The Baptist Hymnal - Start Page and Titles List

BAPTISTS ARE INDIVIDUALS who comprise a group of denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers (believer's baptism, as opposed to infant baptism), and that it must be done by complete immersion (as opposed to affusion or sprinkling). Other tenets of Baptist churches include soul competency (liberty), salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local congregation. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices, pastors and deacons. Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches, though some Baptists disavow this identity. Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as Baptists today differ widely from one another in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what is important in Christian discipleship. Historians trace the earliest church labeled "Baptist" back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with English Separatist John Smyth as its pastor. In accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults. Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect. In 1638, Roger Williams established the first Baptist congregation in the North American colonies. In the mid-18th century, the First Great Awakening increased Baptist growth in both New England and the South. The Second Great Awakening in the South in the early 19th century increased church membership, as did the preachers' lessening of support for abolition and manumission of slavery, which had been part of the 18th-century teachings. Baptist missionaries have spread their church to every continent. The Baptist World Alliance reports more than 41 million members in more than 150,000 congregations. In 2002, there were over 100 million Baptists and Baptistic group members worldwide and over 33 million in North America. The largest Baptist association is the Southern Baptist Convention, with the membership of associated churches totaling more than 16 million.(Ref Wikipedia)

These transcriptions are made by many different individuals from all over the world for their own research and instruction and as such should not be considered definitive "official" versions, or representative of any particular artist or performance. They are being shared on this site for educational purposes only, please see our copyright page for more info.

Music Videos with Lyrics & Orchestral Backing Music are available for many of the songs in this song book; the video below is the latest in our Youtube collection, to see more videos click on the three bars icon in the top left of the video window.

For Christian song books and sheet music you can buy, check the
Extensive Christian Music Collection at Sheetmusic Plus

There are also many other Christian pieces on this site which are included with other collections, e.g. the Children's Songs section contains quite a few.