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"Belief is...[a] personal, voluntary act. Church membership follows the line of personal regeneration and faith."
- J. Lansing Burrows

Baptist Distinctives

Old Dover Meeting House.png
Early photograph of the Old Dover Meeting House

The following might not be all of the major distinctives, but they run like a thread throughout the history of Baptists:

  • The church composed of a gathered people who have been regenerated or changed.

  • The church having democratic forms of church government or polity.

  • The importance of each individual, clergy and laity, so that all possess equal responsibilities and privileges as Christian servants.

  • The priesthood of each believer, signifying that each person is capable of approaching the throne of grace without a priestly intercessor and of reading and interpreting God's word for himself or herself.

  • The high regard for Jesus Christ as Lord and Scripture as God's Word.

  • The concept of the New Testament alone as the sole and sufficient rule book for church and, therefore, no need for man-devised creeds.

  • The right of the individual to be free of civil or ecclesiastical authority in the matter of the soul or, as usually expressed, soul liberty.

  • The duty of the state to protect the believer and even the non-believer in the full exercise of conscience, or religious liberty.

  • The expectation that each religious body will refrain from using the state to promote its own cause, or separation of church and state.

  • The concept of believer's baptism, not infant baptism.

  • The practice of the two church ordinances—baptism and the Lord's Supper.

  • The concept of independent, autonomous churches, yet characterized by a cooperative spirit.

  • A God-called clergy.

  • An abiding concern for implementing the Great Commission through missions.

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From Baptist Distinctives (1995), published by the Virginia Baptist Historical Society.  Used by permission.  Can be copied by churches of Dover Baptist Association.

"Baptists maintain that [...a local church is a] body of baptized believers, meeting steadily for the worship of God and observance of the ordinances of his house." - Tiberius Gracchus Jones

Copyright: Downloadable Baptist Distinctives Bulletin inserts with further details are available for reprinting for Dover Baptist Association church congregants only.

Affiliations of Dover Member Churches

Because Baptist churches are democratic and autonomous, and to be characterized by a cooperative spirit, Baptist churches often form cooperative groups such as associations, conventions, ministries, partnerships, and/or fellowships.  The Dover Baptist Association, established in 1783, predates many Baptist organizations; therefore the following are some groups that our churches have had formal or informal affiliations with, nationally or state-wide, given our diversified churches cooperating in the central Virginia area:

  • Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

  • Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF)

  • Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV)

  • Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia (SBCV)

  • None

Additionally, as a non-dogmatic group of believers, Baptists do not have a written doctrine apart from Scripture. Instead our churches typically affirm the Baptist Faith & Message versions 1963 or 2000.

Some of our member churches align with our distinctives but do not declare themselves Baptist by title or denomination.  These churches typically will not have "Baptist" in their names but have been affirmed by the fellow member churches for membership after consideration. The Dover Baptist Association Constitution reads as follows regarding Membership:

ADMISSION. A Baptist church desiring admission to the Association shall submit a request through the Minister/Church Relations Committee.  Admission is contingent upon adherence to Biblical doctrine and Christian practice as understood by the member churches and the desire to support the Associational program. The association shall maintain a procedure by which churches may apply and be accepted.​

Interested in finding out more about becoming a Dover Baptist Association member church to work in cooperation in our region? Email us!

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