1609
John Smyth Baptizes Believers at Amsterdam
John Smyth, an English Separatist exile, baptizes himself and his congregation on profession of faith at Amsterdam; the congregation he forms is the first Baptist church of the modern era.
Christianity
The Baptist stream of the Christianity timeline.
Streams: All of Christianity Catholic Eastern Orthodox Oriental Orthodox Anglican Lutheran Reformed and Presbyterian Anabaptist Baptist Methodist and Wesleyan Restorationist Pentecostal and Charismatic Independent and Non-denominational
Reformation
1612
Thomas Helwys Founds the First Baptist Church in England
Thomas Helwys leads part of Smyth's congregation back to London and founds the first Baptist church on English soil at Spitalfields; his plea for universal religious liberty, addressed to James I, lands him in prison, where he dies.
1638
The First Baptist Church in America
Roger Williams, banished from Massachusetts Bay, gathers a church at Providence and is baptized by immersion; the congregation is the first Baptist church in America, and Williams's colony practices the soul liberty his writings defend.
Modern
1792
William Carey and the Baptist Missionary Society
English Particular Baptists organize the Baptist Missionary Society at Kettering and send William Carey to India; the society begins the modern Protestant missionary movement, and Carey's Enquiry supplies its argument.
1814
The Triennial Convention Organizes American Baptists
American Baptists form the General Missionary Convention, meeting every three years, to support the Judsons' mission in Burma; national organization among Baptists begins with missions, not doctrine.
1845
The Southern Baptist Convention Founded
Southern Baptist churches, refused mission appointments for slaveholders by the national boards, organize the Southern Baptist Convention at Augusta, Georgia; it becomes the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
Contemporary
1905
The Baptist World Alliance Founded
Baptist unions and conventions from around the world constitute the Baptist World Alliance at London, giving the global Baptist family a single fellowship while leaving every congregation autonomous.
1974
Lausanne Congress
The International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, convened by Billy Graham and John Stott, consolidates global evangelicalism and issues the Lausanne Covenant.