Not So Simple

We were mostly on back roads but did drive on the interstate from time to time, where we enjoyed the view of the mountains.

Over the weekend, Ward and I took a trip to Virginia. We enjoyed the mountain scenery as we drove from place to place, visiting friends and searching for landmarks. On one of the winding roads, we came upon a sign for a Regular Baptist Church.

The word, Regular, intrigued me. What was a regular church? If there were regular churches, then were there irregular churches? Was this a local thing? Was the area named Regular? Unfortunately, I had no cell phone reception, so I couldn't google for an answer. So we went along about our business, focusing on other things until we saw this sign the next day.

So Regular Baptist churches were a thing. The other sign was not just unique to that one church. My curiosity was piqued again. I grew up in a Baptist church until high school, when we began attending a Presbyterian church. My church was an American Baptist. The only other Baptist denomination I knew about was Southern Baptists. The Southern Baptists were a bit more conservative in their worship practices and behavior restrictions, but not a lot different - not in my area, anyway. So what was a Regular Baptist? 

When we got home and did the mandatory unloading of the car and petting the cats, I did some research about Regular Baptist churches. And then I got confused.

Origins of the Regular Baptist church has its roots in England during the late 1600s and was part of a movement to bring atonement to all people because rich people had more access to churches than poor people. Names changed with the times, and General, Old Regular, Partic, Orthodox, and Free Baptist have been somewhat synonymous with Regular Baptist from time to time. In the U.S. in 1790, most Baptists were Regular Baptists.

There was no set doctrine I could find for the Regular Baptists, but generally, they are a more conservative group who believe that you should be baptized before taking communion. And some of them practice foot washing. Regular Baptists are more prevalent in the South.

My little bit of research was not clearing much up for me, so I decided to find a list of Baptist denominations. Maybe a list would help put everything in context and make things clearer. Well, here's the list I found on Wikipedia.

List of Baptist denominations

United States[edit]

National bodies[edit]

• Alliance of Baptists
• American Baptist Association
• American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.
• Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America
• Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
• Baptist Bible Fellowship International
• Baptist Missionary Association of America
• Central Baptist Association
• Christian Unity Baptist Association
• Conservative Baptist Association of America
• Continental Baptist Churches
• Converge (formerly Baptist General Conference)
• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
• Enterprise Association of Regular Baptists
• Free Will Baptist
• Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
• Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association
• Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America
• General Association of Baptists
• General Association of General Baptists
• General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
• General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Inc.
• General Six-Principle Baptists
• Independent Baptist Church of America
• Independent Baptist Fellowship International
• Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America
• Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of America
• Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association
• Landmark Baptists
• Liberty Baptist Fellowship
• National Association of Free Will Baptists
• National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
• National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.
• National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A.
• National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
• National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A.
• North American Baptist Conference
• Old Regular Baptist
• Old Time Missionary Baptist
• Original Free Will Baptist Convention
• Primitive Baptist Universalists
• Primitive Baptists
• Progressive National Baptist Convention
• Reformed Baptist
• Regular Baptist
• Separate Baptist
• Separate Baptists in Christ
• Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
• Southern Baptist Convention
• Southwide Baptist Fellowship
• Sovereign Grace Baptists
• Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists
• United American Free Will Baptist Church
• United American Free Will Baptist Conference
• United Baptist
• World Baptist Fellowship

 Nope, not clearer. But I have learned a little. I learned it's not so simple. 

Note: My sincere apologies to anyone who is a Regular Baptist for anything I got mixed up or just plain wrong. No harm intended. 

Until next time...