who is the leader of the baptist denomination
Baptists Historians trace the earliest church labeled "Baptist" back to 1609 in Amsterdam, Dutch Republic with English Separatist John Smyth as its pastor.[3] In accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults.[4] Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect.[5] Thomas Helwys formulated a distinctively Baptist request that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals might have freedom of religion. Helwys died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of English dissenters under King James I. In 1638, Roger Williams established the first Baptist congregation in the North American colonies. In the mid-18th century, the First Great Awakening contributed to Baptist growth in both New England and the South.[6] The Second Great Awakening in the South in the early 19th century greatly increased church membership. Baptist missionaries have spread their faith to every continent.[4]
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church, with at least 12 million members as of 2014, is the largest denomination within the wider Methodist movement of approximately 80 million people across the world.[14] In the United States, the UMC ranks as the largest mainline Protestant denomination, the largest Protestant church after the Southern Baptist Convention, and the third largest Christian denomination. In 2014, its worldwide membership was distributed as follows: 7 million in the United States,[15] and 4.4 million in Africa, Asia and Europe.[16] In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 3.6% of the US population, or 9 million adult adherents, self-identify with the United Methodist Church revealing a much larger number of adherents than registered membership.[17] The church is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, and other religious associations.