National Baptist Convention of America International

The first name of the denomination was the National Baptist Convention of America; it was later incorporated as the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. It was sometimes known as the Boyd National Convention. The current name of the convention is the National Baptist Convention of America International, which is incorporated as the National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc.

In 1915, leaders and pastors of the National Baptist Convention, USA disputed the ownership and operation of the independently-owned National Baptist Publishing Board in Nashville, Tennessee. The National Baptist Publishing Board was founded and led by Rev. R. H. Boyd out of concern with publishing companies established and led by white Baptists. He did not have financial support from the NBC USA and financed it himself using real estate in Texas and assistance from the Southern Baptist Convention.{{Cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/?noadc=1|title=Richard Henry Boyd: Shaper of Black Baptist Identity|website=Baptist History and Heritage|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425080228/http://findarticles.com/?noadc=1|archive-date=2019-04-25|access-date=2020-02-29}}

The National Baptist Publishing Board fulfilled Boyd's goal of providing black Baptists with religious materials written by other black Baptists, primarily periodicals and Sunday School materials, but also including some books. At its beginning, the National Baptist Publishing Board took over responsibility for publishing the National Baptist Magazine and it launched the new Teacher's Monthly in 1897. The company started making a profit as early as the first quarter of 1897, when it distributed more than 180,000 copies of published materials. The National Baptist Publishing Board became the principal source of religious publications for black Baptists worldwide.{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo60|title=BOYD, RICHARD HENRY|last=THOMPSON|first=NOLAN|date=2010-06-12|website=tshaonline.org|language=en|access-date=2020-02-29}}

By 1906, it grew to become the largest African American publishing company in the United States. It is credited with being the first publisher of the old songs of Negro slaves, and it produced more than 25 songbooks and hymnals by 1921, including Golden Gems: A Song Book for the Church Choir, the Pew, and Sunday School (1901) and The National Baptist Hymnal (1903).{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitmusiccity.com/walkoffame/inductees.htm|title=Music City Walk of Fame Inductees {{!}} Nashville Walk of Fame {{!}} VisitMusicCity.com|website=www.visitmusiccity.com|access-date=2020-02-29}} Its publications are considered to have played a key role in establishing an African American Baptist religious and racial identity in the United States.{{Cite book|last=McQueen|first=Clyde|url=https://archive.org/details/blackchurchesint0000mcqu|url-access=registration|title=Black Churches in Texas: A Guide to Historic Congregations|date=2000|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-0-89096-941-0|language=en}}

The dispute between Boyd and the NBC USA began due to the National Baptist Publishing Board's success. Pastors and other leaders within the convention were suspicious of the company and sought greater control, while Boyd asserted that the National Baptist Publishing Board was independent. The publishing company was incorporated as an independent entity in 1898. Boyd, who served as the National Baptist Convention secretary of missions from 1896 to 1914 while also leading the National Baptist Publishing Board, claimed that the company regularly contributed some of its profits to the missionary work of the NBC USA, but this was disputed.{{Cite web |title=History of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. |url=https://www.nationalbaptist.com/about-nbc/our-history |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703044429/https://nationalbaptist.com/about-nbc/our-history |archive-date=2024-07-03 |access-date=2020-02-29 |website=National Baptist Convention, USA Inc. |language=en-US}}{{Baptist}}Following confrontations at the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention in Chicago in 1915, Boyd and his supporters formed the National Baptist Convention of America, which became known informally as "National Baptist Convention, Unincorporated," and was sometimes derisively called the "Boyd National Convention." The leaders remaining in the original convention incorporated in 1916, adopting the name "National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc." The National Baptist Convention, USA, sued unsuccessfully to obtain ownership of the National Baptist Publishing Board and subsequently created its own Sunday School publishing board. In 1988, another controversy surrounding the publishing board (now the R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation) led to the formation of the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America in 1988.

From 1986 to 2003, the convention was led Rev. E. Edward Jones, a civil rights icon who was the pastor for fifty-seven years of the Galilee Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana.{{cite web|url=http://lkwilliamsinstitute.org/speakers/eejones.html|title=Pastor Edward E. Jones|publisher=lkwilliamsinstitute.org|access-date=June 14, 2016}}

In the early 2000s, the NBCA participated in the Joint National Baptist Convention,{{Cite news |last=Zoll |first=Rachel |date=29 January 2005 |title=Long-divided black Baptists try to unite around common agenda |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/29/long_divided_black_baptists_try_to_unite_around_common_agenda/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025064112/https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/29/long_divided_black_baptists_try_to_unite_around_common_agenda/ |archive-date=25 October 2012 |access-date=24 January 2024 |work=The Boston Globe |publisher=The New York Times Company}} which it joined again for the 2024 session.{{Cite web |last=Tucker |first=Taylor |date=2024-01-24 |title=901 Now: Baptist pastors convene in Memphis |url=https://www.actionnews5.com/2024/01/24/901-now-baptist-pastors-convene-memphis/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=Action News 5 |language=en}}

The NBCA's headquarters were formerly located in Dallas, Texas. In 2017 the convention moved its headquarters to Louisville, Kentucky on the campus of Simmons College of Kentucky during the tenure of Dr. Samuel C. Tolbert Jr. By 2018 under his leadership, the convention affiliated with the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky (primarily affiliated with the theologically moderate to progressive Cooperative Baptist Fellowship).{{Cite web |last= |title=Welcome to BSK |url=https://bsk.edu/ |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=Baptist Seminary of Kentucky |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Sizemore |first=Abby |date=2020-03-04 |title=BSK Named Official Seminary of NBCA |url=https://bsk.edu/bsk-named-official-seminary-of-nbca3/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904031934/https://bsk.edu/bsk-named-official-seminary-of-nbca3/ |archive-date=2022-09-04 |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=Baptist Seminary of Kentucky |language=en-US}} It also hosted a conference with the theologically liberal Progressive National Baptist Convention in 2018 alongside the Cooperative Baptists.{{Cite web |title=UPDATED NBCA Investment in Louisville 1-26-22 |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c3392/updated_nbca_investment_in_louisville_1-26-22.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717135826/https://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c3392/updated_nbca_investment_in_louisville_1-26-22.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |website=NBCA Intl}}

In 1944, the convention had 2,352,339 members, and in 2000, the National Baptist Convention of America grew to about 3.5 million members in the United States.{{Cite web |title=National Baptist Convention of America |url=https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/group-profiles/groups?D=559 |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Association of Religion Data Archives}} It became the third-largest predominantly African American Christian body in the United States after the National Baptist Convention, USA and the Church of God in Christ. In 2022, its self-reported membership stagnated with an estimated 3.5 million members in approximately 4,000 churches according to a separate study by the Baptist World Alliance.

A prior 2020 study from the Association of Religion Data Archives numbered 225,776 members in 389 active churches in the United States.{{Cite web |title=Congregational Membership Reports |url=https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?t=4&y=2020 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Association of Religion Data Archives}} In 2010, it had 304,414 members in 575 churches.{{Cite web |title=Congregational Membership Reports {{!}} US Religion |url=https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/census/congregational-membership?y=2010&t=4&c=99 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=www.thearda.com}} According to the World Council of Churches, it had a global membership of 5,000,000 members.{{Cite web |date=1955-01-01 |title=National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/national-baptist-convention-of-america-inc |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=World Council of Churches |language=en}} As of 2024, the NBCA continues to estimate 3.5 million global members,{{Cite web |title=About Us – NBCA |url=https://nbcainc.com/about-us/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=National Baptist Convention of America |language=en-US |quote=The National Baptist Convention of America, Incorporated (NBCA), is a fellowship of voluntary churches approximating three and half million African-American Baptists whose initial roots stemmed from the organization of the Foreign Mission Baptist Convention of the United States.}} as also estimated since 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-04-02 |title=National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc. - About Us |url=http://www.nbcainc.com/page/about_us_13399 |access-date=2024-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402025512/http://www.nbcainc.com/page/about_us_13399 |archive-date=2 April 2018 }}

Some members of this convention have dual affiliation with other Baptist denominations, and the National Baptist Convention of America promotes partnership with the Cooperative Baptists "to engage in multi- racial experiences of worship, fellowship, disaster relief, educational advancement and healthy dialogue that brings about oneness in the body of Christ. Local member NBCA and CBF churches develop stronger ties for the work they embark upon together to the Glory of God."{{Cite web |title=Cooperative Baptist Fellowship |url=https://nbcainc.com/partners/cooperative-baptist-fellowship/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904031928/https://nbcainc.com/partners/cooperative-baptist-fellowship/ |archive-date=2022-09-04 |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=National Baptist Convention of America |language=en-US}}

The National Baptist Convention of America's members denounce same-sex marriage and same-sex unions, and as the NBC USA, they consider homosexuality an illegitimate expression of God's will.{{Cite news |last=Zoll |first=Rachel |date=29 January 2005 |title=Long-divided black Baptists try to unite around common agenda |work=The Boston Globe |publisher=The New York Times Company |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/29/long_divided_black_baptists_try_to_unite_around_common_agenda/ |url-status=usurped |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025064112/https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/29/long_divided_black_baptists_try_to_unite_around_common_agenda/ |archive-date=25 October 2012}} The National Baptist Convention of America also doctrinally rejects the ordination of women, though some congregations throughout the United States and Canada have attempted to ordain women as deacons, ministers, and pastors.{{Cite web|title=She-Preachers, Bossy Women, and Children of the Devil: A History of Baptist Women Ministers and Ordination|url=https://bwim.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Durso-final.pdf|last=Durso|first=Pamela|website=Baptist Women in Ministry|access-date=May 11, 2020}}

Its ecumenical partners (the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Chicago Theological Seminary of the United Church of Christ){{Cite web|title=Suzii Paynter Tributes – Cooperative Baptist Fellowship|url=https://cbf.net/suzii|access-date=2020-10-16|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=NBCA Partnerships |url=https://nbcainc.com/partners/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904032348/https://nbcainc.com/partners/ |archive-date=2022-09-04 |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=National Baptist Convention of America |language=en-US}} permit women's ordination, and some of them affirm same-sex marriage as well as gender transition.{{Cite web |date=2018-02-09 |title=CBF revises hiring policy; lifts LGBT ban for some posts |url=https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/baptists/cbf-revises-hiring-policy-lifts-lgbt-ban-posts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904032442/https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/baptists/cbf-revises-hiring-policy-lifts-lgbt-ban-posts/ |archive-date=2022-09-04 |access-date=2020-05-03 |website=Baptist Standard |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=CBF nixes 'absolute' LGBT hiring ban, maintains it for leaders |url=http://www.bpnews.net/50346/cbf-nixes-absolute-lgbt-hiring-ban-maintains-it-for-leaders |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904032533/https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/cbf-nixes-absolute-lgbt-hiring-ban-maintains-it-for-leaders/ |archive-date=2022-09-04 |access-date=2020-05-03 |website=Baptist Press |language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Burke|first=Daniel|date=2010-03-27|title=Clergy torn over church, civil loyalties over same-sex marriage|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR2010032604211.html|access-date=2020-05-03|issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |author=Staff Reports |title=UCC celebrates an anniversary: 150 years of women clergy |url=https://www.ucc.org/ucc-celebrates-an |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630224353/https://www.ucc.org/ucc-celebrates-an |archive-date=2020-06-30 |access-date=2020-06-28 |website=United Church of Christ |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=About our LGBT Ministries|url=https://www.ucc.org/lgbt_about|access-date=2020-06-28|website=United Church of Christ|language=en}} In response to the theological differences between the Cooperative and National Baptists, NBCA president Dr. Tolbert in 2020 stated, "We get more done realizing we don't have to agree on everything."{{Cite web |date=2020-10-01 |title=Black and white Baptist groups work side-by-side in Louisiana |url=https://baptistnews.com/article/black-and-white-baptist-groups-work-side-by-side-in-louisiana/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904032810/https://baptistnews.com/article/black-and-white-baptist-groups-work-side-by-side-in-louisiana/ |archive-date=2022-09-04 |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Baptist News Global |language=en-US}}

• Christianity in the United States

• [http://www.nbcainc.com/ National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.] - Official website
• [http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1390.asp Profile of the NBCA on the Association of Religion Data Archives website]
• [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/pqv8t Jessie M. Bright Collection] at [https://rose.library.emory.edu/ Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, Emory University]

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|title=Dictionary of Baptists in America|editor=Leonard, Bill J.}}
• {{cite book|title=Handbook of Denominations|first=Frank S.|last=Mead|author2=Samuel S. Hill |author3=Craig D. Atwood }}
• {{cite book|title=Baptists Around the World|last=Wardin Jr.|first=Albert W.}}

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Category:Historically African-American Christian denominations

Category:Baptist denominations in the United States

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