Seventh Day Baptist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series of articles on Christianity

Foundations Jesus Christ Church · Christian Theology New Covenant · Supersessionism Apostles · Kingdom · Gospel History of Christianity · Timeline Bible Old Testament · New Testament Books · Canon · Apocrypha Septuagint · Decalogue Birth · Resurrection Sermon on the Mount Great Commission Translations · English Inspiration · Hermeneutics Christian Theology Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) History of · Theology · Apologetics Creation · Fall of Man · Covenant · Law Grace · Faith · Justification · Salvation Sanctification · Theosis · Worship Church · Sacraments · Eschatology History and Traditions Early · Councils · Creeds · Missions Great Schism · Crusades · Reformation Great Awakenings · Great Apostasy Restorationism · Nontrinitarianism Thomism · Arminianism Congregationalism Eastern Christianity Eastern Orthodox · Oriental Orthodox Syriac Christianity · Eastern Catholic Western Christianity Western Catholicism · Protestantism Anabaptism · Lutheranism · Calvinism Anglicanism · Baptist · Methodism Evangelicalism · Fundamentalism Liberalism · Adventism · Pentecostalism Latter Day Saints · Christian Science Jehovah's Witnesses · Unity Church Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important Figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Luther · Calvin · Wesley · Pope
Christianity Portal This box: view • talk • edit

Seventh Day Baptists are Christian Baptists who observe the Sabbath on Saturday, which is the seventh day of the week to Seventh Day Baptists (hence the name). The first recorded Seventh Day Baptist church was the Mill Yard Seventh Day Baptist Church, formed in London in 1653 under the leadership of Dr. Peter Chamberlen. The first Seventh Day Baptist church in America was at Newport, Rhode Island in December 1671. Samuel and Tacy Hubbard, two members of the First Baptist Church of Newport, pastored by John Clarke (1609-1676), withdrew from that church and joined with Stephen Mumford, a Seventh Day Baptist from England, and 4 others, covenanting to meet together for worship, calling themselves Sabbatarian Baptists. Mumford, for his part, arrived in Rhode Island in 1665, and was mentioned as an advocate for the seventh day Sabbath in many records of that time. Other churches rose in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and soon spread north into Connecticut and New York, and south into Virginia and the Carolinas. Sabbatarianism also emerged among the Germans at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, (founded in 1735). Ephrata was incorporated as the German Religious Society of Seventh Day Baptists in 1814. The Seventh Day Baptist General Conference was organized in 1801.

In 1995, the Seventh Day Baptists had 78 churches with 4885 members in the United States, 2 churches with 55 members in England, and 1 church of 40 members in Canada. Conferences exist in other countries as well. The Seventh Day Baptist World Federation was founded in 1964/1965, and it now represents over 50,000 Baptists in 17 member organizations in 22 countries.

Other than the belief that the Christian Sabbath is Saturday rather than Sunday, Seventh Day Baptists are very similar to other Baptists. Offices of the General Conference are maintained in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Missionary Society offices are in Westerly, Rhode Island, and the Board of Christian Education has offices in Alfred Station, New York. The Seventh Day Baptist General Conference is a member of the Baptist World Alliance.