Tens of Thousands Expected at Historic African-American Baptist Church's Memphis Convention
The largest African-American religious body in the nation will soon hold its annual convention in the largest city in the state of Tennessee.
Tens of thousands of attendees are expected at the National Baptist Convention USA's annual gathering scheduled to be held at Memphis' Cook Convention Center from Sept. 7-11.
"This will be the first convention for the new President Jerry Young. The numbers vary, but 20,000 registered and unregistered should converge on the city," said Caroline Stanfield, spokeswoman for the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, who told The Christian Post that the National Baptist Convention annual session has previously been held in the city in 2004 and 2009.
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Founded in 1886, the National Baptist Convention purports to be the oldest African-American religious body in the nation, and has an estimated membership of 7.5 million.
While Stanfield and others have estimated 20,000 attendees, local media and the National Baptists themselves have speculated that the number may be far larger.
Wayne Risher of the Memphis publication The Commercial Appeal reported Wednesday that as many as 50,000 may come to the gathering.
Risher interviewed Marvin Mercer, president of the Nashville-based convention's Tennessee chapter, which has 350 congregations under its wing.
"The reason they're using the 50,000 is because of the fact that we're dealing with people who are members of our convention from bordering states in the South. They can drive in from those states," said Mercer.
"Also, because of the fact that we have a new president who was elected last year in New Orleans, who is from Jackson, Mississippi. That Mississippi delegation is going to be larger this year than it's ever been."
The National Baptist Convention USA did not return comment to The Christian Post by press time.
