North American Baptist Conference
Laying
a Foundation for THE FUTURE |
How it all began
In 1843, Rev. Konrad Fleischman founded the first North American Baptist church in Philadelphia, PA. This German immigrant dreamed of reaching people, especially other immigrants, with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He know his one church could only do so much. So in 1865, a small group of German-speaking churches formed the North American Baptist Conference. Because of their support for and influence on one another, they impacted not only their local communities but other parts of the world. This first generation of North American Baptists laid the foundation for others to come.
Because of that commitment to disciplemaking, our Conference grew into a family of churches representing many cultures and heritages throughout Canada and the United States. While you can still hear German spoken in a few churches, you will also hear English, Cambodian, Spanish, Chinese, Urdu, French, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, and Russian.
Today, our family includes over 400 churches in Canada and the United States. More than 73,000 people attend NAB churches like yours. While we look very different than in the 1800s, our churches share the same commitment of making disciples.
taken from The North American Baptist Conference "Welcome to our Family" brochure