About Us

General Baptist National Missions is a part of the General Association of General Baptists. Our world headquarters is located in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The General Baptist movement was founded in 1823 by Benoni Stinson and a handful of fellow believers. The first church, Liberty Church (now the Howell Church), is still alive and well in Evansville, Indiana.

God was moving in the heart of Benoni Stinson, and he grew restless. Stinson was not satisfied with maintaining the status quo of one little church in Indiana. In one of his early journals Stinson wrote that he “was not content to confine his message to the liberty church.” Instead of letting things stagnate, Stinson began traveling around the area speaking to other groups of believers anywhere they would allow him. By the end of 1824, Stinson’s journeys provided the fodder for the development of four new churches.

In October 1824, these churches met at the Liberty church, formed the first General Baptist association, and established their first constitution. It’s really quite remarkable when you stop to think about it. Within a year, there were already four General Baptist churches, a newly formed association, and the very first General Baptist constitution.

It wasn’t long after this that the first official committee was formed. Do you know what that committee was? You guessed it. In 1835, the first official “Home Missionary Society” was put into effect.

It's from this early "Home Missionary Society " that National Missions found its humble beginnings. Since that time. General Baptists around the world have been sharing the Word of God and planting new churches throughout the U.S. and across seas.