The Louisiana Baptist Convention (LBC) is an association of Baptist churches in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

, the Convention is composed of approximately 1,595 member congregations representing 869,490 members http://www.lbc.org/lbc/welcome_1.nsf/pages/history.

The Convention was founded in 1848 at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Mount Lebanon

Mount Lebanon, Louisiana

Mount Lebanon is a town in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 73 at the 2000 census.-History:Mount Lebanon was probably the first permanent settlement in what is now Bienville Parish. Its pioneers were Baptists from South Carolina who quickly established a church and...

 in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana through the work of James Scarborough. It had an initial membership of 88 churches and 3,650 members.

Its early presidents included Edwin O. Ware, Sr.

Edwin O. Ware, Sr.

Edwin Oswald Ware, Sr. , was a Baptist clergyman and educator who is considered to have been the principal founder of Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana in Rapides Parish. He was both the college's financial agent, 1906–1907, and its first president, 1908-1909. Louisiana College marked its...

, the principal founder of Louisiana College

Louisiana College

Louisiana College is a private institution of higher education located in Pineville, Louisiana, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving a student body of approximately 1,300 students. The college operates on a semester system, with two shorter summer terms...

, the Baptist-affiliated undergraduate institution of higher learning in Pineville, Louisiana

Pineville, Louisiana

Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....

. Claybrook Cottingham

Claybrook Cottingham

Claybrook C. Cottingham was an educator who served as president of both Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville and the public institution, Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana....

, the president of Louisiana College from 1910-1941, was the LBC president from 1914-1916.

The convention headquarters is on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria

Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in Central Louisiana

Central Louisiana

Central Louisiana , also known as the Crossroads region, is the part of Louisiana that includes the following parishes: Allen Parish, Beauregard Parish, Catahoula Parish, Concordia Parish, Grant Parish, La Salle Parish, Natchitoches Parish, Rapides Parish, Sabine Parish and Vernon Parish.The five...

.

External links

• Louisiana Baptist Convention Official Website