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Free Will Baptist

Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will.[1] The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal establishment is widely linked to the English theologian, Thomas Helwys who led the Baptist movement to believe in general atonement. He was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous and punishable by death. He died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of Protestant dissenters under King James I.

In 1702 Paul Palmer would go on to establish the movement in North Carolina and in 1727 formed the Free Will Baptist Church of Chowan. Many Calvinists became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century. With the establishment of Free Will Baptists in the South, Benjamin Randall developed the movement in the Northeastern United States, specifically Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.


From their beginning, Free Will Baptists, in common with many groups of English Dissenters and Separatists from the Church of England, followed Brownist notions of self-governance of local churches. The notion of free will was a systematic rejection of the Puritan movement, due to its overall religious beliefs and lack of social mobility.

The "Bullockites", after founder Jeremiah Bullock (sometimes spelled "Bulloch" and "Bullochites"), which branched out to a small number of congregations in Maine and New Hampshire.

The "Buzzelites", after founder John Buzzell.

– a North Carolina-based body of Free Will Baptists that was organized in 1913 and initially joined the National Association of Free Will Baptists, but split from the National Association in 1961 due to some inner differences. The Convention comprised the majority of North Carolina-based Free Will Baptist churches, though a minority would split from the North Carolina state convention and maintain affiliation with the National Association. The Convention also maintains mission activity in eight countries – Philippines, Mexico, Bulgaria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Liberia, and Guinea.[14]

Original Free Will Baptist Convention

– the largest body of African-American Free Will Baptist churches, organized in 1901 and headquartered in Kinston, North Carolina.[15]

United American Free Will Baptist Church

– a body of African-American Free Will Baptist churches that withdrew from the United American Free Will Baptist Church in 1968; headquartered in Lakeland, Florida.[16]

United American Free Will Baptist Conference

Old Original Free Will Baptist Conference, an African-American association with six churches, centered in North Carolina.[17]

episcopal

Evangelical Free Baptist Church – based in . In 1987 it had 22 churches and 2,500 members.[18]

Illinois

Unaffiliated Free Will Baptist local associations – a number of local Free Will Baptist associations remain independent of the National Association, Original FWB Convention, and the two United American bodies. Researchers have identified 10 such associations, though there may be more. The unaffiliated associations of Free Will Baptists include over 300 churches with an estimated 22,000 members. They have no organization beyond the "local" level.

The National Association of Free Will Baptists is the largest of the Free Will Baptist groups. Other major Free Will Baptist groups include:

Storer College

Welch College

Bryant, Scott. The Awakening of the Freewill Baptists: Benjamin Randall and the Founding of an American Religious Tradition (Mercer University Press, 2011) 228 pp.

, ed. (1911). "Free Baptists" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 69–70.

Chisholm, Hugh

Davidson, William F. The Free Will Baptists in History

Hill, Samuel S., ed. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South

Leonard, Bill, ed. Dictionary of Baptists in America

Pelt, Michael. A History of Original Free Will Baptists

Pinson, J. Matthew. A Free Will Baptist Handbook: Heritage, Beliefs, and Ministries

– Christian History Institute's Biographical Sketch

Benjamin Randall

Arkansas State Association of Free Will Baptists

California State Association of Free Will Baptists

International Fellowship of Free Will Baptist Churches

(US)

National Association of Free Will Baptists

United American Free Will Baptist Conference, Inc.

The Convention of Original Free Will Baptist Churches

The Original Free Will Baptist International

The Original Free Will Baptist Mission Church of Liberia

Missouri State Association of Free Will Baptists

Tennessee State Association of Free Will Baptists

West Virginia State Association of Free Will Baptists