Baptists. In general, Baptists are evangelical Protestant Christians who hold to the authority of the Bible, the lordship of Jesus Christ, the independence of local congregations, the necessity of a conversion experience and a believer's baptism by immersion, and evangelism and missionary outreach. Most Baptists are at least mildly Calvinistic, but smaller groups uphold the theologically Arminian (freewill) position. The Baptist movement originated as a sect of dissenters in seventeenth‐century England. The first Baptists emigrated to North America in the 1630s, settling mostly in New England and by the 1680s in the Middle Colonies. The first congregation was established by Roger Williams at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1638–1639. Regionally, Baptists held association meetings of churches as early as the 1670s, the most prominent becoming the Philadelphia Baptist Association, formed in 1707. Early Baptists were often severely persecuted by the established denominations.

The eighteenth century was a time of rapid growth for Baptists in America. No other group received more impetus from the First Great Awakening. Baptist churches were formed from Congregationalist churches, and evangelism gave rise to new church throughout the colonies. In 1764, James Manning opened the first Baptist institution of higher learning, the Rhode Island College, which later became Brown University. During the Revolutionary War period, such prominent Baptist leaders as Isaac Backus of Massachusetts and John Leland of Virginia formulated the principles of separation of church and state, and through their connections successfully made the case to both national and state constitution writers. As the new nation developed, Baptists conducted overseas and domestic missions through voluntary societies. By 1840, Baptists were numerous in every state and territory, with over twenty educational institutions and missions in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe. Beginning in the 1840s, division erupted among Baptists in America. Northern antislavery churches formed a dissenter mission society in 1843; Baptists in the South in 1845 formed the Southern Baptist Convention. Some Baptists opposed mission and benevolence societies altogether. Leading Baptists in the urban North under William Colgate even formed an independent American Bible Union to foster a Baptist version of Scripture. Beginning in 1838, black Baptists established their own associations and later national conventions: German, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian emigrants formed ethnic conventions that would later become separate Baptist denominations.

In the twentieth century, Baptists grew to over 25 million members in the United States. The largest group, the Southern Baptist Convention, maintained associations and conventions in every state and most countries overseas. The National Baptist Convention in the U.S.A., along with the National Baptist Convention of America and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, organized most African American Baptists. The oldest national group, the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., formed in 1907, continued the work of the Northern Baptist Convention. The many smaller Baptist bodies included the Primitive Baptists, the Missionary Baptists, and the Freewill Baptists. Theological differences produced several conservative or fundamentalist Baptist bodies of churches, such as the General Association of Regular Baptists (1932), the Conservative Baptist Association (1943), the Baptist Bible Fellowship (1950), and the Liberty Baptist Fellowship (1977). Continuing ethical and theological debate within the Southern Baptist Convention over such matters as women in the ministry, freedom of conscience, ecumenism, scriptural interpretation, and issues of human sexuality produced the Southern Baptist Alliance (1986) and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (1991).

Baptists contributed leaders to various avenues of American life, including four U.S. presidents ( Warren Harding, Harry S. Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton), Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes; the Social Gospel theologian Walter Rauschenbush; and the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
See also African American Religion; Antislavery; Bill of Rights; Great Awakening, First and Second; Missionary Movement; Protestantism; Religion; Revivalism.

Bibliography

Edwin S. Gaustad , Historical Atlas of Religion in America, 1962.
William H. Brackney , The Baptists, 1988.
Kate Penfield, ed., Into a New Day: Exploring a Baptist Journey of Division, Diversity and Dialogue, 1997.

William H. Brackney

Colgate, William (Bill Colgate)

PERSONAL

Career:

Actor and voice performer.

CREDITS

Television Appearances; Series:

Voice of Mr. Mole, a recurring role, Franklin (animated), Nickelodeon, between 1997 and 2004.

Pecola, 2001.

Multiple roles, Little People: Big Discoveries (animated), 2002.

Voice of Apollis, Power Stone, 2002.

Voice of Mr. Dickenson, Bakuten shoot beyblade (animated; also known as Beyblade, Beyblade G Revolution, and Beyblade V-Force), Fox Kids Channel, 2002-2004, then Toon Disney, 2004-2005.

Voice, Jane and the Dragon (animated), 2006.

Voice of Vector, Skyland, 2006.

Television Appearances; Movies:

OPP officer, The Last Season, CBC, 1986.

(As Bill Colgate) Bluffing It, ABC, 1987.

Maynard, Split Images, 1992.

Charlie, Bonds of Love, CBS, 1993.

Jim Sharp, Gregory K (also known as Gregory K: A Place to Be and Switching Parents), ABC, 1993.

Red, Spenser: Ceremony, Lifetime, 1993.

Isaac Bunnel, Mary Silliman's War (also known as The Way of Duty and L'appel du devoir), Lifetime, 1994.

Caseworker, Hidden in America, Showtime, 1996.

Reverend Hunter, White Lies, CBC, 1998.

Svenson, Pretend You Don't See Her (also known as Mary Higgins Clark's "Pretend You Don't See Her" and Mary Higgins Clark: Ni vue ni connue), PAX, 2002.

