Freedom of religion and Indigenous rights In 1612, Baptist minister
Thomas Helwys published
A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, a plea for
freedom of religion in England. In 1635, Baptist minister
Roger Williams was thus banished from
Massachusetts for his positions in favor of
separation of church and state,
freedom of religion and
Indigenous rights, which led him into conflicts with the colony's pastors and magistrates. He bought land from the
Native Americans and founded the city of
Providence in 1636, as well as the
Rhode Island, where he became governor. In 1657, he welcomed
Quakers suffering religious persecution in Massachusetts.
African Americans rights Many Baptist leaders were involved in
abolitionism in the United States of the 19th century. In 1843, abolitionist Baptist pastors of
Massachusetts met at
Boston Tremont Temple and founded the American and Foreign Mission Society in opposition to
slavery in the South. In 1872, the Society merged with the
American Baptist Missionary Union of the
American Baptist Churches USA. In 1957, Baptist leaders lead by pastor
Martin Luther King Jr. founded the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference at
Ebenezer Baptist Church of
Atlanta for
African Americans rights and the end of
racial segregation in the United States.
Women's rights In 1815, a
Free Baptist Church in
New England ordained the first Baptist woman minister,
Clarissa Danforth. In 1900,
Nannie Helen Burroughs founded the Women's Convention of the
National Baptist Convention, USA and campaigned for
women's rights, such as
women in the workforce and
right to vote. In 1965, the
American Baptist Churches USA adopted a resolution affirming
gender equality and the
ordination of women in churches.
Rights of LGBTQ people In May 1972, members of the
American Baptist Churches USA founded
American Baptists Concerned for Sexual Minorities and campaigned for
LGBTQ rights. In 1978, President
Jimmy Carter, also a deacon of the
First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C. (
American Baptist Churches USA), urged California voters to reject the
Briggs Initiative, aimed at banning LGBTQ people from teaching in public schools. In 1992,
Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in
Raleigh, North Carolina, celebrated the first
blessing of same-sex union in a Baptist Church. In 1993, members of the
American Baptist Churches USA founded the
Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists in
San Jose, California. (The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists merged with the Affirming Network of the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 2024.) In 1996, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in
Oakland, California ordained the first openly gay Baptist minister, Randle R. Mixon. In 2004,
Coretta Scott King, founder of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, affirms her support for
same-sex marriage at an academic conference at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. In November 2022,
Eastern University in
St. Davids, Pennsylvania affiliated with the
American Baptist Churches USA, added sexual orientation to its anti-discrimination policy, allowing the hiring of openly LGBTQ employees. ==References==