The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a body of like-minded local churches cooperating together to reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. There are currently more than than fifty thousand Southern Baptist cooperating churches and church-type missions. Though as many as two hundred could be counted as “mega-churches,” the vast majority run less than two hundred in weekly worship. No two churches are alike; but there are certain commonalities that bind Southern Baptists together, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, language, size, or location.

Southern Baptists are as varied and diverse as the cities, towns, neighborhoods, and rural communities where they live. Each Southern Baptist church is autonomous and unique; only when viewed together can one grasp the diversity that is the Southern Baptist Convention. Southern Baptist churches represent a broad range in . . .

• Size - very small to very large
• Culture - Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and every subculture within each region
• Age - youthful church plants to historical organizations
• Ministry setting - inner-city, storefront, suburban, small town, open countryside, cowboy, motorcycle
• Race and ethnicity - Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Korean, Chinese, Native American, Russian, and numerous other ethnic groups
• Language - The Lord is worshipped in more than one hundred
• Worship style - traditional, contemporary, and everything in between
• Theological perspective - all within the framework of historic biblical orthodoxy