Baptists in the context of "General Baptists"

The Eucharist (/ˈjuːkərɪst/ YOO-kər-ist; from Koine Greek: εὐχαριστία, romanized: eucharistía, lit. 'thanksgiving'), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion, giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the synoptic Gospels, this was at a Passover meal.

The elements of the Eucharist, sacramental bread—either leavened or unleavened—and sacramental wine (among Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox) or non-alcoholic grape juice (among Methodists, Baptists and Plymouth Brethren), are consecrated on an altar or a communion table and consumed thereafter. The consecrated elements are the end product of the Eucharistic Prayer.

The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular state (with or without legally explicit church-state separation) and to disestablishment, the changing of an existing, formal relationship between the church and the state. The concept originated among early Baptists in America. In 1644, Roger Williams, a Baptist minister and founder of the state of Rhode Island and the First Baptist Church in America, was the first public official to call for "a wall or hedge of separation" between "the wilderness of the world" and "the garden of the church." Although the concept is older, the exact phrase "separation of church and state" is derived from "wall of separation between Church & State," a term coined by Thomas Jefferson in his 1802 letter to members of the Danbury Baptist Association in the state of Connecticut. The concept was promoted by Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke.

In a society, the degree of political separation between the church and the civil state is determined by the legal structures and prevalent legal views that define the proper relationship between organized religion and the state. The arm's length principle proposes a relationship wherein the two political entities interact as organizations each independent of the authority of the other. The strict application of the secular principle of laïcité is used in France. In contrast, societies such as Denmark and England maintain the constitutional recognition of an official state church; similarly, other countries have a policy of accommodationism, with religious symbols being present in the public square.

Christianity is the largest religion in the United Kingdom. Results of the 2021 Census for England and Wales showed that Christianity is the largest religion (though it makes up less than half of the population at 46.2%), followed by the non-religious (37.2%), Islam (6.5%), Hinduism (1.7%), Sikhism (0.9%), Buddhism (0.5%), Judaism (0.5%), and others (0.6%). Among Christians, Anglicanism is the most common denomination, with 53% of Christian believers in the UK identifying with this denomination as of 2023, followed by Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, Unitarianism, and Baptists. Results for the 2022 census in Scotland indicated that the majority (51%) had no religion, but that 38.8% of the Scottish population identified as Christian (of which 20% identified with the Church of Scotland and 13% with the Catholic Church). In Northern Ireland, Christianity is the largest religion (79.7%) followed by non-religious (17.4%), other religions (1.3%), and not stated (1.5%), as of 2021.

Baptism (from Koine Greek: βάπτισμα, romanized: váptisma, lit. 'immersion, dipping in water') is a Christian rite of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or immersing in water (partially or completely), traditionally three times for each person of the Trinity. It is also called christening, although this is typically reserved for the baptism of infants. Baptism is regarded as a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others, with the synoptic gospels recounting that John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Baptism according to the Trinitarian formula, which is done in most mainstream Christian denominations, is seen as being a basis for Christian ecumenism, the concept of unity amongst Christians. In certain Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Assyrian Church of the East, and Lutheran Churches, baptism is the door to church membership, with candidates taking baptismal vows. It has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations.

Communion table and Lord's table are terms used by many Protestant churches—particularly from Reformed, Baptist and low church Anglican and Methodist bodies—for the table used for preparation of Holy Communion (a sacrament also called the Eucharist). These churches typically prefer not to use the term "altar" because they do not see Communion as sacrificial in any way. However, in colloquial speech, the word "altar" is often used interchangeably with "communion table".

Anglo-Irish people (Irish: Angla-Éireannach) denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping consisting mostly of the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Predominantly, the Anglo-Irish belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the established Church of Ireland until 1871 or, to a lesser extent, to one of the English Dissenting Churches, such as Baptists, Presbyterians, the Methodist Church. However, some were Roman Catholics. They often defined themselves simply as "British", or less frequently as "Anglo-Irish", "Irish" or "English". Many became notable as administrators in the British Empire or as senior army and naval officers. The Kingdom of England and Great Britain were in a real union with the Kingdom of Ireland for over a century, before politically uniting into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.

The term is not usually applied to Presbyterians in the province of Ulster, whose ancestry is mostly Lowland Scottish, rather than English or Irish, and who are sometimes identified as Ulster Scots. The Anglo-Irish hold a wide range of political views, with some being outspoken Irish nationalists, but most overall being Unionists. And while most of the Anglo-Irish originated in the English diaspora in Ireland, others were descended from families of the old Gaelic nobility of Ireland.

The First Baptist Church in America, also known as the First Baptist Meetinghouse, is the oldest Baptist church in the United States. The Church was founded in 1638 by Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island. The present church building was erected between 1774 and 1775 and held its first meetings in May 1775. It is located at 75 North Main Street in Providence's College Hill neighborhood. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.