Classification Protestant Origin 1915 | Orientation Baptist Congregations 6,716 | |
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Separated from National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. Separations National Missionary Baptist Convention of America (separated 1988) | ||
The National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (NBCA) is an African-American Baptist body organized in 1915 as the result of a struggle to keep the National Baptist Publishing Board of Nashville independent. Those supporting the independence of the publishing board, headed by Rev. R. H. Boyd, and rejecting a proposed new charter, incorporation, and ownership of the publishing board, withdrew from the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. to form the National Baptist Convention of America. In 2000, the NBCA had about 3.5 million members in more than 8000 churches. It is the third-largest African-American denomination in the United States after the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
Another NBCA controversy surrounding the publishing board led to the formation of the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America in 1988.
The NBCA's headquarters are located in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dr. Samuel Tolbert of Lake Charles, Louisiana, is the current president. From 1986 to 2003, the president was E. Edward Jones, a civil right icon who was the pastor for fifty-seven years of the Galilee Baptist Church in Shreveport.