Malaysia Baptist Convention

Malaysia Baptist Convention
Logo of the Malaysia Baptist Convention
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Baptist
Polity	Congregationalist
Associations	NECF, APBF, BWA
Region	Malaysia
Origin	1953
Branched from	Southern Baptist Convention
Separations	Reformed Baptist Churches Malaysia
Congregations	179
Members	24,632

The Malaysia Baptist Convention (Malay: Perhimpunan Baptis Malaysia; MBC) is an association of Baptist churches in Malaysia. According to statistics provided by the Baptist World Alliance, 179 local congregations comprising 24,632 members are associated with the MBC.

The other significant body of Baptist churches in Malaysia belongs to the Reformed Baptist tradition.

The first Baptist churches in Malaysia were the result of the initiative of Baptist immigrants from Swatow, China. A key person during those early days was Mrs. Oh Hock Teck who helped establish the first Baptist church in Alor Setar, Kedah in 1938. Although Baptist work in Malaysia was initiated by Asians, missionaries from the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention played an important role in helping the new churches establish Baptist distinctives in teaching, polity and ministry.

On 16 August 1953, the Malaya Baptist Convention was organised comprising the following five churches as charter members :

The Malaya Baptist Convention became a member of the Baptist World Alliance in 1957 and continued growing steadily. With the establishment of the larger federation of Malaysia, the convention changed its name to the Malaysia Baptist Convention in 1964. The first edition of the bi-monthly MBC Newsletter was first published in 1966 and that year also saw the convention being formally registered as a society in Malaysia.

In May 1967, a Baptist from Hong Kong, Wong Chung, was appointed the first Secretary General of the MBC and later in the same year, in view of the changing political landscape due to Singapore leaving the Malaysian federation in 1965, the convention changed its name again to the Malaysia-Singapore Baptist Convention.