The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. In 1845 the Southern Baptists separated from the Triennial Convention in order to support slavery, which the southern churches regarded as "an institution of heaven". During the 19th and most of the 20th century, it played a central role in Southern racial attitudes, supporting racial segregation and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy while opposing interracial marriage. In 1995, the organization apologized for its history. Since the 1940s, it has spread across the United States, having member churches across the country and 41 affiliated state conventions.
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a Baptist Christian denomination established in 1907 originally as the Northern Baptist Convention, and from 1950 to 1972 as the American Baptist Convention. It traces its history to the First Baptist Church in America (1638) and the Baptist congregational associations which organized the Triennial Convention in 1814.
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became a secular university in 1992, while keeping Christo et Doctrinae as its motto. As of Fall 2021, it enrolls approximately 2,300 undergraduate students and 150 graduate students on its 750-acre (304 ha) campus.
Anderson University is a private Baptist university in Anderson, South Carolina. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in over 100 areas of study. Anderson is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Anderson participates in NCAA Division II athletics and is a member of the South Atlantic Conference.
James Petigru Boyce was an American pastor, theologian, professor, chaplain, and a principle founder of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Missions and evangelism are core focuses of the seminary.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The seminary has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion in the year 1892. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to a newly built campus in downtown Louisville and moved to its current location in 1926 in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. In 1953, Southern became one of the few seminaries to offer a full, accredited degree course in church music. For more than fifty years Southern has been one of the world's largest theological seminaries, with an FTE enrollment of over 3,300 students in 2015.
William Staughton was a Baptist clergyman, educator, and music composer. He was also a Chaplain of the United States Senate and the first President of Columbian College from 1821-1827, which is the original name and oldest division (1821) of The George Washington University.
The Triennial Convention was the first national Baptist denomination in the United States. Officially named the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions, it was formed in 1814 to advance missionary work and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In a dispute over slavery and missions policy, Baptist churches in the South separated from the Triennial Convention and established the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845. This split left the Triennial Convention largely Northern in membership. In 1907, the Triennial Convention was reorganized into the Northern Baptist Convention, which was renamed American Baptist Churches USA in 1972.
Jonathan Maxcy was an American Baptist minister and college president. He was the second president of Brown University, of which he was also a graduate; the third president of Union College; and the first president of the University of South Carolina.
The Alabama Baptist Convention is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the U.S. state of Alabama formed in 1823. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern/Great Commission Baptists.
The Georgia Baptist Mission Board is an association of Baptist churches in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Formed in 1822, it was one of the original nine state conventions to send delegates to the first Southern Baptist Convention, organized in 1845.
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the state of North Carolina. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, the convention is made up of 77 Baptist associations and around 4,300 churches as of 2012. The convention is led by three officers, elected annually during the annual meeting of the convention. The three officers elected to serve the convention for 2022 are: President, Dr. Micheal Pardue, and First Vice-president, Rev. Quintell Hill and Rev. Jason Miller. The convention is also led by an Executive Director-Treasurer (EDT). The current EDT is Rev. Todd Unzinger, who was elected by the convention in May 2021.
Bryant Wright is a Baptist pastor and author. He served as senior pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia from its founding in 1981 until 2019. He also served as elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) from June 2010 to June 2012. He succeeded Johnny Hunt, who had served two one-year terms. Wright was succeeded as SBC president by Fred Luter. After having retired as Senior Pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in 2019, Wright continues to work with Right From The Heart Ministries, and in 2020 was named President of Send Relief, a Christian humanitarian and charitable organization, by the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board.
Thomas Meredith was an influential Baptist pastor, one of the founders of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) in the United States, and the founder and editor of the Biblical Recorder newspaper.
William Bullein Johnson was an American Baptist minister, one of the founders of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention in 1821, and later was the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1845 to 1851. Johnson is also the founder of Johnson Female Seminary, later renamed Johnson University, in 1848, the predecessor to Anderson University.
Richard Furman was a Baptist leader from Charleston, South Carolina, United States. He was elected in 1814 as the first president of the Triennial Convention, the first nationwide Baptist association. Later he was the first president of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention.
Basil Manly Sr. was an American planter, preacher and chaplain best known as the author of the Alabama Resolutions, which formed part of the argument for creation of the Southern Baptist Convention on proslavery grounds.
The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., more commonly known as the National Baptist Convention, is a Baptist Christian denomination headquartered at the Baptist World Center in Nashville, Tennessee and affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. It is also the largest predominantly and traditionally African American church in the United States and the second largest Baptist denomination in the world.
