Baptists are a group of Christians who began in England in the early 1600s. They emerged from the English Separatist movement of the seventeenth century as dissenters from the Church of England, with some influence from the continental Anabaptists. Beginning as a small and despised group, Baptists now number 43 million baptized believers (2001) worldwide. With almost 34 million members in North America, Baptists now constitute the single largest Protestant denomination of Christians in the United States.
Baptists come in many varieties and traditions with many significant differences among them. A core value of Baptist life is the voluntary approach to matters of faith. Derivative of this voluntary approach are some of Baptists’ commonly held beliefs: believer’s baptism by immersion, local church independence, freedom of conscience, separation of church and state, and the authority of scripture for faith and practice. Most, but not all, Baptists are nonliturgical in worship and nonsacramental in their view of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. A fervent commitment to evangelism and missions has characterized many Baptists for the last two hundred years.
— Walter Shurden