What are fellowships, associations, and denominations within the Baptist denomination?
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This is something I read from [hrc](https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-american-baptist-church-usa#:~:text=Although%20ABCUSA%20shares%20many%20traditions,and%20the%20Cooperative%20Baptist%20Fellowship.)
>Although ABCUSA shares many traditions, beliefs and values with other Baptists, ABCUSA is a distinct entity from its relatives, the American Baptist Association (ABA), the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the Alliance of Baptists, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
(this is why I assume these groups are even comparable)
So we have
- [ABCUSA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Baptist_Churches_USA) , a " mainline Baptist Christian denomination"
- [ABA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Baptist_Association) , "an association of Baptist churches"
- [SBC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Baptist_Convention) , "a Christian denomination based in the United States"
- [AoB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Baptists) , "a fellowship of Baptist churches and individuals"
- [CBF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_Baptist_Fellowship) , "a Christian fellowship of Baptist churches"
Notably, only the last two are considered "fellowships" while the first 3 are either denominations or associations, which becomes even more confusing when you consider that they are all under the Baptist denomination, which is a subsect of Protestantism.
Obviously these are groups of churches that associate with each other, but what makes each group an association, denomination, or fellowship? Is there even a meaningful difference? Are some of these interchangeable?
Asked by notacorn
(131 rep)
Jan 16, 2021, 05:14 AM