The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845 when an entity known as the Triennial Convention split over two basic questions: first, who should decide which missionaries were sent and how? Baptists in the north favored local mission sending societies while Baptists in the south favored a central sending board. Second, could slaveholders be sent as missionaries? The north said no, the south said the Triennial Convention could not make such a unilateral decision. Since then, the SBC has, thankfully, publicly repented of its previous support of slavery.

Today, the Southern Baptist Convention is a national fellowship of Baptist churches. It cooperates with state fellowships of churches called state conventions and county-sized fellowships called “associations.” Most fundamentally, however, the Southern Baptist Convention cooperates with the local church. Messengers to the annual, national convention do not represent either the state convention or a local association, they represent the churches!

Springhill Baptist Church financially supports the Southern Baptist Convention through a funding mechanism known as the Cooperative Program. By participating with in the Cooperative Program, Springhill is able to contribute to the International Missions Board, the North American Missions Board, seminary education, Lifeway Christian Resources, and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.


In the state of Florida, we connect with the Florida Baptist Convention (FBC).  Florida Baptists are a body of believers who go.  The FBC goes, seeking to serve others and to share the love of Christ.  The FBC goes in response to needs around the state, the nation and the world--from developing partnership missions that spread the gospel in foreign lands to ministering through disaster relief programs in our own backyard. When it's time to go, we can because of the combined giving power of over 2,200 Florida Baptist churches to Cooperative Missions.

Locally, our church cooperates with the Northeast Florida Baptist Association (NEFBA).

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention helps Springhill connect with more than 5,000 missionaries around the world.  The IMB's main objective is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to lead individuals to saving faith in Him and to establish church-planting movements among all the peoples of the world.