Black Baptists hope meeting will spur unity

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The week of Labor Day, black Baptists will be assembling as they do each year, but simultaneously in separate cities, the result of a history of splintering during the past century.

But now there are tentative signs of cooperation among the divided branches. Leaders of the country's four major black Baptist denominations hope a joint meeting Jan. 24-27 in Nashville will forge a unified voice to address social and political issues affecting all blacks.

"It's going to be exciting," said the Rev. William J. Shaw, a Philadelphia pastor and president of Nashville-based National Baptist Convention USA Inc., the oldest and largest of the four groups. "It's an exploration of what the future can hold in terms of joint effort."

As many as 10,000 delegates will be gathering from the Rev. Shaw's group and the National Baptist Convention of America Inc., National Missionary Baptist Convention of America and Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc.

The Rev. Shaw said he met with the other denominational presidents shortly after he was elected in 1999 and discussed ways they could better coordinate initiatives. Out of that session came the January meeting, which will be the first of its kind since the groups began splintering in 1915 over policy and operational disagreements.

"It has historic significance and is an affirmation of the thing that bonds us rather than the things that have divided us," the Rev. Shaw said.

The first division of black Baptists was between the National Baptist Convention USA, and the National Baptist Convention of America, now based in Shreveport, La., over ownership of the convention's publishing house.

Then in 1961, the Washington-based Progressive National Baptist Convention broke away from the National Baptist USA group when the Rev. J.H. Jackson altered rules so he could continue as president. A related issue was the Rev. Jackson's sharp criticism of civil-rights protests led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Another split came in 1988, when the National Missionary group broke from the National Baptist Convention of America over governance and the structure of the National Baptist Publishing Board.

The National Baptist USA group faced other problems. It was shaken in 1999 when its president, the Rev. Henry J. Lyons, was convicted of grand theft and racketeering and served nearly five years in prison.

An investigation revealed that the Rev. Lyons, then a pastor in St. Petersburg, Fla., used his position as convention president to steal an estimated $4 million to buy luxury homes and jewelry and support his mistress. Still, the 5 million-member denomination remains intact.