MorriganTait said:
As a group, Baptists with an affiliated heirarchy and those with no affiliated heirarchy are still generally considered part of the same denomination, but those with no particular affiliation are difficult to measure. I myself belong to a rather small denomination. But - we are waaaaaaay OT here, so we can take this up in another thread if it's important enough to keep discussing.
Sorry about :topic:
I was just trying to explain that independent Baptist churches aren't included in the list because their churches do not belong to a hierarchy, so they aren't counted as a "denomination". They don't belong to any of these groups, such as:
American Baptist Association
American Baptist Churches in the USA
Association of Grace Baptist Churches
Baptist Bible Fellowship International
Baptist General Conference
Free Will Baptists
General Association of General Baptists
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
Landmark Baptists
National Baptist Convention, U.S.A.
North American Baptist Conference
Old Baptist Union
Primitive Baptists
Seventh Day Baptists
Southern Baptist Convention
So whatever figures anyone uses, or statements about "Baptist" beliefs or perspectives about women, don't apply to all "Baptists".
According to Encarta:
"In the early 21st century, there were an estimated 47 million Baptists worldwide; the great majority of these
(more than 35 million in 2004) are located in the United States, where they make up between one-third and one-half of the Protestant population."
For whatever that's worth. :P