The Mahoning Baptist Association was an association of Baptist churches that was established in 1820 in Ohio's Mahoning Valley. [1] Two prominent early Restoration Movement leaders, Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, were closely affiliated with the Mahoning Association. [1] [2] [3]: 675 The Association was dissolved in 1830. [1]
The Mahoning Baptist Association was established in 1820. [1] Even though the Philadelphia Confession of Faith was considered its "organic law," the Association was "filled with ideas of religious reformation" and both open discussion and doctrinal diversity were accepted. [1]
A congregation in Wellsburg, West Virginia, which was formed by Alexander Campbell after he left the Brush Run Church and the Redstone Baptist Association, became a member of the Association in 1823. [2] Campbell's journal the Christian Baptist was well received in the Association, as were his debates. [1] As a result, "the association heartily adopted the very same ecumenical, reforming views" in 1824 that had led to Campell's break with the Redstone Association. [1]
Another early Restoration Movement leader, Walter Scott, was hired by the Mahoning Association as an evangelist in 1827. [1] [3]: 675 Within three years he brought more than 3,000 converts into the movement. [3]: 675
The Association disbanded in 1830, which Campbell believed to be premature. [1] Some historians consider the dissolution of the Mahoning Association to mark the beginning of the Disciples of Christ, because that is the point when they became truly independent. [1]