Regular Baptists

Regular Baptists members "of a moderately Calvinistic Baptist sect that is found chiefly in the southern U.S., represents the original English Baptists before the division into Particular and General Baptists, and observes closed communion and foot washing", according to Merriam Webster.

The Baptist Bulletin of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches defines them simply as groups who believe "orthodox, Baptist doctrine" and "affirm the rule or measure of the Scripture." As compared to General Baptists or Free Baptists, Regular Baptists were strict in their beliefs, and therefore also called Strict Baptists.

The term Regular Baptists developed in America from English immigrants who had been influenced by the Particular and General Baptists churches that were established in England. According to Stuart Ivison and Fred Rosser: "By 1638 there were also congregations of ‘Particular’ Baptists, who held that the Atonement was of particular application, i.e., for the sake of the elect only." The General, also known as Free Baptists, however, believed that all people could reap the benefits of atonement. This meant, particularly for the western pioneers, that individuals that were baptized were allowed to become church members and take communion.

The number of Regular Baptists began to increase over the number of General or Free Baptists after the 1707 formation of the Philadelphia Baptist Association (PBA), which in 1742 developed a Confession of Faith. The influence and mission program of the Philadelphia Baptists shifted many of the Free Baptists to Regular Baptists. John Asplund traveled the United States and created the first comprehensive list of Baptist denominations in the United States in 1790 entitled Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination in America. He found that the greatest number of Baptist churches at that time were Regular Baptist churches.

...
Wikipedia