Third Avenue Baptist Church is “in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention.” What in the world does this mean? It means that we prayerfully and financially support ministries that are coordinated by the SBC.

The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845 when an entity known as the Triennial Convention split over two basic questions: first, who should decide which missionaries were sent and how? Baptists in the north favored local mission sending societies while Baptists in the south favored a central sending board. Second, could slaveholders be sent as missionaries? The north said no, the south said the Triennial Convention could not make such a unilateral decision. Since then, the SBC has, thankfully, publicly repented of its previous support of slavery.

Today, the Southern Baptist Convention is a national fellowship of Baptist churches. It cooperates with state fellowships of churches called state conventions and county-sized fellowships called “associations.” Most fundamentally, however, the Southern Baptist Convention cooperates with the local church. Messengers to the annual, national convention do not represent either the state convention or a local association, they represent the churches!

Third Avenue Baptist Church financially supports the Southern Baptist Convention through a funding mechanism known as the Cooperative Program. By participating with in the Cooperative Program, Third Avenue is able to contribute to the International Missions Board, the North American Missions Board, seminary education (including Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY), Lifeway Christian Resources, and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

For more information regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, please visit their website.