View source for Canadian Baptist Ministries

{{Short description|Religious organization in Canada}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
|name = Canadian Baptist Ministries
|native_name = Ministères Baptistes Canadiens
|native_name_lang = fr
|other_names = Canadian Baptist Federation
|image = 
|imagewidth = 
|caption = 
|abbreviation = CBM
|main_classification = [[Mainline Protestantism]]
|theology = [[Baptist]]
|orientation = 
|leader_title = 
|leader_name =
|founder =
|associations = [[Baptist World Alliance]]
|founded_date = 1944
|founded_place = [[Saint John, New Brunswick]]
|headquarters        = [[Mississauga, Ontario]], Canada
|area = Canada
|congregations = 971 
|members = 81,685 
|website = {{URL|cbmin.org}} 
}}

'''Canadian Baptist Ministries''' ('''CBM'''; {{langx|fr|link=no|Ministères Baptistes Canadiens}}) is a [[Mainline Protestantism|mainline Protestant]] and [[Baptist]] [[Christian denominations|denomination]] in [[Canada]]. It is a member of the [[Baptist World Alliance]]. The headquarters is located in [[Mississauga, Ontario]].

==Historical background==

The first Baptist church in present-day Canada was founded by an American Baptist [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]] in [[Sackville, New Brunswick|Sackville]], [[New Brunswick]], in 1763.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/baptistes|title=Baptistes|encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|editor=James Harley Marsh|editor-link=James Harley Marsh|access-date=September 11, 2019}}</ref> More churches were founded throughout [[Nova Scotia]], New Brunswick, [[Lower Canada]], and [[Upper Canada]] by [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] American ministers and itinerant preachers.

===Missionary activity and Canadian auxiliary===
The first Canadian-born Baptist missionary was Rev. [[Samuel S. Day]]. He was sent to [[India]] in 1835 by the [[International Ministries|Baptist Board for Foreign Missions]] (BBFM), the foreign missionary organization of the American [[Triennial Convention]] (now [[American Baptist Churches USA]]).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moving with the times: The story of a century of mission/ 1874-1974|last=Daniel|first=Orville E.|publisher=Canadian Baptist Overseas Mission Board|year=1973|location=Toronto|page=13}}</ref> Canadian Baptist churches in the [[The Maritimes|Maritime provinces]] had been supporting the work of [[Adoniram Judson]] in [[Burma]] since 1814. In 1845, these churches, before establishing the [[Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada|Baptist Convention of the Maritime Provinces]] (MBC), sent out Rev. R.E. Burpee, along with his wife Laleah, to Burma, under the auspices of the BBFM.

In 1866, the Foreign Missions Board, renamed as [[American Baptist Missionary Union]] (ABMU) right after the [[Triennial Convention#Southern schism|Southern schism]], appointed A.V. Timpany to be sent to [[India]]. That prompted the establishment of a Canadian auxiliary to the American Missionary Union by the Maritime Provinces Convention in 1866.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moving with the times: The story of a century of mission/ 1874-1974|last=Daniel|first=Orville E.|publisher=Canadian Baptist Overseas Mission Board|year=1973|location=Toronto|page=17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Moving with the times: The story of a century of mission/ 1874-1974|last=Daniel|first=Orville E.|publisher=Canadian Baptist Overseas Mission Board|year=1973|location=Toronto|page=14}}</ref>

In 1869, the Canadian auxiliary was reorganised as the Regular Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of Canada, and in 1889 was renamed as The Board of Foreign Missions of the Regular Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moving with the times: The story of a century of mission/ 1874-1974|last=Daniel|first=Orville E.|publisher=Canadian Baptist Overseas Mission Board|year=1973|location=Toronto|page=16}}</ref>

In 1874, the Canadian Baptist Foreign Missionary Society was founded in Ontario.<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, '' Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 42</ref>

==Founding==

===Precedents===

The Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board (CBFMB) was founded in 1912.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, ''A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches'', Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 338</ref> It was renamed as Canadian Baptist Overseas Missions Board (CBOMB) on May 1, 1970,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moving with the times: The story of a century of mission/ 1874-1974|last=Daniel|first=Orville E.|publisher=Canadian Baptist Overseas Mission Board|year=1973|location=Toronto|page=71}}</ref> and later as [[Canadian Baptist International Ministries]] (CBIM) in 1990.

