History Highlights

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Eighteenth Century

1742 Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church founded in Lutherville, MD (part of original building is still being used)
 
1785 First Baptist Church of Baltimoretowne organized on land by Jones Falls (where the Shot Tower now stands)
1797 Second Baptist Church of Baltimore began a Sunday School, reported to be one of the first to use the Bible as its only textbook and with all volunteer teachers.

Nineteenth Century

1836 October 27, Maryland Baptist Union Association organized with six churches, at First Baptist, Baltimore (MBUA is now the BCM/D with about 514 churches and missions)
1845 Maryland is one of nine states at the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta, GA
1846 MBUA sent $100 to SBC Domestic Board for support of a missionary in Maryland
1847 Noah Davis is appointed a missionary of MBUA and SBC among “colored” of Baltimore (Davis was a former Virginia slave, freed with money from Baltimore Baptists)
1849 The True Union, Maryland Baptist news journal, first issued in December (now called BaptistLIFE)
1850 Joseph M. Harden, black member of Seventh, Baltimore, appointed by SBC Foreign Mission Board to the Liberian Mission (1853 Harden moved to Lagos, Nigeria)
1853 Southern Baptist Convention met in Baltimore
1854 Baltimore Baptist Church Extension Society formed; MBUA began German work
1856 SBC Foreign Mission Board appointed Rosewell H. Graves to China from Maryland
1862 Provisional Foreign Mission Board formed in Baltimore. MBUA approved William Crane as agent to collect and send funds to missionaries of SBC cut off from Richmond by the Civil War
1868 Mrs. Ann Graves, mother of missionary Rosewell Graves, invited SBC women to meet in support of missions while in Baltimore for the SBC annual convention
1871 Woman’s Mission To Women began with goal to support foreign missions
1882 Woman’s Home Mission Society of Maryland constituted
1887 Mission Rooms opened in Baltimore: MBUA sponsored; Woman’s Missionary Societies operated (forerunner of mission literature departments of SBC)
1888 Woman’s Missionary Union, Auxiliary of Southern Baptist Convention, formed in Richmond, VA, with Miss Annie W. Armstrong of Baltimore as Corresponding Secretary; WMU Headquarters, 1888-1921 in Baltimore
1893 Immigrant mission work began at port of Baltimore when SBC Home Mission Board appointed Miss Marie Buhlmeir for German and immigrant work
1895 Annie Armstrong proposed first WMU self-denial offering for Home Missions (renamed in 1933 to honor Miss Armstrong)
 
1896 Maryland Baptists gave 76 cents per member to Foreign Missions; south-wide average was 8 cents

Twentieth Century

1907 Joshua Levering of Maryland proposed that the SBC form a Laymen’s Missionary Movement; J. Harry Tyler, Baltimore, first president, with headquarters in Baltimore (became Baptist Brotherhood in 1926 and Men’s Ministries in 1997)
1915 Baptist Home of Maryland, Inc. formed with W. M. McCormick, President
1921 Baptist Children’s Aid Society organized
1950 Camp Wo-Me-To began with purchase by WMU of Maryland of 148 acres in HarfordCounty for $7,655; Miss Marjorie Allen, WMU Executive Secretary Kathleen Mallory Goodwill Center building built in Baltimore for $120,000 investment by Home Mission Board as agent for SBC WMU (Miss Mallory, third Corresponding Secretary of WMU, SBC, 1912-1948)
  
1957 Maryland Baptists entered Northeast states as College Avenue, Annapolis, sponsored Manhattan Baptist Chapel, New York City (College Avenue is now Heritage Baptist Church)
1963 South Burlington Church, Vermont, organized and Baptist Convention of Maryland now had churches in 11 states, and the SBC had churches in 50 states.
1967 Delaware Association formed with six churches and two chapels
1969 Baptist Convention of Maryland consisted of 20 associations in 11 states, 385 churches with 93,897 members
1970 Pennsylvania/South Jersey Baptist Convention formed out of Baptist Convention ofMaryland
1972 Skycroft Conference Center grounds purchased
 
1973 Language Mission Director came to Baptist State staff
1983 Baptist Convention of New England formed out of Baptist Convention of Maryland
1984 Name changed to Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D). Established partnership mission with Burundi, Africa
 
