National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Mainline Baptist
Polity	Congregationalist
Origin	September 24, 1895 Atlanta, Georgia
Merge of	the Foreign Mission Baptist Convention (org. 1880), the American National Baptist Convention (org. 1886), and the Baptist National Education Convention (org. 1893)
Separations	the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (separated 1915); the Progressive National Baptist Convention (separated 1961); the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (separated 1992)
Statistics
Congregations	30,000
Members	6 million

The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. is one of the largest religious organization among African Americans. The convention has over 30,000 churches and over 6,000,000 members. It is the second largest Baptist organization in the world, after the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Foreign Mission Baptist Convention was organized in Montgomery, Alabama in 1880 to spread the gospel of Christ to other countries. Its founders stressed preaching the gospel to all people as an answer to what they considered the shortcomings of a segregating church. Elias Camp Morris, (1855-1922), helped found the Foreign Mission Convention and led in a move to consolidate several conventions. The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., formed in Atlanta, Georgia on September 28, 1895, represents the successful merger of the Foreign Mission Convention, the American National Baptist Convention (org. 1886), and the Baptist National Education Convention (org. 1893).

Two convention bodies have grown out of divisions in the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. - the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (formed 1915) and the Progressive National Baptist Convention (formed 1961). The Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention was founded in 1897 by dissatisfied members of the newly formed National Baptist Convention. Today the Lott Carey Convention draws members from all the missionary National Baptist bodies. A spiritual gifts movement beginning around 1992, led by NBCUSA pastor Paul S. Morton, grew among all the National Baptist Conventions and resulted in the formation of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. The first Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Conference was held in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1994.

Part of a series on Baptists

Historical Background Christianity General Baptist Particular Baptist

Doctrinal distinctives Prima scriptura Sola scriptura Baptist ordinance Baptist offices Baptist confessions Autonomy of the local church Separation of church and state

Pivotal figures John Smyth Thomas Helwys John Bunyan Andrew Fuller John Gill Charles Haddon Spurgeon Samuel Sharpe

Major Baptist Associations Alliance of Baptists American Baptist Baptist World Alliance Conservative Baptist Association of America Conservative Baptist Association of the Southeast Cooperative Baptist Fellowship National Baptist Convention Southern Baptist Convention Baptist Union of Great Britain Brazilian Baptist Convention

References

• The Story of the National Baptists, by O. D. Pelt
• Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.
• Dictionary of Baptists in America, Bill J. Leonard, editor
• Salvatore, Nick, "Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America", Little Brown, 2005, Hardcover ISBN: 0-316-16037-7. (Contains lengthy discussion of politics of the National Baptist Convention including vignettes describing efforts by Martin Luther King, Jr. and others to depose Joseph H. Jackson in the 1950s.)

External links

• National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. - official Web Site
• Foreign Mission Board - official Web Site
• Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention - official Web Site

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