The Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA) is a fellowship of autonomous Baptist churches for the purpose of benevolence, Christian education, and missions.
Formed at Little Rock, Arkansas in 1950 as the North American Baptist Association, the Baptist Missionary Association of America adopted its current name in 1969. This association owes its origin to a split in the American Baptist Association, and many of its policies and programs are similar to the parent body. Its deepest roots may be found in the controversy within the Baptist General Convention of Texas that resulted in the formation of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas in 1900. The BMA of America has been viewed as part of the Landmark movement, yet many BMA churches no longer hold Landmark views. Its concentration is in the south, with the primary membership in Texas (about 43 percent), but as a result of its mission work, the association has churches across the United States and throughout the world. According to the BMAA Missions Department, "the sun never sets on BMA Missions." The BMAA supports missionaries, a publishing house, a seminary (several state groups own junior colleges), a youth camp, and a radio ministry. Most churches participate in local and state associations as well as this national/general body. In 2003, there were about 234,511 members in 1,275 churches (in the United States). Foreign countries with churches that associate closely with BMAA churches generally also have a national association in their respective country. This includes the rapidly-growing BMA of Africa, and the BMA of the Philippines, which has begun sending out its own foreign missions personnel to neighboring East Asian nations.
Sources
Association minutes
Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, 2000, Glenmary Research Center
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