The National Baptist Convention of America (NBCA), originally and colloquially called the Nation Baptist Convention, Unincorporated, is a product of the 1915 split in the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., which was founded in 1895.  The factor in "incorporation" was the longtime distinguishing characteristic between both factions, although both conventions are now fully incorporated.  The central issue in this conflict was the publishing house in Nashville, Tennessee.  The dispute involved the "Boyd faction" led by the rev. Ronald Boyd, secretary of the Publishing Board, and the "Morris faction," led by the Rev. Edmond Morris, president of the convention.  Ultimately, the Boyd faction took the name "National Baptist Convention of America" and remained unincorporated until recently.  The Morris faction retains the original name of the convention, but incorporated to become the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.
Both groups claim to be the original parent body.  Both claim the founding date of 1880.  In fact, no unified National Baptist Convention existed in 1880, which was the founding date of the oldest of the three entities that merged in 1895.  In short, while three Baptist bodies went into the funnel in 1895, two emerged from the other end in 1915.  

        The conflict was set in motion shortly after the NBC, U.S.A., Inc., was created, when the American Baptist Publication Society, upon complaints form Southern Baptists, withdrew its invitation for black leaders to write articles for one of its publications.  As a result of the impasse, the National Baptist Convention determined to establish its own publishing capabilities.  The new Publishing Board was initially placed under the Home Mission Board, of which the Rev. Ronald Boyd, who introduced the resolution proposing the printing committee, served as corresponding secretary.

        Under Boyd's leadership and on the basis of his own financial credit, the Publishing Board quickly became a successful business venture, since thousands of black Baptist churches began buying their Sunday School and church publication material from the Board.  New printing facilities were built on land owned by Boyd in Nashville, who had the agency incorporated in the state of Tennessee, and materials produced by the publishing house copyrighted in his name.  

        The National Baptist Convention of America is the second largest of the three black Baptist conventions having a national constituency, and the third largest of all the black denominations.  In 1990 its estimated membership was 2.4 million members in 7,800 local churches.  These churches are served by about 3,000 clergy, which suggests that a substantial number of them are small, rural churches.  Some four hundred associations, ranging from five to one hundred local churches, and thirty-five state conventions in twenty-seven states, are affiliated with the convention.  The NBCA convenes every year on the Wednesday following the first Sunday in September.  Convention delegates are called "messengers" and include lay and ministerial representatives from local churches, associations, and state conventions.   Through the establishment and staffing of national offices, along with the emergence of a small, yet active, organization of scholars in the ecclesiastical disciplines, African-American Catholics have begun to realize a distinctive religious practice shaped by the appropriation of African culture, African-American history, black Catholic theology, leadership of the laity, attention to spiritual formation and renewal, and commitment to combating racism in church and society.

http://northstar.vassar.edu 
This is an online journal and an excellent resource for current African-American issues and hard to find information.

http://www.tcnj.edu/~afamstd/finalweb/part1/pwrpnt/Imani 
This website provides a brief overview of the Black Baptist and Imani Temple religions in the form of a PowerPoint presentation with photos. 

http://detnews.com/menu/stories/12894.htm 
This newspaper has archives of stories concerning the founding of the Imani Temple and the controversial
issues surrounding its inception. 

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/purpletlm/myhomepage/ 
This is the homepage for the AACC.

http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/trussell1.html 
More articles concerning the Black Baptist religion.

The Encyclopedia of Africa and African American Religions, ed. Stephen D. Glazier. New York: Routledge, 2001.

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