VV Reid Elementary School, 612 Gabriel St, Columbia, SC 29203, US

Saint John Baptist Church is a church affiliated with the Baptist denomination. The Baptist denomination is the largest free-church denomination in the world with approximately 43 million members in most countries. More than 3/4 of all Baptists (33 million) live in America. 216, 000 live in Great Britain, 850, 000 live in South American, and 230, 000 in Central America. In the former USSR, Baptists comprise the largest protestant denomination. It is said that Baptist churches tend to be evangelical in doctrine and Reformed in worship. However, Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority. Each church is locally governed. Consequently, a wide range of beliefs and worship practices can be seen among Baptist churches. The following acronym as a summary of the common elements of Baptists churches: B iblical authority; A utonomy of the local church; P riesthood of the believer; T wo ordinances (Believer's Baptism and Communion); I ndividual soul liberty; S eparation of Church and State and T wo offices of the church (Pastor and Deacon). Saint John is a member of the Progressive Baptist Convention. The Progressive National Convention was founded in 1961.