Progressive National Baptist Convention

Churches in the Progressive National Baptist Convention follow a worship calendar reflecting the African-American experience of God as liberator and sustainer, rather than the conventional Christian year. Annual observances include Christmas and Easter, but most Sundays are designated for focus on aspects of the church's ministry and role in society. The Progressive National Baptist Convention is a part of the free-church tradition. Its congregations modify the Christian year followed in the denominations that use the Common Lectionary in order to address the spiritual and social needs of African-American worshipers. Progressive Baptist congregations generally do not observe many of the traditional days such as Epiphany, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints' Day, and Reformation Sunday. But they include on their calendar many observances which are not part of worship in mainline Protestant churches. These special days originate from a variety of sources, including cultural traditi…