American Baptist Association

What American Baptist Association does

The American Baptist Association is a nonprofit, voluntary fellowship of independent Baptist churches founded in 1924 and organized around cooperative missions, doctrinal alignment, and shared ministry. It operates without a traditional corporate headquarters; instead, its work is carried out through three small offices in Texarkana and Tyler, Texas, including the Missions Office, the Bogard Press literature office, and the History and Archives office. The association's primary constituents are 1,107 affiliated churches across 45 US states and 528 international churches across 25 countries, with the heaviest concentrations in Arkansas (401 churches) and Texas (212 churches) domestically and in the Philippines (158 churches) and Mexico (124 churches) internationally.

The ABA's service portfolio spans five core offerings: the ABA Missions division, which coordinates salary missionary support (capped at $4,200/month for Interstate and Foreign missionaries with the ABA covering 80% and sending churches 20%), designated missionaries, and global mission ministries; the Baptist Sunday School Committee (BSSC), which provides biblical educational literature; Bogard Press, the publishing imprint producing Sunday School curriculum and church resources; a web- and app-based Church Directory serving US and international members; and the ABA Church Locator mobile app available on Google Play and Apple App Store. The technology stack is deliberately lightweight, relying on a public website, mobile directory applications, and the Anedot online giving platform rather than proprietary infrastructure.

The business model is donation-based rather than commercial: there are no dues or membership fees, and churches participate through voluntary Church Letter submissions, annual offerings, and messenger voting (up to three messengers per church) at annual June meetings. Revenue streams include General Missions Giving routed through the Missions Office and special offerings such as the Memorial, Thanksgiving, and June 24th Mission Offerings. The association maintains roughly 11-50 staff, is governed by elected officers (President, Vice Presidents, Recording Secretaries, Parliamentarians) and a CEO, and reports no parent company, subsidiaries, or external funding.

Name

American Baptist Association

Legal name

American Baptist Association

Website

https://abaptist.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1924

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The American Baptist Association is a nonprofit, voluntary fellowship of independent Baptist churches founded in 1924 that coordinates global missionary support, publishes biblical curriculum through Bogard Press, and maintains a worldwide church directory across 45 US states and 25 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Denominational Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (81311), Religious Organizations (813110)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Denominational & Ecclesiastical Governance Bodies (Dioceses, Synods, Conferences) (BPAGAJAB)

Keywords

• Baptist church association
• Missionary coordination services
• Religious publishing
• Church directory services
• Biblical curriculum

Headquarters

HQ city

Texarkana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. General Missions Giving: Voluntary contributions from member churches designated for general missionary work and associational ministries worldwide. Churches send offerings to the Missions Office which are distributed according to messenger decisions or donor designation.
2. Church Letter and Annual Offering: Churches are encouraged to submit yearly church letters and offerings to help maintain accurate records, support annual meeting expenses, and ensure directory information remains current.
3. Salary Missionary Support: The association provides 80% of approved salary recommendation for salary missionaries while the sending church provides the remaining 20%. Current salary maximums for Interstate and Foreign missionaries are $4,200 per month. Support runs from July through June.
4. Special Offerings: Designated offerings including Memorial Offering, Thanksgiving Offering, and June 24th Mission Offering collected through the Missions Office.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The American Baptist Association is a voluntary fellowship of independent Baptist churches that cooperates in missionary sending, biblical literature publishing (through Bogard Press and BSSC), and church fellowship. It provides coordinated missionary salary support (up to $4,200/month for approved missionaries), maintains a worldwide church directory of 1,600+ churches, and facilitates annual messenger meetings for cooperative ministry governance. The association has no dues or membership fees and operates without a controlling headquarters, serving instead as a channel for churches to fulfill the Great Commission together.

Product overview

The American Baptist Association operates as a network of independent Baptist churches offering a portfolio of religious and ministry services. The core offerings include a church directory service (with both USA and international directories), ABA Missions coordination for worldwide missionary support, and publishing ministries through Bogard Press and the Baptist Sunday School Committee (BSSC). The ABA also provides a mobile Church Locator App available on major platforms for finding affiliated churches globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bogard Press: The publishing ministry of the American Baptist Association, producing biblical literature and educational resources.
• ABA Missions
• Baptist Sunday School Committee (BSSC)

Products and services

• ABA Church Locator App Mobile application available on Google Play and Apple App Store that allows users to search for American Baptist Association churches worldwide, including a directory of 528 international churches and 1,107 U.S. churches across 45 states.
• Bogard Press Publishing ministry of the American Baptist Association that produces sound, biblical literature and educational resources for churches, including Sunday School materials. Operates from 4605 N State Line Ave, Texarkana, TX.
• Baptist Sunday School Committee (BSSC) Committee that offers timely and productive literature resources to meet the spiritual needs of ABA churches, working in conjunction with Bogard Press to provide Sunday School curriculum and biblical education materials.
• Church Directory Service Online directory service providing searchable lists of ABA churches, including USA directory (1,107 churches across 45 states) and World directory (528 churches across 25 countries). Accessible via website and mobile apps.
• ABA Missions Coordination Churches voluntarily working together through prayer and finances to carry the gospel worldwide, facilitated through the Missions Office in Texarkana, TX. Includes support for salary missionaries (80% ABA contribution up to $4,200/month, with 20% from sending church), designated missionaries, and mission ministries.

Quantifiable outcome

• Churches in 45 US states and 25 countries worldwide
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Association of Christian Schools International: A nonprofit association supporting Christian education with member schools and publishing resources. Comparable as a membership-based religious organization providing curriculum and fellowship services.
• Church of the Nazarene: A holiness denomination with a strong global missionary sending program and district/field structure. Comparable as a fellowship body coordinating international missions and supporting publishing/media arms.
• Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: A confessional Lutheran body with international missionary sending and congregational fellowship structure. Comparable as a traditional denominational missions body, though theologically distinct.

Direct peers

• World Baptist Alliance: An international fellowship of Baptist conventions and unions. Comparable as a global Baptist body coordinating missions and fellowship across national Baptist conventions.
• Baptist Missionary Association of America: A fellowship of independent Baptist churches that split from the SBC in 1950 over cooperative missions. Closely comparable to ABA in theology, structure, and cooperative missionary sending model.
• Baptist Bible Fellowship International: An international fellowship of Baptist churches with strong missionary sending emphasis and doctrinal alignment. Comparable to ABA in cooperative missions model and independent Baptist identity.
• General Association of Regular Baptist Churches: An independent Baptist fellowship with similar doctrinal distinctives, missions support, and fellowship-of-churches structure. Highly comparable as a like-minded Baptist association.
• Independent Baptist Fellowship International: A fellowship of independent Baptist churches emphasizing missions and church planting. Closely comparable to ABA in theology, structure, and core mission activities.

Broad incumbents

• Southern Baptist Convention: The largest Protestant denomination in the US, coordinating missionary sending through the IMB and North American Mission Board. Comparable as a Baptist missions-coordination body, though far larger and more centralized than ABA.
• National Baptist Convention USA: The largest historically African American Baptist denomination with a missions board and publishing arm. Comparable as a denominational body coordinating missions, education, and publishing across affiliated churches.

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/AmericanBaptistAssociationMissionsPage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bssc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Baptist Association