CAPITAL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION
Mission Statement
Enabling churches to effectively discover their purpose and design their ministries to influence
their communities and to be on mission with the gospel of Christ in our world.
Monday, April 22, 1889. A day never to be forgotten. More than forty thousand beings waited in feverish anxiety on the borders of the Promised Land for the watchman’s cry. Before them lay Canaan, and they had come from all over the world to stake their claim to a share of this land flowing with milk and honey. At last, 12:00 high noon, and the race was on! They could be seen riding and running in all directions. By 12:20 p.m., white tents dotted the country as far as the eye could see.
Oklahoma City is one of the few cities in the world that was “born grown," as the population grew from zero to 10,000 in a single day.
On Sunday, July 21, 1889, just three months after the Land Run, twenty-three people gathered to discuss the beginning of a new Baptist church. One week later, July 28, 1889, they organized the very first Sunday School, and on Nov. 2, 1889, they organized the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.
On December 22, 1890, representatives from Baptist churches in central Oklahoma met at the First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, and organized what is now known as Capital Baptist Association.
We were born with a burning heart to reach people for Jesus Christ. This desire to reach more, disciple more, and send more, has taken our association to the top ten among the 1,212 Southern Baptist associations in America. We are ranked number four in the following areas: Total Membership, Resident Membership, Sunday School Enrollment, and Sunday School Average Attendance. In another very important area, Evangelism, we are ranked number five.
Capital Baptist Association, in relationship to the state conventions (of which there are thirty-four), is larger than seventeen of them. We represent twenty percent of all Oklahoma Baptists. One of every five Southern Baptists in Oklahoma is a member of a church in our association. One of every five in Sunday School attends one of our Sunday Schools. One of every five baptized is baptized into one of our churches.
While no association in America has the emphasis on social ministries, as does Capital Association, at the same time we offer a complete program to help our churches in all areas of ministries. One example is Young Musicians Camp. The largest music camp of its kind in the world, we had over 1700 registered at Falls Creek this past summer. There is nothing that can compare with this week of special training for our children.
We are a diverse people representing thirteen different languages groups, with Anglos, African Americans, and Native Americans meeting in more than 150 congregations. Our fellowship includes large churches, some having attendance exceeding a thousand, and one or two with more than two thousand in attendance. But, we also minister to churches with attendance of less than thirty. We are indeed, a diverse people.
Welcome to our web page. We hope that you enjoy your stay. And come often!
