On the Statements of Faith (and Beliefs) page are seven (7) terms often used to describe authentic Baptists. We believe that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) and the American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABC) are just this sort of "authentic Baptists." Below are definitions of those terms.
Free Church By this we mean that each and every Baptist church, society, and institution is free to decide for itself how to live and operate. There is no one, official, Book of Worship, Prayer, or Order which defines how Baptists must worship, work, and organize ourselves. Each church is completely free to adopt or reject norms, forms, and styles as it, alone, decides. So, one Baptist church may adopt a formal style of worship and another may seem to have little or no "form" at all. Ministers in some Baptist churches dress formally in robes and vestments, while other ministers work in shirt sleeves. Some Baptist churches use hymnals and/or worship books, others sing from memory or use video projectors. Some use curriculum resources in their Church School while others use the Bible as their "only textbook."
Congregational The "unit" of Baptist life and organization is the "congregation," the local church. Each church is self-governing ("autonomous") and is subject to the control of no other ecclesiastical ("church-related") body. Each church sets its own rules for membership, elects its own leaders, drafts its own governance documents (constitution and by-laws), raises and spends its own budget, and determines its own manner of work and witness. Each church decides for itself what its affiliations and relationships will be with other organizations--while ensuring that these affiliations do not allow any degree of "outside control" over the church or its individual members.
Trinitarian Historically, Baptists are part of the Christian Church that proclaims a "Trinitarian" faith. That is, we hold the Orthodox belief that (though we have difficulty understanding and explaining it) God has been made known to us as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, or in classic terms as "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Where it gets "sticky" is that we insist that we have ONE God who is known to us in three principal ways, and not three gods. Trinitarians are distinguished from other Christian (or christian-like) groups, such as Unitarians or the Jesus-Only movement.
Ecumenically-minded Some churches and denominations refuse to acknowledge or work with other Christians. In some cases, these folk insist that they are the "one and only true Christian church" and deny that "other" Christians exist. CBF and ABC Baptists, however, recognize and work with other Christians as partners in a common mission, regardless of how they choose to organize themselves, or which specific doctrines they focus on. Some of our churches are "union" or "federated" churches in which congregations from two or more denominations join to form a single church. Other churches are "dually" (or "multiply") aligned, holding membership in two (or more) denominations at the same time. Many of our churches are affiliated with local, state, and national councils of churches that work across denominational lines. Some are also involved in interfaith alliances. Without "watering down" our own faith and belief, we have found ways to work with other Christians and people of other faiths in our world.
Evangelistic CBF and ABC Baptists are "mission minded." That is, a major part of our identity and heritage derives from the "missionary Baptist" tradition. We believe we are called to tell the world about God's love. We believe this is "Good News," an understanding which comes from the Greek word euangelion (loosely translated as "bringing good news"). Historically, Baptists are evangelistic--which means that "spreading the good news of God's love" is an essential part of who we are--but not Evangelical, which is a term used for a theology, mindset, and system of doctrine that is not always compatible and consistent with Baptist belief and practice. (The terms "evangelistic" and "evangelical" do not mean the same thing!)
Inclusive If you read CBF and ABC publications and review the statistics, you will learn that we are economically, culturally, and ethnically diverse. On a given Sunday, you'll hear CBF and ABC Baptists worshipping in several different languages using varied worship styles. Most of our churches recognize equal status for women and men and also intentionally practice non-discrimination as a policy (Galatians 3:26-29). Because Baptists have often been a persecuted people, many of our congregations are havens for persons who have been marginalized or excluded from other churches.
Justice-seeking With many other "mainstream" Baptists, CBF and ABC Baptists have, historically, been involved in working for justice in society, such as abolition of slavery, equal rights, refugee resettlement, and sufferage. Baptists were a significant factor in the American Revolution, championed complete religious liberty, insisted on separation of church and state, and were instrumental in the drafting and adoption of the Bill of Rights. Today, authentic Baptists work in many places, brokering peace accords, building schools and healing centers, and helping end the traffic in child slavery.