Mitch Martin, Crossed Over (also known as Destins croises), CBS, 2002.

Dr. Goldberg, Behind the Red Door, Showtime, 2003.

Clayton, Brave New Girl, ABC, 2004.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Dr. Seawell, Thanks of a Grateful Nation (also known as The Gulf War), Showtime, 1998.

Richard Nixon, Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot, NBC, 2001.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Lieutenant Askew, "If the Shoe Fits," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, USA Network, 1987.

"Domestic Spirits," Diamonds, CBC, 1987.

Glenn Laxer, "The Waiting Chair," Street Legal, CBC, 1988.

Danny Cox, "Pressure," E.N.G., Lifetime, 1992.

Jim Anderson, "Hunters," Forever Knight (also known as Nick Knight—Der vampircop), CBS, 1992.

Ratcliffe, "Steve Sessler," Top Cops, 1992.

Sheriff Jenkins, "The Hit," Counterstrike (also known as Force de frappe), 1993.

Sanford Jones, "Stark in Love," The Hidden Room, 1993.

Professor Perry, "Cave Man," Tales from the Cryptkeeper (also known as New Tales from the Cryptkeeper), 1993.

Staff Sergeant Dietrich, "Fit Punishment," Street Legal, CBC, 1993.

Larry Briggs, "In the Beginning," The Mighty Jungle, The Family Channel, 1994.

Edward Feldstone, "Nanno," RoboCop (also known as RoboCop: The Series), syndicated, 1994.

Josef, "Language of the Heart," Picture Windows, Showtime, 1995.

Voice, "The Mystery of the Stone Circle/The Big Apple Christmas Caper/Who's Too Scared to Masquerade?," The Busy World of Richard Scarry, 1996.

Bartender, "Escape," Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, 1996.

Shadowy man, "Brainwash," La Femme Nikita (also known as Nikita), USA Network, 1997.

Voice of Gaston, Anatole, CBS, 1998.

George Hall, "Thank You Very Much," Relic Hunter (also known as Relic Hunter—Die schatzjaegerin and Sydney Fox l'aventuriere), syndicated, 1999.

(As Bill Colgate) Superintendent, "Heroes: Part 1," Blue Murder (also known as En quete de preuves), 2001.

(As Bill Colgate) Nick Jabbarian, "Missing Persons," Blue Murder (also known as En quete de preuves), 2001.

Jamie Vallente, "Our Lady of Chestnut Street/It's All in Your Mind Control," The 5th Quadrant, 2002.

(As Bill Colgate) Voice of Johnny B. Dead, "Warren's Nightmare," Monster by Mistake, 2003.

Detective, "Vanishing Point," Odyssey 5, 2003.

Charles Wiley, "Political Agenda," Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye (also known as Sue Thomas, l'oeil du FBI), PAX, 2004.

Israel Hands, "The Not-So-Jolly Roger," Time Warp Trio (animated), 2005.

"Patient X," 1-800-Missing (also known as Missing and Porte disparu), 2005.

Janitor, "Ready for Love," The Jon Dore Show, 2007.

Television Appearances; Other:

Bob, Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (also known as Shania—Une vie en huit albums), 2005.

Chet Greenfield, Warehouse 13, 2008.

Film Appearances:

(AS Bill Colgate) Gem club gambler, The Big Town, Columbia, 1987.

Jimmy, Landslide, Samuel Goldwyn, 1992.

Statistician, Searching for Bobby Fischer (also known as Innocent Moves), Paramount, 1993.

Voice of pilot, Pushing Tin (also known as Turbulenzen-und andere katastrophen), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1999.

Tom Peterman, Fall (also known as Fall: The Price of Silence), Annex Entertainment, 2000.

Mr. Sergei, White Knuckles, Tulchin Entertainment, 2004.

Armitage, The Last Hit Man, Peace Arch Releasing, 2008.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

(As Bill Colgate) Voice, Far from Home: Canada and the Great War—Sam's Army (documentary), National Film Board of Canada, 1999.

Baptists, one of the most important of the sects that appeared during the English civil wars, established themselves in a number of towns during the 1650s. They were regarded as a potential threat to order both by the Cromwellian regime and by the Restoration government. In the 18th century they survived as a numerically insignificant minority: in 1800 there were five congregations, all in the south or south‐east, with roughly 500 members, mainly from the urban lower middle classes. During the 19th century numbers rose rapidly, to over 4,000 by 1861 and 7,000 by 1901. This growth was mainly in Ulster, and the new recruits, mainly converts from other Protestant denominations, were drawn predominantly from small farming or industrial working‐class backgrounds. However, there was also a middle‐class element, particularly following the revival of 1859, while Dublin, with a membership drawn from the affluent southern suburbs, remained both the largest and most influential Baptist congregation.

William Colgate , 1783–1857, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. England. Arriving (1795) as a youth in the United States, Colgate learned candlemaking in Baltimore and New York. He established (1806) a tallow factory in New York, later engaging in soapmaking. In 1847 he moved his factory to Jersey City and by 1850 began producing fancy soaps and toilet preparations. He helped organize several Bible societies , including the American Bible Society (1816), and contributed amply to the institution later called Colgate Univ.