Gleanings on the Oklahoma State Association and New Convention

Various bits and pieces related to what has already been posted:

General Association of Indian and Oklahoma Territories

“…the Landmark Baptists in Oklahoma...were known as the Baptist Missionary Association of Oklahoma (B.M.A.O.), having been organized in 1912 from the General Association of Indian and Oklahoma Territories, which in turn had been formed in 1904.”[i] [actually 1903, apparently, rlv]. The A. Nunnery Movement in Oklahoma, Roger D. Hebard, 1944, p. 206

The name of the Oklahoma State Landmark Baptist Association, 1912-1925 – Baptist Missionary Association of Oklahoma[ii]

The Oklahoma Baptist (official paper of this body, 1922-1924, E. C. Gillentine, editor) describes itself as “the property of the Baptist Churches composing the Baptist Missionary Association of Oklahoma...” For example, The Oklahoma Baptist (Alex, Oklahoma), Monday, December 1, 1924, p. 6

“…the Landmark Baptists in Oklahoma...were known as the Baptist Missionary Association of Oklahoma (B.M.A.O.), having been organized in 1912…” Roger D. Hebard, 1944, p. 206

“The name ‘Oklahoma State Association’ appearing above was the popular title of the Baptist Missionary Association of Oklahoma.” Hebard, pp. 220-21

The fate of the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma

“Likewise, the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma can scarcely be said to have survived its organizer. The little convention of widely scattered rural churches still exists (1943) in name only. No published minutes of its convention sessions are available since the merger of 1925 and no organized mission work or benevolent enterprise is known to the writer after diligent inquiry and search.”[iii] Hebard, p. 10

“…the A. Nunnery Movement in Oklahoma can be said to have come to its close with the demise of its founder and the stilling of its voice.” Hebard, p. 254

Previous posts on Baptists in Oklahoma (and a map)

• Map of the Indian and Oklahoma territories, 1892
• Oklahoma Baptist State Association: “the only one of its kind”
• The Oklahoma Baptist State Association, again
• The Oklahoma Landmark Baptist State Association, again
• Constitution of the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma
• What happened to the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma?

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[i] This body seems to receive little or no mention in most Oklahoma Baptist histories. The most detail I have found thus far is in the History of the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma and Other Beginnings from 1903 to 1982, Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma Historical Committee (T. L. Duren, editor).

[ii] After the split of the Baptist General Association of Oklahoma in 1951, the minority side resumed using the name Baptist Missionary Association of Oklahoma. 

[iii] Though some churches may have thought of themselves at “BCO” churches, it seems that no organization as such existed in 1943. Some churches may have gone back to the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma, some to the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, while others may have lined up with the Orthodox Baptist movement or simply ceased affiliating with any organized association, convention, or fellowship. Nunnery’s own Ninth Street Baptist Church was described as unaffiliated in 1941, and in 1945 joined the local association aligned with the BGCO.