Sixty-five years ago this week, 33 Baptist delegates from 14 states gathered at Zion Baptist Church in Cincinnati, answering a call from its pastor, the Rev. L. Venchael Booth. On November 14 and 15, 1961, they organized the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) “to give full voice, sterling leadership and active support to the American and world fight for human freedom.” Rev. J. Raymond Henderson of Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles presided over the meeting, and Rev. T. M. Chambers was elected the convention’s first president.
The new convention became the denominational home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who addressed its annual sessions until his death in 1968. Its founding circle included Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, often called the dean of American preaching, along with Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker.
As PNBC marks its 65th anniversary on Saturday, November 14, 2026, it is celebrating under the theme “Still Progressive,” a reminder that the questions its founders faced in 1961, about the vote, human dignity and the church’s place in public life, are again front and center.
“Our founders did not organize a convention to be comfortable. They organized one to be faithful, to stand with Dr. King when standing with him cost something,” said the Rev. Dr. Keith W. Byrd Sr., President of PNBC.
PNBC was built on the principles of Fellowship, Progress, Service and Peace, which remain its motto. Its history treats social justice and human liberation as a mandate of the Gospel. Its long-running causes include voter participation, equal educational opportunity, affirmative action and, historically, ending apartheid in South Africa. Today its work spans worship, Christian education, missions and advocacy for civil and human rights, voting rights, health, economic justice and education.
From its founding, PNBC set itself apart. Officers are elected yearly and may serve no more than four years, a limit the founders sought after seeing leaders hold office indefinitely. Member churches support the convention’s ministries through one unified giving program. PNBC is organized into five regions, the Southern, Southwest, Eastern, Midwest and International, and each holds its own annual meeting.
Today PNBC represents an estimated 2.5 million members, about 1.5 million in the United States and more than 1 million worldwide, in about 1,475 member churches.
PNBC is led by President Rev. Dr. Keith W. Byrd Sr., First Vice President Rev. Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson, Second Vice President Rev. Dr. Willie D. Francois III and General Secretary Rev. Thomas L. Bowen. Thompson’s election in 2022 made her the first woman elected to a PNBC leadership office. The convention recognized its first ordained woman pastor, Rev. Uvee Mdodana Arbouin, in 1969. PNBC’s 2026–2030 theme, Anointing, Preaching, Sending, Proclaiming, is drawn from Luke 4:18–19.
This fall, PNBC carried its tradition into four states with the People’s Revival. Teach-ins and revival services ran throughout October in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Texas in partnership with the AFL-CIO and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, joining faith, labor and civil rights partners to educate voters, encourage participation and protect their voices. The revival culminated in a People’s Revival gathering on Election Day, November 3. In December, PNBC leaders will join the nation’s historic Black denominations at the Conference of National Black Churches National Consultation, December 15 to 17 in Orlando.
Beyond its own churches, PNBC is a member of the Baptist World Alliance, the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, and has partnered with American Baptist Churches USA since 1970.