1987 Established partnership mission with Rwanda, Africa
1989 May 1, BCM/D headquarters relocated from Lutherville to new Baptist Center in Columbia, Maryland
1990 Established partnership mission with Long Island Baptist Association, New York
1991 Established partnership mission with Latvia in Eastern Europe
1994 Established partnership missions with Pittsburgh Baptist Association, PA, and Moldova in Eastern Europe
1995 General Mission Board approved the Northeast Baptist Education Consortium. Fifteennew churches were started.
1996
  • The Advancing Christ’s Kingdom (ACK) capital campaign officially began April 28. Money raised through this campaign was expressly used for starting new churches and strengthening existing ones.
  • Nine new churches were started.
1997
  • Twenty-five new churches were started.
  • BCM/D encompassed two states, 12 associations, 430 churches and more than 96,000 members.
  • Looking toward the new millennium, adoped a new mission statement, approved the futuring process and reorganization structure, and created the Center for Innovative Leadership.
1998
  • Entered into partnership agreements with Ontario, Canada, and Mississippi.
  • Approved $300,000 for ACK projects.
  • Approved the Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core Values, and Strategies for the futuring process.
  • Adopted the Empowered Team Concept and Structure for BCM/D staff.
  • Twelve new churches were started.
1999
  • Year of transition as the new BCM/D structure begins to take shape.
  • Phase III of Skycroft Conference Center’s expansion project is approved.
  • Changed name of the Kathryn Barnes States Mission Offering to the Maryland/Delaware Missions Offering and Week of Prayer.
  • Changed name of the Baptist Mission Foundation to the Baptist Foundation of Maryland/Delaware.

Twenty-First Century

2000
  • Year of implementation for the new BCM/D structure.
  • Charles Barnes retires on March 31.
  • Dr. David Lee takes the helm as the newly-elected Executive Director onMay 3.
  • Began the church planting movement with a goal of 200 new churches by 2010. Twenty-one new congregations started.
  • Moldova partnership ends.
2001
  • Twenty-one new congregations were started. On target to reach goal of 600 churches and 150,000 active members.
  • Acts 15 and the Skycroft Accord initiated tobring unity among churches.
  • More than $87,000 given by Maryland/Delaware Baptists for relief efforts in New York due to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
  • Began three-year partnership with Puebla, Mexico.
  • Began Legacy of Faith (LOF) campaign.
  • Effective May 2002, designated Mother’s Day offerings to Baptist Familyand Children’s Services.
  • Baptist Home, known as “Rainbow Hall” closes its facility after 86 years of service.
2002
  • Began 30 new congregations.
  • Launched Acts 2 Network. Reached halfway point of $10million LOF goal.
  • Began three-year partnership with the Baptist Union of Scotland.
  • Entered a three-year partnership with the International Mission Board to impact the people of Saudi Arabia.
2003
  • Forty-one new congregations started.
  • Disaster relief teams respond to Hurricane Isabel.
  • Entered into Embrace the City process with Baltimore and the North American Mission Board.
  • Charles Barnes named Executive Director Emeritus and re-named the registration center at Skycroft in His honor.
2004
  • Thirty-nine new congregations started, bringing total to 498 with approximately 105,000 members.
  • Began strategic focus on urban ministries.
  • Continued efforts to impact Baltimore.
  • Participated in associational initiatives in Wilmington and Dover, Delaware.
2005
  • By October, 21 new congregations were added for a total of 158 since 2000.
  • Launched the Embrace Baltimore campaign.
  • Celebrated the 170th Annual Meeting of the BCM/D.
  • Three year partnership with Moldova begins. Partnership extended to six years.
2006
  • The name Baptist Center was changed to the Baptist Mission Resource Center.
  • The Strategic Focus Cities Partnership Covenant and ministerial scholarships were adopted.Scotland partnership extended for three years.
  • Urban ministry in Baltimore becomes major focus.
  • This year’s partnerships include Scotland,West Africa and an unreached people group in the 10-40 window. (The 10-40 window includes people groups fromAfrica through Asia that are between 10 degrees latitude north to 40 degrees latitude north.)
  • Legacy of Faith ended its third year and as raise five million dollars.
  • The convention partnered, provided training, and/or assisted financially in starting 35 new congregations.
2007
  • The Mission Statement was revised to read: The Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware will intentionally assist in the starting and strengthening of congregations sothat together we can fulfill Jesus’ commands in Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8.
  • Mississippi partnership ends. Partnership with Canada on free online innovative training called e-quip.net. Partnership missions in New Jersey, Mexico, Scotland andAfrica.
  • BCM/D a leader nationally in the SBC church planting movement. Twenty-one new congregations. This decade planted 167 new churches, which placed 14th out of theSBC’s 44 state conventions.
  • Seven of the eleven associations have seen at least one newwork in their area. These new congregations include Africans, African-Americans, Anglo-Americans, Filipinos, Hispanics, Indian, Korean and Nepali communities.
2008
  • This year’s partnerships include Scotland, Kentucky,West Africa and an unreached people group in the 10-40 window. Began partnership with Southeast Asia.
  • Embrace Baltimore major ministry initiatives began in January; 24 new congregations; 51 out of 74 Baltimore churches partnered with Embrace; 4118 volunteers worked alongside churches.
  • Began planning for Embrace Wilmington, the largest populated area in the Delaware Association.
  • 28 new church plants
  • New resort ministry in Western Association
  • Growing use of BCM/D e-quip.net, the online training program
  • 3,000 people made confessions of faith in convention