Allen Temple Family, it has been brought to the attention of Pastor Thompson that many of you are interested in wanting to know a little more of the history of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. (PNBC), our participation and support as a church. We encourage you to go the PNBC website for a more detailed history. The Progressive National Baptist Convention was formed in November 1961 by the late Rev. Dr. L. Venchael Booth at the height of and during the Civil and Human Rights movement. The convention provided a denominational home for Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others that were expelled from the National Baptist Convention (NBC). The sitting president, Rev. J.H. Jackson believed Dr. King was "doing too much" by protesting for change and confronting the injustices that Black communities were experiencing in the country, especially in the south. Under the leadership of our Pastor Emeritus Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., Allen Temple joined PNBC in 1976. He also felt the Black church should be a significant proponent of social justice in our respective communities throughout this country. Pastor Emeritus Smith would eventually go on to become the 12th National President of the Convention.

 

Deacon Michael Johnson started attending in 1986 when he was selected to represent Allen Temple as a messenger. Some of the offices he has held include President for both the regional and national Laymen’s departments. He has served as a facilitator with the Congress of Christian Education from the local to the national level as well as other roles within the convention. Following the passing of Deacon William White, he was appointed by Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Jr. as Delegate Coordinator for our church.

 

As a church we have participated in the local district associations, state, regional, and national meetings. The state convention session convenes the second Monday in July; the regional session convenes the last week in June, and the national session convenes on the second Monday in August. Our Mid-Winter Board session meets during the week of Dr. King's birthday week (around January 15th). This session is strictly meant for the leadership of the convention, comprised of convention department heads including the President and the cabinet and others. The session’s work is for heads of departments, committees, ministries, and commissions to come together to begin strategizing and planning for the national session in August.

 

Allen Temple has played a significant role in the convention. We have produced local, state, regional, and national officers of this convention; presidents of local, state, regional, and national offices, of departments, sitting on boards of the convention, facilitating Congress of Christian Education classes which is the teaching arm of the convention. Dr. Martha Taylor previously served as the Historian of PNBC. We have raised and produced from the Allen Temple family our own Pastor, Rev. Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson, the first woman to be elected as the 2nd Vice President of the parent body of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc.

Next year, the regional session will convene in Las Vegas June 25-28 and the national session is slated to convene August 7-11 in Washington D.C.

If you are interested in attending a regional or national session for 2023, please contact Deacon Michael Johnson at (510) 684-3889 or anthony2411@comcast.net