Baptist History

    GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL

MATTHEW 28:19-20

Nearly two thousand years have come and gone since our Lord Jesus gave this commission to his church. Has the church done as Jesus said we should do? Do you feel we as Baptist have done our part in taking the gospel to the world? There are some interesting facts I would like to share with you today and then we need to decide what we really want to do. Do you think we should go on as we are going,? Are there some areas we need to improve on in order to complete the job our Lord has assigned us to do?

Baptist in Harlan County

There has been Baptist in Harlan County since early days of 1800. The Upper Cumberland Association of Baptist was organized in 1890 and we have a continuos history of the Associations meetings since that time when H.F. Hensley was Moderator, Jacob Carmack was the  preacher of the Annual  meeting and H. C. Rice was the Clerk. The first Baptist church in Harlan County was the Wallins Creek Baptist Church that was organized December 24,1855. The first pastor was Nathan H. Noe who was the pastor of the church from 1855 to 1871. Wallins later become the mother church of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church that we know today as the Harlan Baptist Church which was the mother church of Sunshine, Kelly St. Teetersville, Bledsoe and Bethel Baptist. There are at this date forty churches lettered up in the membership of the Association. Recorded in the 2000 Annuals 38 churches reported 8,735 members and 166 were recorded baptized plus 115 other additions.

Baptist in Kentucky

The Kentucky Baptist Convention was formed in 1837, eight years before the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845. The KBC is one of the oldest state conventions in the SBC. The first preacher to set foot on Western soil was Squire Boone 11, visiting KY in 1769. The first preaching in the West was conducted by Thomas Tinsley and William Hickman, at Harrodsburg in April of 1776. The first evangelical church, organized west of the Alleghenies, is Severns Valley, at Elizbethtown, founded  June 18, 1781. The first district Association west of the Alleghenies is Elkhorn, organized September 30, 1785 at the Clear Creek Church. The idea for the plan of the American Baptist Home Mission Society was developed in Ky. Today there are approximently 750,000 Southern Baptist in Ky. There are approximately 2,400 autonomous ( self governing ) Ky. Baptist Churches. and 75 self governing, autonomous Baptist Associations.   The Southern Baptist Convention

The SBC was organized for World Missions. Executive Committee Boards are, International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, Sunday School Board, And the Annuity Board. There are six Theological Seminaries: Golden Gate Midwestern, New Orleans, Southern, Southeastern and Southwestern.

Associated Orginations "WMU" Women Missionary Union and The Baptist World Alliance. 1,216 Associations and nearly 15,000,000 members in America.

What about tomorrow?

What does the future hold for Ky. Baptist? What do we want for our children to read about us? Friends you and I are making their history today. Will they say we loved the Lord and believed in the future of the church? Will they know in their heart where their Dad's and Mom's went when they left this life? It all depends on what we personally do with Jesus Christ today.  We can accept him as savior and hear him say well done or, we can ignore the call to repent and hear him say I never knew you. What we do with Jesus is the turning point of our lives. His blood cleanses from all sin past,  present and future.  If you have never been saved, I have good news for you. The same commission Jesus gave the church  nearly 2,000 years ago is still in effect today. Jesus Blood still cleanses from all sin, His blood applied to your life can change you and make you the person you should be. Saved and ready to go when he calls. Be sure the blood of Christ is applied to your life.