National Baptist Convention, Usa

The worship calendar in most congregations of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. combines important days of the Christian year with numerous annual days-memorial observations and celebrations of various functions and organizations in congregational life and the black community. These days were established primarily because of economic and social needs rather than scriptural mandate. The number of annual days has declined in recent years, and a new emphasis on Christian education as the basis for giving is emerging. Originally black Baptist worship took place in segregated settings controlled by whites. From these origins, two major influences on the development of the worship calendar that churches of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. would follow can be seen. First, during their worship in the segregated section of the church of the masters, black worshipers absorbed the custom of observing major Christian yearly dates in a manner similar to that of most white Bapti…