Home›Rituals›Tradition›Progressive National Baptist ConventionDenominationProgressive National Baptist ConventionChristianityPractitioner SystemVerifiedOrigin 1961The Progressive National Baptist Convention was founded in November 1961 at Zion Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, by pastors led by L. Venchael Booth who broke from the National Baptist Convention, USA, over its leadership's resistance to officer term limits and its caution toward the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr., Gardner C. Taylor, and other civil-rights-era Baptist ministers were among its founding figures, and the convention became closely identified with the movement King led. It remains headquartered in Washington, D.C., and continues to describe itself as committed to social-justice ministry alongside traditional Baptist faith and practice.FactsIn Other Languages (4 names)Learn MoreProgressive National Baptist ConventionConnectionsSourcesCommunityComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsAttributionsChurch FamilyWell-attestedBaptist 1OriginsOrigin PeriodWell-attested1961 1Place of OriginWell-attestedCincinnati, Ohio 1FounderWell-attestedL. Venchael Booth (1919-2002), who issued the founding call; T. M. Chambers was elected the convention's first president 1StatusStatus TodayWell-attestedLiving tradition, practised today 1DisputedMembership Over TimeScholarly debateThe Association of Religion Data Archives' 2020 Religious Congregations and Membership Study counted 254,571 Progressive National Baptist Convention members across 363 congregations in the United States, compiled from congregation-level reporting rather than from the convention's own head office. 8United States-only independent counts of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, compiled congregation by congregation, run far below the denomination's own reported total: the Association of Religion Data Archives counted 254,571 members across 363 congregations in its 2020 study, while the convention itself has continued to report roughly 1.5 million members across 1,362 congregations including its international churches. Some of the gap reflects congregations outside the United States, which the domestic independent count cannot see, but the two figures diverge far more widely than that difference alone would explain, and neither has been reconciled with the other here.Membership Over TimeScholarly debateThe Progressive National Baptist Convention has continued to report its own membership at approximately 1.5 million people across 1,362 congregations, including its international churches, as of 2022, well above the independent United States-only count from two years earlier. 1United States-only independent counts of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, compiled congregation by congregation, run far below the denomination's own reported total: the Association of Religion Data Archives counted 254,571 members across 363 congregations in its 2020 study, while the convention itself has continued to report roughly 1.5 million members across 1,362 congregations including its international churches. Some of the gap reflects congregations outside the United States, which the domestic independent count cannot see, but the two figures diverge far more widely than that difference alone would explain, and neither has been reconciled with the other here.HistorySeparation or DivergenceWell-attestedThe National Baptist Convention, USA, over resistance to officer term limits and to the civil rights movement 1Date of SeparationWell-attestedfrom 1961 1BeliefDefining Doctrinal PositionWell-attestedTrinitarian: one God in three persons 1Tradition: ChristianityThe Missionary Baptist distinctives held together with a founding commitment to nonviolent direct action for civil rights and to limited tenure for convention officers.Sacraments or OrdinancesWell-attestedBaptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances, acts of obedience and remembrance, and are not held to convey grace. 2Position on SexualityWell-attestedThe body holds no single settled position; the question is actively and openly contested within it 3The Progressive National Baptist Convention has taken no denominational stand on homosexuality or same-sex unions, leaving the question to the autonomy of its member congregations, unlike the National Baptist Convention USA Incorporated and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, both of which forbid clergy from officiating at ceremonies for same-sex couples. At least one of its own member congregations has itself performed same-sex union ceremonies under that same congregational autonomy.Sexuality Position DetailWell-attestedThe Progressive National Baptist Convention, a historically Black Baptist denomination founded in 1961 and organized on Baptist principles of congregational autonomy, has taken no denominational stand on homosexuality or same-sex unions, leaving the question to each member congregation. This differs from the National Baptist Convention USA Incorporated, the nation's largest predominantly Black denomination, and from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, both of which forbid clergy from officiating at ceremonies for same-sex couples. Covenant Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., a Progressive National Baptist Convention member congregation, performed same-sex union ceremonies for its own members under that congregational autonomy, reported in 2007, with its co-pastors having preached for years that homosexuality is not a sin. No single statement speaks for the convention as a whole. 1TrajectoryMembership Figure As OfWell-attested2020-01-01 8Membership Figure As OfWell-attested2022-01-01 1Basis of the Membership FigureWell-attestedChurch-Reported Rolls 1Basis of the Membership FigureWell-attestedIndependent Survey 8PracticeBaptismWell-attestedBeliever's baptism by immersion, on a personal confession of faith. Infants are not baptised. 