T hird, we believe in separation of church and state. This includes no levy of taxes to support or aid in particular faith or form of worship. No action by government that might accord a special status, privilege, or priority to any religious organization. F ourth, we believe that the churches are independent in their local affairs. No popes, no bishops, no priests, and no superiors.
Baptist churches are pure democracies.
F ifth, we believe the churches are bodies of regenerated believers who have been baptized in profession of personal faith in Christ and have associated themselves in the fellowship of the Gospel. S ixth, baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of the church. They are not a means of grace. They are symbols of great truths taught in the Scriptures. S criptural baptism, we believe, is believer's baptism by immersion of the body of the believer in water symbolizing the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus.