Diverse and Growing
The North American Baptist Conference is a family of roughly 400 churches in the United States and Canada. Founded by immigrant missionaries, North American Baptists are a diverse group of believers representing many cultures and languages. You’ll find us worshipping in small rural churches, large auditoriums, schools, storefronts, and homes. In addition, our ministry extends overseas through thousands of believers in West Africa, Brazil, Japan, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and other parts of the world.
Regional Connections
Each of our local churches chooses to be part of the NAB because they want to be part of a larger church family focused on making disciples. That voluntary decision to cooperate with others is a very important witness to our unity in Christ.
Much of that cooperation can be seen locally through twelve regions spread across the US and Canada. Regions are an important ministry of our conference, allowing many of our churches to network, maximize resources, and partner on important initiatives.
Our Priorities
Since our beginning in the mid-1800s, we have endeavored to raise up leaders, train pastors, plant churches, and send international missionaries, all priorities we discerned as God’s direction for our conference. Today, these priorities are what we call the Four End Goals.
Train for Missional and Formational Ministries
We believe God is a missionary God who has drawn us to himself and seeks to form us into the image of Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we are formed, we are also sent, not just into some far-flung country but more immediately into our neighborhoods and local communities. We believe our relationships are to be conduits of the love of God and the message of Jesus to those God has placed near us.
Engage Cross-Culturally
When Jesus tells his followers to make disciples, he sends us to all nations, all peoples, and all cultures. Engaging in cross-cultural ministry is embracing the diversity found in our oneness as God’s people, a oneness Jesus prayed for in John 17. In joining God’s mission, we are compelled to build relationships that live out God’s justice and righteousness and bring his wholeness and peace to a broken world full of prejudice and discrimination.
Develop Spiritual Leaders
We are not just committed to the leaders of today, we must also be committed to the leaders of tomorrow, today. This is why we strive to identify, encourage, equip, and engage the emerging spiritual leaders God is raising and has raised up in our midst. Additionally, we are committed to resourcing church multipliers, whether they are working to plant churches, revitalize existing churches, or establish Kingdom outposts in their neighborhoods.
Send and Support International Missionaries
Since our beginnings as a conference, we have been committed to sending our own people to the very ends of the earth to proclaim the Good News found in Jesus. This is still true today, but we are also committed to equipping and supporting the local believers to reach those within their own culture.
Above all, the NAB is a community of believers defined by our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, our commitment to each other, and our love and care for our neighbors across the street and across the globe.
To learn more about these ministries, visit www.nabconference.org.
For details regarding NAB churches, including their locations, contact information, and more, kindly refer to the NAB Church Directory.
