Office of the General Secretary Resources

Governing Documents

Covenant of Relationships PDF

*Note – The Covenant of Relationships is a historical document. Although board names have changed, the Covenant of Relationships continues to apply to the bodies privileged to be parties to this Covenant, which are: The Board of General Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA); the national Related Boards of the ABC; the thirty three boards of the Regions State Conventions and Standard City Societies (R/S/C’s) currently affiliated with the ABC, and the boards of any future R/S/C units.

Bylaws PDF
Standing Rules PDF
Autonomy and Interdependence PDF
Representative Process Organizational Chart JPG
Statements of Concern Report 2011 PDF
Together in Mission PDF
Policy Statements and Resolutions

Financial Information Fiscal Policy Documents:

Budget Covenant
Budget Covenant Operating Guidelines Manual
Financial Statements
2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

Annual Summary

ABCUSA Resources

Our mission statement calls every American Baptist to radical personal discipleship and prioritizes ministries such as leadership, healthy missional churches, new church planting, youth, and mutual faithfulness. The Program Boards of our denomination offer resources to local churches to carry out these ministries as well as enable ministries beyond the reach of any one local church nationally and internationally.

American Baptist Churches Information Systems (ABCIS) Resources (reports, church mission support forms, instructions, etc.)

Other Resources

A Short History of American Baptists PDF MS Word
FAQs About Ordained Ministry PDF
Recommended Procedures for Ordination
Ordination Standards PDF MS Word Ordination Standards by Region

A number of these resources are in the .pdf file format. To open them, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Your computer may already have this program installed on it and be using it as a plug-in to your Internet browser. If you do not have it installed, or you would like to upgrade to the latest version (recommended), it is a free program that you can download from the Adobe Web site.

Board of General Ministries Documents

Nominations and Recommendations for ABC Officers (including):

ABC Officers Qualifications and Commitments
Nomination/Recommendation Form
Candidate Profile Form

Board of General Ministries – Expense Voucher Form

Identity Statement (Adopted by the General Board, American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., November 2005)

Biennial Minutes

2023

Above is a draft of the minutes from the 2023 Biennial Mission Summit held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. These minutes are not official until voted on at the 2025 Biennial Mission Summit.

Note: A number of these resources are in the .pdf file format. To open them, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Your computer may already have this program installed on it and be using it as a plug-in to your Internet browser. If you do not have it installed, or you would like to upgrade to the latest version (recommended), it is a free program that you can download from the Adobe website.bcu