The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland (ABC, ABCi and ABCI) is a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

denomination based in Ireland. The headquarters is in Moira,

Craigavon Craigavon ( ) is a town in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement, begun in 1965, and named after the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be the heart of ...

History

The Association has its origins in the establishment of Baptist churches in Cork (1640), Dublin (1642) and Waterford (1650). In 1725, there were 11 Baptist churches, and 9 formed the Irish Baptist Association. The Irish Baptist Association was reorganised in 1862, and was replaced by the Baptist Union of Ireland in 1895. Irish Baptists initially had a close relationship with the English Baptists. However, desire for independence caused the Irish Baptists to follow their own path and they set up the Union in 1895. The first Assembly meeting of the newly formed Union took place in May 1895 in Mountpottinger Baptist Church, Belfast with 27 churches present with two more being added to the membership in that meeting. The Union was renamed Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland in 1999, highlighting that they are an association of churches of like mind which seek to work and fellowship together. According to a census published by the association in 2023, it claimed 118 churches and 8,500 members.

Organisation

Departments include Baptist Women, Baptist Youth, Missions, Welfare, and Training (Irish Baptist Historical Society and Irish Baptist College). The ABC Insight is a bi-monthly magazine serving the churches. The Baptist Centre comprising the administrative offices and the Irish Baptist College is located near

Moira, County Down Moira () is a village and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is in the northwest of the county, near the border with counties County Antrim, Antrim and County Armagh, Armagh. The M1 motorway (Northern I ...

, Northern Ireland. The association holds an annual assembly in May. The Churches Council meets during the week of the annual assembly and also annually in November. The purpose of the council is to hear reports and conduct business. Matters are handled between sessions by the executive committee elected by the churches at the May Churches Council meeting.

Schools

Promotes training among the churches and operates the Irish Baptist College which seeks to train men and women for pastoral and necessary services, such as evangelism, aswell as some amount of Baptist

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Caring Ministries

By means of the Orphan Society, Annuity Fund and Baptist Aid provides support for those in need.

Doctrines/Beliefs

The ABCI holds conservative theological views on many issues, including total

biblical inerrancy Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible, in its original form, is entirely free from error. The belief in biblical inerrancy is of particular significance within parts of evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelic ...

and verbal plenary

biblical inspiration Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the human writers and canonizers of the Bible were led by God with the result that their writings may be designated in some sense the word of God. This belief is traditionally asso ...

, as well as traditional ECT views of hell and eternal security. They also hold to a real

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

and

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

as historical human beings, and

total depravity Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all h ...

resulting from Adam's sin. They hold to

memorialism Memorialism is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of sacramental bread, bread and sacramental wine, wine (or grape juice) in the Eucharist (more often referred to as "the Eucharist#Lord's Supper, Lord's Supper" by ...

at organisation level, in which both the

communion bread Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Communion wafer, Sacred host, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host (), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elements o ...

and

communion wine Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist (also referred to as the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, among other names). It is usually ...

or grape juice are given to validly baptised believers. Believer's baptism by immersion is a core tenet of the ABCI. Traditional views found in

protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

are prominent in the ABCI, as with other baptist groups, such as

Sola Scriptura (Latin for 'by scripture alone') is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for ...

and

Sola Fide (or simply ), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheranism, Lutheran and Reformed tradition, Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, from th ...

. https://www.irishbaptist.org/about/what-we-believe/

Members

Association members are referred to as Irish Baptists, however some choose to refer to themselves as Association Baptists to distinguish them from other Baptists. * Hugh D. Brown, an author, pastor-teacher in Dublin, politician in the

Irish Unionist Alliance The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA), also known as the Irish Unionist Party, Irish Unionists or simply the Unionists, was a unionist political party founded in Ireland in 1891 from a merger of the Irish Conservative Party and the Irish Loyal and ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Irish Baptist Association The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland (ABC, ABCi and ABCI) is a Baptist Christianity in Ireland, Christian Christian denomination, denomination based in Ireland. The headquarters is in Moira, County Down, Moira, Craigavon. History Th ...

and theologian. * Alexander Carson, author of ''Baptism in its Mode and Subjects'', pastor-teacher and theologian. * William Young Fullerton * * Hamilton Moore

References

External links

* {{Christianity in the United Kingdom Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, * 1862 establishments in Ireland All-Ireland organisations Baptist denominations established in the 19th century Baptist denominations in the United Kingdom Baptist Christianity in Ireland Religious organisations based in Northern Ireland Religious organizations established in 1862