at First Baptist Church of
Morehead, Kentucky. . The Association has its origins in the founding of American Baptists Concerned for Sexual Minorities in May 1972 by members of the
American Baptist Churches USA who supported the inclusion of LGBTQ people. At a convention in
San Jose, California in 1993, the Association replaced the latter. In 1996, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in
Oakland, California ordained Randle R. Mixon, the first openly gay Baptist minister. In 2007, it had 69 member churches. The organization merged with the Affirming Network of the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 2024. According to an association census released in 2025, it has 192 churches in five countries. ==Beliefs==