Efforts to form a national Baptist ecclesiastical body date back to 1900. Delegates from across [[Canada]] met in [[Winnipeg, Manitoba|Winnipeg]] and established the National Baptist Convention of Canada. Inexplicably, the Convention never met again. As such, no national Baptist organization existed in Canada for a long time until 1944. In that year, the '''Baptist Federation of Canada''' (BFC) was established at [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], New Brunswick, by the [[Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec]] (CBOQ), the [[Canadian Baptists of Western Canada]] (CBWC), and the [[Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada]] (CBAC).<ref>William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 121</ref> The [[Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec]], the [[Canadian Baptists of Western Canada]], and the [[Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada]]. They were joined by the [[Union of French Baptist Churches of Canada]] in 1970.<ref>Harry A. Renfree, ''Heritage and Horizon: The Baptist Story in Canada'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2007, p. 275</ref>

In 1947, the CBOQ authorized the [[Ordination of women in Christianity|ordination of women ministers]] and [[Muriel Spurgeon Carder]] was the first ordained woman.<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, '' Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 73</ref> In the CBAC, Josephine Moore was the first in 1954. In the CBWC, Mae Benedict was the first in 1959.

The Baptist Federation was renamed as '''Canadian Baptist Federation''' (CBF) in 1982.<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, '' Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 61</ref>

In 1995, the Canadian Baptist International Ministries joined the Canadian Baptist Federation. The merger made the Federation be renamed as '''Canadian Baptist Ministries''', its current name.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, ''A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches'', Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 338</ref>

==Statistics==
According to a census published by the association in 2023, it claimed 971 churches and 81,685 members.<ref>Baptist World Alliance, [https://www.baptistworld.org/member-unions/ Members], baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved May 5, 2023</ref>

==Humanitarian aid==

CBM support humanitarian projects in Canada and worldwide.<ref>CBM, [https://www.cbmin.org/about-us/ HOW WE WORK], cbmin.org, Canada, retrieved May 5, 2023</ref>

It engages in international mission on behalf of Canadian Baptist churches and brokers national cooperation among the four regional denominations and Women's groups.

== Regions ==
It has 4 regional unions of churches : [[Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec]], [[Canadian Baptists of Western Canada]], the [[Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada]] and [[Union d'Églises baptistes francophones du Canada]].<ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 496</ref>

== Schools ==
[[File: Crandall University.jpg|280px|thumb|right| Stultz Hall, [[Crandall University]] in [[Moncton]].]]
The regional conventions of the convention have participated in the founding of various universities which have gone public. There was the founding of [[Acadia University]] by the [[Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada]] in 1838,<ref>George A. Rawlyk, ''Canadian Baptists and Christian Higher Education'', McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 1988, p. 6</ref> the founding of [[McMaster University]] by the [[Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec]] in 1881<ref>Aaron W. Hughes, ''From Seminary to University: An Institutional History of the Study of Religion in Canada'', University of Toronto Press, Canada, 2020, p. 33</ref> and [[Brandon University]] by the [[Canadian Baptists of Western Canada]] in 1890.<ref>William H. Brackney, ''Congregation and Campus: Baptists in Higher Education'', Mercer University Press, USA, 2008, p. 137</ref>

The organization has several [[Bible college|theological institutes]] affiliated and a partner university, [[Crandall University]].<ref>Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, '' Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 78</ref><ref>Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 42</ref>

==Beliefs==
The Federation has a [[Baptist]] [[confession of faith]].<ref>CBM,
[https://www.cbmin.org/about-us/ WHAT WE VALUE], cbmin.org, Canada, retrieved May 9, 2020</ref> It is affiliated with the [[Baptist World Alliance]].<ref>Baptist World Alliance, [https://www.baptistworld.org/member-unions/ Members], baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved December 5, 2020</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada}}
* [[Canadian Baptist Mission]]
* [[McMaster Divinity College]], [[Hamilton, Ontario]]
* [[Carey Theological College]], [[Vancouver]]
* [[Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars]]
* [[Andhra Christian Theological College]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]]
* [[Baptists in Canada]]

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*''Baptists Around the World'', by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
*''Program & Report Book'', Canadian Baptist Ministries
*''From Sea to Sea: The Canadian Baptist Federation 1944- 1994'', by Shirley Bentall
*''The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness'', by H. Leon McBeth

;Further reading
* {{cite book
 | author=Sunanda, G.Beaulah Pearl
 | title=''An Insight into the History of the Canadian Baptist Mission in Andhra Pradesh (1874-1924)''. Unpublished M.Phil.(History) Thesis, Madras Christian College, Madras
 | year=1990
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cbmin.org/ Canadian Baptist Ministries] - official Web Site
*[https://mcmasterdivinity.ca/canadian-baptist-archives/ The Canadian Baptist Archives]

{{Canada baptist denominations}}
{{Baptist World Alliance Members}}
{{Christianity in Canada}}

[[Category:Canadian Baptist Ministries| ]]
[[Category:Christian organizations established in 1995]]
[[Category:Baptist organizations established in the 20th century]]