"Maritime Baptist Union and the Power of Regionalism"
Publication Details
Baptist, Part of a special issue on ecumenism from a North American perspective. During 1905-06, the United Baptist Convention of the Maritime Provinces formed from the union of the Maritime Convention of Maritime Baptists, the Free Baptists of New Brunswick, and the Free Baptists of Nova Scotia. Similarly in 1925, the United Church of Baptists of Nova Scotia formed, joining the United Church of Canada from the dominion's Congregationalists, Methodists, and two-thirds of its Presbyterians. The article compares and contrasts these formations, concluding the Regular (Calvinist) and Free (Arminian) Baptists of the Maritimes were able to unite largely because they were both formed in late-18th-century revival movements, retained a commitment to a believer's church, and practiced baptism by immersion. Also, the growth of capitalism and government had promoted a sense of free moral agency that weakened Calvinism. Regionalism also played a part in the rejection of union with the American Free Will Baptists in favor of union across theological lines within the Maritimes.