, Friday, April 25, 2025!
For more information about these three affiliations whose missions and ministry values we support, visit their websites:
https://cbfsc.org/
https://cbf.net/
https://allianceofbaptists.org/
For a more complete list of Baptist organizations and education partners we support, visit our webpage at https://firstbaptistgreenville.com/who-we-are/
—Matt Rollins, Minister of Community Engagement