Frontier Baptist Association

The first Southern Baptist Church in the northeast, LaSalle Baptist Church, was constituted June 24, 1955 in Niagara Falls, New York. Representatives of five churches and two chapels organized the Frontier Baptist Association on September 23, 1958. In the early years, churches throughout upstate New York and northwest Pennsylvania composed the asso... ciation. As new associations were organized, its territory became smaller. After the last association (Rochester) was organized in 1970, there were ten churches and 932 members in the eight counties composing Frontier Baptist Association. Presently 42 churches that account for over 2500 members of Southern Baptist work in western New York. Composed primarily of newly converted native northeasterners, many of our congregations are only beginning to develop a clear understanding of Southern Baptist beliefs and pratices. The major religious group in western New York is Roman Catholicism, with 75 percent of the public in some areas professing to be Catholic. We currently have a Pakistani Christian church, a Spanish church, a Vietnamese congregation, 2 Nepali Churches, a Conganese Church, a Burmese congregation along with a Canadian mission. Michael D. Flannery serves as the Director of Missions for the Frontier Baptist Association. Michael has been serving in mission work under appointment with the Home Mission Board and North American Mission Board for 35 years. He is a graduate of Louisiana College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and has served in Central Indiana Baptist Association in Indianapolis, Indiana for eight and one half years, Northeastern Baptist in Ft. Wayne, Indiana for two years, and New River Baptist Association in Jacksonville, North Carolina for five years before coming to Frontier Baptist Association in 1994. He and his wife, Beverly, have four children: Paul, Luke, John, and Hannah.Read More