4Who May ReceiveWell-attestedThe convention sets no rule. Each congregation decides whom it invites to the table. 2Liturgical LanguageWell-attestedThe vernacular 1OrganisationGovernanceWell-attestedAutonomous local bodies under a national umbrella association 1A voluntary national association of self-governing, autonomous congregationsOrdinationWell-attestedOpen to women and men 1Formally affirms the ordination of women; Uvee Mdodana Arbouin became the convention's first ordained woman pastor in 1969Relation to the StateWell-attestedNo Establishment 5ReachAdherents TodayWell-attestedSourced to the subject's own account1,500,000 6Adherents TodayWell-attestedUnited States-only religion-census tallies have recorded far fewer, in the low hundreds of thousands, reflecting the convention's international membership as much as any difference in counting method 1GivingStanding Giving ExpectationWell-attestedLike the Southern Baptist Convention, the Progressive National Baptist Convention sets no denomination-wide required percentage on an individual lay member; ordinary tithing teaching inside PNBC congregations follows the same preached, congregation-autonomous pattern general to Baptist life, and the Convention's own Article IV states it "shall have no ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the churches... nor shall it interfere with the internal affairs of any church." What the PNBC does formalize, distinct from a personal member obligation and unlike the Southern Baptist Convention's voluntary Cooperative Program, is a real, mandatory, congregation-to-convention due: By-Laws Article 1, Section 1a, requires "each Baptist Church, admitted to the Convention" to "contribute to the Convention at least 1% of its operating receipts of the previous year," and ties compliance directly to a consequence: "only those members [churches] who pay 1% of their operating receipts by the end of the preceding fiscal year are eligible to be elected and hold office in the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc." Conventions, fellowships and associations owe separate flat annual sums ($500, $300 and $250 respectively) for their own voting delegates. 7How the Expectation Is EnforcedWell-attestedCodified Obligation With Consequences 7In Other Languages (4 names)Convención Bautista Nacional ProgresistaConvention baptiste nationale progressisteProgresywna Narodowa Konwencja BaptystycznaConvenção Batista Nacional ProgressistaLearn MoreA Convention Born of the Civil Rights Movement The Progressive National Baptist Convention was born from a leadership dispute inside the older National Baptist Convention, USA, that had been building through the 1950s. A group of pastors, dissatisfied with the convention's entrenched presidency and its caution toward the civil rights campaigns then spreading across the South, pushed for term limits on convention officers and stronger institutional backing for the movement. When those reforms failed, L. Venchael Booth (1919-2002), pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, issued a public call to organize a new convention. On November 14 and 15, 1961, thirty-three delegates from fourteen states answered that call and met at Booth's church, voting to organize the Progressive National Baptist Convention. T. M. Chambers was elected its first president, though Booth is remembered as the convention's founder and initiator. Martin Luther King Jr. and the eminent Brooklyn pastor Gardner C. Taylor were among the ministers who aligned with the new convention, which from its founding embraced the nonviolent civil rights movement in a way its parent body had not, and King remained closely tied to the Progressive Convention until his assassination in 1968.Growth, and a Self-Described Theology of Justice The Progressive National Baptist Convention has continued since 1961 to describe its founding purpose as combining traditional Baptist faith and worship with an explicit commitment to social justice, framing itself, in its own words, as offering a different witness grounded in Scripture, shaped by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and informed by the rich tradition of the Black Church. The convention formally affirms the ordination of women; Uvee Mdodana Arbouin became the first woman ordained a pastor within the convention in 1969, and PNBC leadership has continued to affirm women in ministry and leadership in subsequent decades. Like other Baptist conventions, the PNBC is a voluntary association of self-governing congregations rather than a governing hierarchy, and it leaves matters such as same-sex marriage policy to individual churches. Its self-reported membership, which includes international affiliated churches in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ghana, Kenya, and Jamaica, was placed at roughly 1.5 million in 2022, considerably higher than the few hundred thousand recorded in United States-only religion-census tallies, a gap that reflects the convention's global reach as much as any difference in counting method. Its national offices are in Washington, D.C.Progressive National Baptist ConventionFilter Results5 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll30 (2)FrequencyAllOnce, or at a turning point in a life (4)Life Stage MarkedAllDeath and the disposal of the body (1)Entry into the community or the order (1)Marriage (1)Ordination, profession or vows (1)ObligationAllObligatory (1)Undertaken only with authorisation or transmission (1)Scholarly StandingAllA standard analytic category in the study of religion (5)Social FormAllPerformed by a gathered group (2)Performed by an officiant for a recipient (2)Practice StatusAllLiving tradition, practised today (2)PractitionerAllAll adherents of the tradition (1)Clergy or ordained officiants (3)Officiant Led (1)Native To RegionAllGalilee (1)Judea (2)Originated InAllGalilee (1)Judea (2)Kind of ritualAllChristian Initiation and Ordination Rites (2)General Funerary Practices (1)Marriage Rites (1)Parts of the Eucharistic Liturgy (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 5BaptismProgressive National Baptist ConventionFuneral RitesProgressive National Baptist ConventionHoly OrdersProgressive National Baptist ConventionMarriage CeremonyProgressive National Baptist ConventionThe Words of InstitutionProgressive National Baptist ConventionConnectionsAssociated With1961, Years Well-attested The atlas dates the origin of Progressive National Baptist Convention to 1961.Source Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 2Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia), Sources Well-attested This source names Progressive National Baptist Convention directly: "The Wikipedia entry on the Progressive National Baptist Convention, whose Marriage subsection states that the denomination leaves it up to local churches to decide on blessings of same-sex marriage..."Source Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 2Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (ARDA Group Profile), Sources Well-attested This source names Progressive National Baptist Convention directly: "Data Archives' group profile for the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., drawing on the 2020 Religious Congregations and Membership Study, which counted 254,571 members across 363..."Source Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (ARDA Group Profile)tier 2Rift Over Gay Unions Reflects Battle New to Black Churches (The Washington Post), Sources Well-attested This source names Progressive National Baptist Convention directly: "D.C., a member congregation of the Progressive National Baptist Convention."Source Rift Over Gay Unions Reflects Battle New to Black Churches (The Washington Post)tier 2The Black Church in the African American Experience, Sources Well-attested This source names Progressive National Baptist Convention directly: "Baptist Convention of America, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and the Church of God in Christ."Source The Black Church in the African American ExperienceC. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiyatier 1Belongs To Church FamilyBaptist Churches, Groups Well-attested Belongs to TraditionChristianity, Religions Well-attested Branch OfChristianity, Religions Well-attested Contained InBaptist, Denominations Well-attested A Baptist convention.Source Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 2Historically Black Protestant Tradition, Denominations Well-attested Classified as historically Black Protestant tradition per Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.Source Pew Research Center: 2023-24 Religious Landscape StudyPew Research Centertier 1CritiquedApostolic succession, Doctrines Well-attested Critiqued HereSource Baptist Confessions of FaithWilliam L. Lumpkintier 2Celibacy / Monasticism, Practices Well-attested Critiqued HereKept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. There is no monastic life and no celibate clergy, and pastors ordinarily marry.Confirmation, Rituals Well-attested Critiqued HereKept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. There is no confirmation, since the profession of faith precedes baptism rather than following it years after.Infant Baptism and Christening, Rituals Well-attested Critiqued HereKept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Baptism is for those who have professed faith, so the baptism of an infant is not a baptism at all and a person so treated is baptised on profession later. This is the point on which the tradition takes its name.Seven Sacraments, Practices Well-attested Critiqued HereKept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are two ordinances, not seven sacraments, and neither conveys grace.The Real Presence in the Eucharist, Doctrines Well-attested Critiqued HereSource Baptist Confessions of FaithWilliam L. Lumpkintier 2Veneration of icons, Practices Well-attested Critiqued HereKept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The veneration of images is rejected outright.Veneration of saints and Mary, Practices Well-attested Critiqued HereKept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Prayer is offered to God alone, and the saints are not asked to intercede.Governed By PolityNational Association Polity, Doctrines Well-attested Holds ElementNegro Spirituals, Sacred Sound Well-attested The freedom songs of the civil rights movement, in which this convention's ministers were central, were largely spirituals with the words turned to the moment.Objects and Practices of This TraditionAlmsgiving / Charity, Practices Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Giving to the needy is treated as a duty of stewardship over what is held in trust from God.Baptism, Rituals Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, and it is an ordinance rather than a sacrament: an act of obedience and a public testimony, not a means by which grace is conveyed.Believer's Baptism, Doctrines Well-attested Source The New Hampshire Confession of FaithNew Hampshire Baptist Conventiontier 1Believer's baptism (credobaptism), Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Biblical inerrancy, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Christmas, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Congregational church governance, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Congregational Polity, Doctrines Well-attested Source Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 2Easter, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Ecclesiastical Polity and the Validity of Holy Orders, Doctrines Well-attested Source Baptist Confessions of FaithWilliam L. Lumpkintier 2Eternal security of the believer, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Fasting, Practices Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Fasting is practised without a calendar, appointed by a congregation or undertaken