Leadership Training Academy

Baptist History and Polity

Tuesdays – April 7, 14, & 28, May 5, 12, & 26 (6:30-8:30 p.m.)

Instructor: Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell, Regional Executive Minister

HYBRID: Both online (Zoom) and in-person at the Region offices and some of our churches

Schedule:

April 7 – Region office (1011 N. Mayfair Rd., Wauwatosa)
April 14 – Community Baptist Church of Greater Milwaukee (2249 N. Sherman Blvd., Milwaukee)
April 28 – First Baptist Church of West Allis (1576 S. 78th St., West Allis)
May 5 – First Baptist Church, Waukesha (247 Wisconsin Ave., Waukesha)
May 12 – Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Madison (2019 Fisher St., Madison)
May 26 – Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, Milwaukee (3456 N. 38th St., Milwaukee)

Baptist History and Polity is a required course for ordination and ordination recognition in the American Baptist Churches. Nonetheless, this is also a wonderful class for lay leaders to attend and learn more about our Baptist History, our movement as part of the greater Christian story and our historic Baptist Principles.

This course will share an overview of the

WHAT–our history of the Baptist Movement;

the WHY–our Baptist distinctives and principles;

and our HOW–Baptist Polity and the Local Church.

Our Baptist History as a movement in the Christian Church is woven together with our Baptist Principles, which come from careful studying of scripture and understanding of the New Testament. This class will go more in depth as to WHAT our history means in the larger context of Christian Protestantism; WHY it matters including our Baptist distinctives and principles which help shape both our independence AND interdependence; and HOW we do ministry as Baptist churches, which includes our understanding of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper along with organizational practices in the local church.

AMONG: We’re excited for the different format of this course because each host church will provide a brief (5-7 minute) history of that particular congregation as part of the class session. Members of the congregation are welcome to attend the session at their building at no charge. But consider registering for the course (just $100) and attending all 6 sessions. The HYBRID option is available for each session.

Instructor: Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell has served as Regional Executive Minister for the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin since March of 2022. A fifth-generation American Baptist Minister, she was born in Oregon and was raised in Alaska. She lives in Brookfield with her husband Rev. JC Mitchell and their son AJ. She enjoys reading and writing science fiction. She has also written for Judson’s Journeys Bible Study Curriculum, the American Baptist Quarterly, The Christian Citizen, and other publications.

TEXTS: The following texts are recommended for this class.

A History of the Black Baptist Church: I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired by Wayne E. Croft, Sr. (Judson Press, 2020)

A Baptist Manual of Polity and Practice, Second Revised Edition by Norman H. Maring and Winthrop S. Hudson; ed. by David Gregg (Judson Press, 2012)

The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms by Walter B. Shurden (Smyth & Helwys, 1993)

VIDEOS:

Rev. Mindi recently recorded several brief videos about Baptist Principles that serve as an excellent introduction to the materials for this course. They are linked below:

We also recorded church histories at each host church. Here’s a compilation:

CHURCH HISTORIES