Canadian Baptist Ministries : Ask Biography

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Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) or Ministères Baptistes Canadiens is an association of four regional Baptist conventions in Canada - the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches and l'Union d'Églises Baptistes Françaises au Canada. It was formed in 1995 by the merger of Canadian Baptist International Ministries (CBIM) and the Canadian Baptist Federation (CBF).

The current General Secretary of the CBM is Rev. Sam Chaise.

"In 1845, the Maritime Baptists were the first Protestant body in what is now Canada to send missionaries overseas. They commissioned Richard and Leleah Burpe for Burma." In 1900, delegates from across Canada met in Winnipeg and formed the National Baptist Convention of Canada. Unexplicably, it never met again.

The Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board was organized in 1912. It was renamed Canadian Baptist Overseas Missions Board (CBOMB). It was renamed again to Canadian Baptist International Ministries (CBIM) before merging with the CBF in 1995 to form the current CBM.

No national coordinating body of Baptists existed in Canada until the CBM was organized at Saint John, New Brunswick in 1944 as the Baptist Federation of Canada (BFC). The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, the Baptist Union of Western Canada, and the United Baptist Convention of the Maritimes (now Convention of the Atlantic Baptist Churches) initiated the Federation and were joined by l'Union d'Églises Baptistes Françaises au Canada in 1970. It was renamed Canadian Baptist Federation (CBF) before merging with CBIM in 1995 to form the current CBM.

The Assembly of CBM meets once every three years. Canadian Baptist Ministries coordinates national projects for the four combined associations.

CBM churches share orthodox beliefs in common with other Christians, including belief in one triune God, the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, and the significance of His crucifixion and resurrection for man's salvation, plus Baptist distinctives such as believer's baptism by immersion. The soteriology of the group could be considered mildly Calvinistic.

In 1995, 1120 churches with 133,607 members were part of the CBM through their regional conventions. In 2002, CBM had revenues of $8 047 874 (Canadian dollars). Canadian Baptist Ministries, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, is a member of the Baptist World Alliance.