August 27, 2007

Primitive Baptist Group Marks 100th Anniversary

By Greg Garrison

©2007 Religion News Service

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) — The National Primitive Baptists have been modernizing some of their old beliefs and practices, but this year have been busying celebrating their past.

The National Primitive Baptist Convention is observing its centennial year, including a week-long meeting in Birmingham that ended Aug. 24.

"We're thanking the Lord for where he's brought us," said Elder Bernard Yates, vice president of the convention and pastor of Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.

The predominantly black denomination was organized in Huntsville, Ala., in 1907 and has about 1,500 churches and 600,000 members nationwide.

"Our churches are growing," said Elder Ernest Ferrell, president of the denomination and pastor of St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Fla. "We want to celebrate that we've been around 100 years."

A century ago, most Primitive Baptists called themselves "hardshell" -- unwilling to change or compromise their beliefs.

Staunch, hardshell Primitive Baptists are usually strict Calvinists, following Protestant Reformer John Calvin's predestination teaching that God already knows the "elect," those who are saved.

"They don't do evangelism because of the doctrine of election," Yates said. "We had to move from that place to a broader view of predestination. It's our responsibility to preach and teach God's word. Let God take care of the rest. We do evangelize, with revivals, outreach and mission work."

When Primitive Baptists banded together to form a national group in 1907, many preferred to remain unaffiliated. That's still the case.

"Many of them don't like losing their independence," Yates said.

They clung to practices such as singing hymns without instruments. Nowadays, most churches in the convention have a mix of the old and the new. Worship usually starts with a cappella hymns from the traditional hymnbook. But most churches now also have instrumental praise bands to augment the music at other points in the worship, Yates said.

Ferrell, 63, said he's hoping some independent Primitive Baptists will join the convention. "We're hoping we can reach out to them," he said. "They are a part of us."