privately.Foot washing, Practices Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Foot washing is kept as a third ordinance by Free Will, Primitive and some other Baptist bodies, and not by the tradition as a whole.Funeral Rites, Rituals Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The funeral is a service of the congregation, plain in form, with no prayer offered for the dead.Good Friday, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Holy Orders, Rituals Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. A congregation calls and ordains its own pastor, and ordination confers no order and no authority beyond the congregation that gave it. The two scriptural offices are pastor and deacon.Justification by faith alone (sola fide), Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Marriage Ceremony, Rituals Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Marriage is solemnised by the congregation's minister and is not held to be a sacrament.Memorialism, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Nonviolent direct action as Christian witness, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Observing the Sabbath, Practices Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Sunday is kept for worship as the Lord's Day, without a sabbatarian theory of it.Open and Closed Communion, Doctrines Well-attested Source Baptist Confessions of FaithWilliam L. Lumpkintier 2Ordination of Women, Doctrines Well-attested Source Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 2Prayer, Practices Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Prayer is ordinarily free rather than read, and the tradition has resisted set forms in public worship from the seventeenth century onward.Salvation by grace, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Scripture alone (sola scriptura), Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested Separation of Church and State, Doctrines Well-attested Source Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributorstier 2Sola Fide, Doctrines Well-attested Source The New Hampshire Confession of FaithNew Hampshire Baptist Conventiontier 1Sola Scriptura, Doctrines Well-attested Source The New Hampshire Confession of FaithNew Hampshire Baptist Conventiontier 1Soul liberty and the separation of church and state, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested The Holy Trinity, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested The Lord's Prayer, Prayers Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention.The Priesthood of All Believers, Doctrines Well-attested Source The New Hampshire Confession of FaithNew Hampshire Baptist Conventiontier 1The Progressive Baptist Hymnal (1976), Musical Works Well-attested Source The Progressive Baptist Hymnal (Seeking the Old Paths, list of Baptist hymn books and hymnals)"Seeking the Old Paths" (Ministry and Music blog)tier 4The resurrection of Christ, Beliefs & Restrictions Well-attested The Words of Institution, Rituals Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The words of institution are read as the warrant for the Supper, which is a memorial act of obedience.Tithing, Practices Well-attested Kept in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The tithe is taught and expected far more explicitly here than in the older Western churches, and is the ordinary basis on which a congregation supports itself and its missionaries.Watch Night, Holidays & Festivals Well-attested Kept as Freedom's Eve on the last night of the year, carrying the memory of the night the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.Held DifferentlyOriginal sin, Doctrines Well-attested Held DifferentlySource The New Hampshire Confession of FaithNew Hampshire Baptist Conventiontier 1Predestination and free will, Doctrines Well-attested Held DifferentlySource Baptist Confessions of FaithWilliam L. Lumpkintier 2Uses Liturgical LanguageVernacular Language, Languages Well-attested Sources1. Progressive National Baptist Convention (Wikipedia)tier 2Wikipedia contributors, Wikipediathe stated position on sexuality and its supporting detail, corroborating the Washington Postlead paragraphThe Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), incorporated as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., is a progressive Baptist Christian denomination emphasizing civil rightWhole articleView the Source2. Baptist Confessions of Faithtier 2William L. Lumpkin, Judson Press, 1959The Baptist confessional tradition on polity, ordination, the ordinances and the SupperView the Source3. Rift Over Gay Unions Reflects Battle New to Black Churches (The Washington Post)tier 2The Washington Post, 2007the stated position on sexuality and its supporting detailView the Source4. The New Hampshire Confession of Faithtier 1New Hampshire Baptist Convention, 1833The Baptist articles of faith of 1833 on scripture, faith, the fall and baptismView the Source5. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School: First AmendmentLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law SchoolAmendment IQuote, Amendment ICongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.View the Source6. History of the PNBC (pnbc.org)tier 1Progressive National Baptist Convention, Progressive National Baptist ConventionHistory and statistics pagethe holders' own accountView the Source7. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. Constitution and By-Lawstier 1Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., 2009View the Source8. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (ARDA Group Profile)tier 2Association of Religion Data Archives, 2020View the SourceCommunity0 members · 1 organizationVisit This CommunityBrowse OrganizationsOrganizations In This TraditionProgressive National Baptist Convention (Headquarters)Washington VerifiedComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearChoose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.YearPresent1961Show This Year