ARBCA
The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches in America or "ARBCA" was an association of Reformed Baptist churches that subscribed to the Second London Baptist Confession (1689). The association was formerly dissolved at the 2022 General Assembly, and the new Confessional Baptist Association was constituted as a replacement for the former ARBCA association.
History
In November 1996, fifteen Reformed Baptist churches met at Heritage Church in Fayetteville, Georgia to begin the planning of a national association of churches. Four months later in March 1997, the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches in America ("ARBCA") was founded in Mesa, Arizona by 24 member churches from 14 different states.
ARBCA originally founded the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies (IRBS) at Westminster Seminary California, which provided training for seminarians as part of studies toward a Master of Divinity degree program. IRBS is now a full seminary that is now located on the campus of Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas and maintains a relationship with the Confessional Baptist Association and other organizations.
In 2000, ARBCA merged with the Reformed Baptist Mission Services (RBMS), a foreign missions organization that was founded 12 years before the ARBCA. RBMS essentially served as the foreign missions board of the association, until the formal dissolution of ARBCA in 2022.
The association was recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense as an endorsing agency for United States military chaplains.
Dissolution
The dissolution of ARBCA provided for an opportunity, for the remaining churches in the association, to launch an entirely new successor organization. The new organization would have different structure and bylaws, in order to provide for a solid foundation for a new national association of Second London Baptist Confession (1689) subscribing churches.
At the time of the dissolution, there were only 13 churches remaining, following a period of several years where churches left the association (mainly due to issues related to the criminal charges that were pressed against Thomas Cantry and the allegations of the Association's coverup).
