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96-497: Leon Howard Sullivan (October 16, 1922 – April 24, 2001) was a Baptist minister, a civil rights leader and social activist focusing on the creation of job training opportunities for African Americans , a longtime General Motors Board Member, and an anti- Apartheid activist. Sullivan died of leukemia in a Scottsdale, Arizona hospital at the age of 78. Born to Charles and Helen Sullivan in Charleston, West Virginia , he

192-568: A congregationalist polity . This cooperative relationship allows the development of common organizations, for mission and societal purposes, such as humanitarian aid , schools, theological institutes and hospitals. The majority of Baptist churches are part of national denominations (or 'associations' or 'cooperative groups'), as well as the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), formed in 1905 by 24 Baptist denominations from various countries. The BWA's goals include caring for

288-655: A Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island , and Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island . According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking." The First Great Awakening energized

384-558: A Baptist-type church. In 2020, according to the researcher Sébastien Fath of the CNRS , the Baptist movement has around 170 million believers in the world. According to a census released in 2024, the BWA includes 266 participating fellowships in 134 countries, with 178,000 churches and 51 million baptized members. These statistics may not be fully representative, however, since some churches in

480-623: A consequence of the religious conflict with English Dissenters under James I . Baptist historian Bruce Gourley outlines four main views of Baptist origins: Modern Baptist churches trace their history to the English Separatist movement in the 17th century, over a century after the foundation of the Church of England during the Protestant Reformation . This view of Baptist origins has the most historical support and

576-529: A constant and powerful presence in my life who taught me early on the importance of faith, determination, faith in God, and especially self-help. As a teenager, Sullivan — who as an adult stood 6 ft 5 in tall — attended Garnet High School, a school for African Americans in Charleston, West Virginia. He received both a basketball and a football scholarship to West Virginia State College where, in 1940, he

672-455: A construction loan", he recounts. "He said, well Reverend, you need some equity for something like this. Think about it and come back later in two, three or four years, and let's see what we can do." Rev. Sullivan was already prepared for that challenge, however. "Give me the sack", he told Zion's treasurer, William Downes. "I opened it up and $ 400,000 worth of equities came out", he describes. "The man's eye glasses fell off his eyes. He came around

768-576: A crowd of 10,000 well-wishers. In some sense, the shopping center was the culmination of the Progress Movement's multiple goals. Because it was a major construction project, it created a large number of construction jobs for participants in the OIC program. Through an agreement negotiated with Progress Plaza's chain store tenants, the shopping center also made numerous management job opportunities available to African Americans. To fulfill another one of

864-568: A few churches that submit to the leadership of a body of elders , as well as the Episcopal Baptists who have an Episcopal system . Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ. Beliefs among Baptists regarding the "end times" include amillennialism , both dispensational and historic premillennialism , with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving some support. Some additional distinctive Baptist principles held by many Baptists: Since there

960-601: A gathered, disciplined congregation of believers baptized by immersion as constituting the New Testament church gave expression to and built on insights that had emerged within separatism, advanced in the life of John Smyth and the suffering congregation of Thomas Helwys, and matured in Particular Baptists ." A minority view is that early 17th century Baptists were influenced by (but not directly connected to) continental Anabaptists. According to this view,

1056-505: A key goal of the organization was to foster "selective buying" (boycotts) as a means to pressure white businesses to hire blacks and purchase goods and services from black contractors. Sullivan's plan was not without its predecessors. One was Dr. T.R.M. Howard , a wealthy doctor and community leader on the South Side and key financial contributor to Operation Breadbasket. Before he moved from Mississippi to Chicago, Howard had developed

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1152-587: A key role in encouraging religious freedom and the doctrine of separation of church and state. Shared doctrines would include beliefs about one God; the virgin birth of Jesus ; miracles; substitutionary atonement for sins through the death , burial , and bodily resurrection of Jesus ; the Trinity ; the need for salvation (through belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God , his death and resurrection); grace;

1248-518: A national reputation as a civil rights leader, surgeon, and entrepreneur. As head of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership , Howard had successfully organized a boycott of service-stations that refused to provide restrooms for blacks. Jackson's application of these methods, however, had a seamier aspect including cronyism and strong-arming businesses to donate money to Operation Breadbasket. Noah Robinson Jr., who had just graduated from

1344-709: A national scale. By 1962, the effectiveness of Sullivan's boycotts came to the attention of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC who persuaded Sullivan to share information with them on his success. The exchange led to SCLC's economic arm, Operation Breadbasket , in 1967, headed by Jesse Jackson . Sullivan's work was built on the principle of " self-help ," which provided people with the tools to overcome barriers of poverty and oppression on their own. African-Americans had been excluded from training for better paying jobs. Sullivan realized that simply making jobs available

1440-776: A statement of their faith and beliefs. Baptist theology shares many doctrines with evangelical theology . It is based on believers' Church doctrine. Baptists, like other Christians, are defined by school of thought—some of it common to all orthodox and evangelical groups, and a portion of it distinctive to Baptists. Through the years, different Baptist groups have issued confessions of faith—without considering them to be creeds —to express their particular doctrinal distinctions in comparison to other Christians as well as in comparison to other Baptists. Baptist denominations are traditionally seen as belonging to two parties, General Baptists who uphold Arminian theology, and Particular Baptists who uphold Reformed theology (Calvinism). During

1536-414: A whole lot left over. So I said, that is what I am going to do with the church and the community. I said, I am going to ask 50 people to put $ 10 down for 36 months of loaves and fishes and see if we could accumulate resources enough to build something that we would own ourselves." The 10-36 Plan was designed to create two legal entities between a split stretch of donation periods; "For the first 16 months of

1632-418: A year, the organization had successfully carried out over 40 boycotts, leading to the employment of more than 8,000 African American workers by various companies. However, although the operation achieved hiring agreements with several major corporations, it faced challenges in monitoring whether these companies actually fulfilled their commitments. Internal conflicts and the burden of responsibility on Jackson and

1728-527: Is a matter of global partnerships. It was particularly important to Rev. Sullivan that Africa's Diaspora and Friends of Africa are active participants in Africa's development. The Leon H Sullivan Summit is now organized by the Leon H Sullivan Foundation, an organization dedicated to expanding Leon Sullivan's vision of empowering the underprivileged, which is headed by Leon Sullivan's daughter Hope Masters. Sullivan

1824-549: Is important in Christian discipleship. Baptist missionaries have spread various Baptist churches to every continent. The largest group of Baptist churches is the Baptist World Alliance , and there are many different groupings of Baptist churches and Baptist congregations. Historians trace the earliest Baptist church to 1609 in Amsterdam , with English Separatist John Smyth as its pastor. In accordance with his reading of

1920-457: Is no hierarchical authority and each Baptist church is autonomous, there is no official set of Baptist theological beliefs. These differences exist among associations and even among churches within the associations. Some doctrinal issues on which there is widespread difference among Baptists are: Excommunication may be used as a last resort by some denominations and churches for members who do not want to repent of beliefs or behavior at odds with

2016-539: Is the most widely accepted. Adherents to this position consider the influence of Anabaptists upon early Baptists to be minimal. It was a time of considerable political and religious turmoil. Both individuals and churches were willing to give up their theological roots if they became convinced that a more biblical "truth" had been discovered. During the Reformation, the Church of England ( Anglicans ) separated from

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2112-801: The Baptist Union of Great Britain . Some Baptist associations support same-sex marriage. This is the case of the Alliance of Baptists (USA), the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms, the Aliança de Batistas do Brasil, the Fraternidad de Iglesias Bautistas de Cuba, and the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (international). Baptists have faced many controversies in their 400-year history, controversies of

2208-558: The International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities was founded in the United States. In 2023, it had 42 member universities. Many churches promote virginity pledges to young Baptist Christians, who are invited to engage in a public ceremony of sexual abstinence until Christian marriage. This pact is often symbolized by a purity ring . Programs like True Love Waits , founded in 1993 by

2304-663: The Kingdom of God ; last things ( eschatology ) (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to Earth; the dead will be raised ; and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness); and evangelism and missions . Most Baptists hold that no church or ecclesiastical organization has inherent authority over a Baptist church. Churches can properly relate to each other under this polity only through voluntary cooperation, never by any sort of coercion. Furthermore, this Baptist polity calls for freedom from governmental control. Exceptions to this local form of local governance include

2400-639: The New Testament , he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults. Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people , while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect . Thomas Helwys formulated a distinctively Baptist request that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals might have freedom of religion . Helwys died in prison as

2496-617: The Southern Baptist Convention have been developed to support the commitments. Most Baptist associations around the world believe only in marriage between a man and a woman. Some Baptist associations do not have official beliefs about marriage in a confession of faith and invoke congregationalism to leave the choice to each church to decide. This is the case of American Baptist Churches USA , Progressive National Baptist Convention (USA), Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (USA), National Baptist Convention, USA and

2592-643: The Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania , came to Chicago in 1969, to become full-time director of the Commercial Division of Operation Breadbasket. Robinson was Jesse Jackson's half-brother and sometime rival. Robinson would later be sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a rival known as Leroy Barber. In December 1971, Jackson had a falling-out with Ralph Abernathy , King's successor as head of

2688-607: The abolitionism of the Triennial Convention (now American Baptist Churches USA) left to form the Southern Baptist Convention. They believed that the Bible sanctions slavery and that it was acceptable for Christians to own slaves. They believed slavery was a human institution which Baptist teaching could make less harsh. By this time many planters were part of Baptist congregations, and some of

2784-450: The civil rights movement by helping to organize a march on Washington, D.C. , in the early 1940s. He believed that jobs were the key to improving African American lives. In 1958, he asked Philadelphia's largest companies to interview young blacks, and only two companies responded positively. Then, in collaboration with other ministers, Sullivan organized a boycott of various businesses which he referred to as "Selective Patronage." The slogan

2880-628: The doctrines of soul competency (the responsibility and accountability of every person before God ), sola fide (salvation by faith alone), sola scriptura (the Bible is the sole infallible authority, as the rule of faith and practice) and congregationalist church government . Baptists recognize only two ordinances : baptism and communion . Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as Baptists today may differ widely from one another in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what

2976-715: The holiness movement , some General Baptists accepted the teaching of a second work of grace and formed denominations that emphasized this belief, such as the Ohio Valley Association of the Christian Baptist Churches of God and the Holiness Baptist Association . Most Baptists are evangelical in doctrine, but their beliefs may vary due to the congregational governance system that gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches. Historically, Baptists have played

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3072-586: The 19th century, the rise of the modern missions movement, and the backlash against it, led to widespread and bitter controversy among the American Baptists. During this era, the American Baptists were split between missionary and anti-missionary. A substantial secession of Baptists went into the movement led by Alexander Campbell to return to a more fundamental church. Leading up to the American Civil War , Baptists became embroiled in

3168-772: The Anglican Church. They became known as " Puritans " and are described by Gourley as cousins of the English Separatists. Others decided they must leave the church because of their dissatisfaction and became known as the Separatists. In 1579, Faustus Socinus founded the Unitarian Polish Brethren in Poland-Lithuania , which was a tolerant country. The Unitarians taught baptism by immersion . After their expulsion from

3264-659: The Baptist congregations in the United States split over slavery and missions. The Home Mission Society prevented slaveholders from being appointed as missionaries. The split created the Southern Baptist Convention , while the northern congregations formed their own umbrella organization now called the American Baptist Churches USA (ABC-USA). In 2015, Baptists in the U.S. number 50 million people and constitute roughly one-third of American Protestants . The Baptist churches in Ukraine were preceded by

3360-663: The Baptist movement spread across the south of Ukraine and then to other regions as well. One of the first Baptist communities was registered in Kyiv in 1907, and in 1908 the First All- Russian Convention of Baptists was held there, as Ukraine was still controlled by the Russian Empire. The All-Russian Union of Baptists was established in Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro ) in southern Ukraine. At

3456-664: The Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth. Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the enslaved Black population. Baptist missionary work in Canada began in the British colony of Nova Scotia (present day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick ) in the 1760s. The first official record of a Baptist church in Canada was Horton Baptist Church (now Wolfville) in Wolfville , Nova Scotia on 29 October 1778. The church

3552-524: The Baptist successionist or perpetuity view consider the Baptist movement to have existed independently from Roman Catholicism and prior to the Protestant Reformation. The perpetuity view is often identified with The Trail of Blood , a booklet of five lectures by James Milton Carroll published in 1931. Other Baptist writers who advocate the successionist theory of Baptist origins are John T. Christian and Thomas Crosby . This view

3648-704: The Commonwealth in 1658, many of them fled to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the Unitarians introduced immersion baptism to the Dutch Mennonites . Baptist churches have their origins in a movement started by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys in Amsterdam . Because they shared beliefs with the Puritans and Congregationalists , they went into exile in 1607 with other believers who held

3744-633: The English General Baptists. Representatives of this theory include A.C. Underwood and William R. Estep. Gourley writes that among some contemporary Baptist scholars who emphasize the faith of the community over soul liberty, the Anabaptist influence theory is making a comeback. This view was also taught by the Reformed historian Philip Schaff . However, the relations between Baptists and Anabaptists were early strained. In 1624,

3840-549: The General Baptists shared similarities with Dutch Waterlander Mennonites (one of many Anabaptist groups) including believer's baptism only, religious liberty , separation of church and state , and Arminian views of salvation, predestination and original sin. It is certain that the early Baptist church led by Smyth had contacts with the Anabaptists; however it is debated if these influences found their way into

3936-566: The General Baptists. The Particular Baptists were established when a group of Calvinist Separatists adopted believers' Baptism. The Particular Baptists consisted of seven churches by 1644 and had created a confession of faith called the First London Confession of Faith. Both Roger Williams and John Clarke are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America. In 1639 Williams established

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4032-565: The German Anabaptist and Mennonite communities, who had been living in southern Ukraine since the 16th century, and who practiced adult believer's baptism. The first Baptist baptism (adult baptism by full immersion) in Ukraine took place in 1864 on the river Inhul in the Yelizavetgrad region (now Kropyvnytskyi region), in a German settlement . In 1867, the first Baptist communities were organized in that area. From there,

4128-592: The Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility in 1997. In 1999, the Global Sullivan Principles were issued at the United Nations . This expanded code calls for multinational companies to take an active role in the advancement of human rights and social justice. Then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan had this to say about Sullivan's contributions: It shows how much one individual can do to change lives and societies for

4224-946: The International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) (now headed by his daughter Dr. Julie Helen Sullivan), including the Global Sullivan Principles initiative. Other IFESH programs include the African American Summit (now renamed the Leon H. Sullivan Summit), the Peoples Investment Fund for Africa, the Self-Help Investment Program, Teachers for Africa, and Schools for Africa. IFESH has placed teachers in Africa, trained African bankers, built schools, developed small businesses, disseminated books and school supplies, created literacy programs, distributed medicines to prevent river-blindness, and helped to combat

4320-483: The Progress Movement has had great success with its strategy of using equity accumulated under the 10-36 Plan to leverage funds from public and private sources, including commercial banks and insurance companies. After establishing the OIC in the mid-1960s, Zion's next major undertaking was the fulfillment of Rev. Sullivan's dream of building the nation's first black-owned and developed shopping center, to be named Progress Plaza . In addition to addressing his concern about

4416-467: The Progress Movement's major goals was to address the social needs of North Philadelphia 's community residents. To this end, ZNPCT built a comprehensive Human Services Center that centralizes essential services so that they are easily accessible to area residents. Zion's role was to develop the property and lease it at below-market rent to nonprofit and governmental entities whose programs fulfill ZNPCT's charitable mission. Located adjacent to Progress Plaza,

4512-543: The Progress Movement's primary goals - to encourage the development of black-owned businesses - ZNPCT created an Entrepreneurial Training Center at Progress Plaza. With major funding from the Ford Foundation , the center was able to offer managerial and entrepreneurial skills training to hundreds of area residents. Today, over half of the 16 stores in Progress Plaza are black-owned businesses. Another one of

4608-483: The Roman Catholic Church . There were some Christians who were not content with the achievements of the mainstream Protestant Reformation. There also were Christians who were disappointed that the Church of England had not made corrections of what some considered to be errors and abuses. Of those most critical of the church's direction, some chose to stay and try to make constructive changes from within

4704-653: The SCLC. Jackson and his allies broke off from SCLC and formed the wholly independent Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity). The founding goals were similar to those of the Operation Breadbasket. Despite Jackson's departure, Operation Breadbasket continued for a brief time under Robinson's leadership. The Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir, with Ben Branch as musical director, performed benefits for Martin Luther King Jr. and Operation/PUSH. Just moments before being assassinated, King had asked Branch to play

4800-533: The Southeast. In 2007, the Pew Research Center 's Religious Landscape Survey found that 45% of all African Americans identify with Baptist denominations, with the vast majority of those being within the historically Black tradition. Operation Breadbasket In 1967, Operation Breadbasket was established as a national organization, with King appointing Jackson as its national director. Within

4896-460: The United States have dual or triple national Baptist affiliation, causing a church and its members to be counted possibly by more than one Baptist association, if these associations are members of the BWA. Among the censuses carried out by individual Baptist associations in 2023, those which claimed the most members on each continent were: Since the early days of the Baptist movement, various associations have adopted common confessions of faith as

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4992-652: The autonomy of churches, but generally an individual becomes a member of a church through believer's baptism (which is a public profession of faith in Jesus, followed by immersion baptism). Most Baptists do not believe that baptism is a requirement for salvation but rather a public expression of inner repentance and faith. In general, Baptist churches do not have a stated age restriction on membership, but believer's baptism requires that an individual be able to freely and earnestly profess their faith. In 2010, an estimated 100 million Christians identified as Baptist or belonging to

5088-463: The basis for cooperative work among churches. Each church has a particular confession of faith and a common confession of faith if it is a member of an association of churches. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith , 1742 Philadelphia Baptist Confession, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith , and written church covenants which some individual Baptist churches adopt as

5184-501: The basis of his interpretation of Scripture that infants would not be damned should they die in infancy. Smyth, convinced that his self-baptism was invalid, applied with the Mennonites for membership. He died while waiting for membership, and some of his followers became Mennonites. Helwys and others kept their baptism and their Baptist commitments. The modern Baptist denomination is an outgrowth of Smyth's movement. Baptists rejected

5280-490: The better ... He was known and respected throughout the world for the bold and innovative role he played in the global campaign to dismantle the system of apartheid in South Africa . Sullivan organized the first Summit in Abidjan , Côte d'Ivoire in 1991 as a result of a number of requests and conversations he had with African leaders seeking an honest dialog among and between leaders of African countries and government officials and leaders from developed countries. Since then,

5376-406: The biennial Leon H. Sullivan Summit has brought together the world's political and business leaders, delegates representing national and international civil and multinational organizations, and members of academic institutions in order to focus attention and resources on Africa's economic and social development. Their mission was inspired by Rev. Leon H. Sullivan's belief that the development of Africa

5472-468: The board of directors at General Motors, Sullivan lobbied GM and other large corporations to voluntarily withdrawal from doing business in South Africa while the system of apartheid was still in effect. In 1988, Sullivan retired from Zion Baptist Church. Sullivan was determined to provide a model of self-help and empowerment to the people of Africa. He began using his talent for bringing world leaders together to find solutions to international issues through

5568-457: The center currently houses a Social Security Administration office, an unemployment compensation office, a police training academy, and a health service center run by Temple University . In the 1980s, Progress Plaza was taken over by Wendell Whitlock of Progress Investment Associates, who is now the chairman emeritus. In 2018, Progress Plaza celebrated its 50-year anniversary with commemorations from local politician Congressman Dwight Evans who

5664-445: The community would need to help the non-profit side of the program. To see the 10-36 Plan as an investment, members of the community would need to understand basic economic concepts. Stockholders were warned not to expect immediate results from their investment. Their most immediate monetary benefit would be a tax deduction for their contributions to the nonprofit. In being a part of the Plan, stockholders and investors would need to trust

5760-599: The confession of faith of the community. When an entire congregation is excluded, it is often called disfellowship. In Baptist churches, worship service is part of the life of the church and includes praise , worship , of prayers to God , a sermon based on the Bible , offering , and periodically the Lord's Supper. Some churches have services with traditional Christian music , others with contemporary Christian music , and some offer both in separate services. In many churches, there are services adapted for children, even teenagers. Prayer meetings are also held during

5856-481: The controversy over slavery in the United States . Whereas in the First Great Awakening , Methodist and Baptist preachers had opposed slavery and urged manumission , over the decades they made more of an accommodation with the institution. They worked with slaveholders in the South to urge a paternalistic institution. Both denominations made direct appeals to slaves and free Blacks for conversion. The Baptists particularly allowed them active roles in congregations. By

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5952-434: The denomination's prominent preachers, such as Basil Manly Sr. , president of the University of Alabama , were also planters who owned slaves. As early as the late 18th century, Black Baptists began to organize separate churches, associations and mission agencies. Blacks set up some independent Baptist congregations in the South before the Civil War. White Baptist associations maintained some oversight of these churches. In

6048-410: The end of 36 months, subscribers would receive one share of common voting stock and would be entitled to participate in yearly shareholders meetings. As William Downes, the treasurer of the 10-36 Plan and the executive director of ZNPCT explains, the idea of the voting system was to encourage community involvement in the plan." In Sullivan's philosophy, to cultivate the idea of "giving before receiving",

6144-633: The end of the 19th century, there were between 100,000 and 300,000 Baptists in Ukraine. An independent All-Ukrainian Baptist Union of Ukraine was established during the brief period of Ukraine's independence in early 20th-century and once again after the fall of the Soviet Union, the largest of which is currently known as the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine . Some Baptist church congregations choose to be independent of larger church organizations ( Independent Baptist ). Other Baptist churches choose to be part of an international or national Baptist Christian denomination or association while still adhering to

6240-476: The establishment of the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) in order to establish and maintain programs and activities in the areas of agriculture, business and economic development, democracy and governance, education and health. These programs would in turn help governments in sub-Saharan Africa reduce poverty and unemployment and build civil societies. To further expand human rights and economic development to all communities, Sullivan created

6336-457: The first General Baptist Church in Spitalfields , east London, in 1612. Another milestone in the early development of Baptist doctrine was in 1638 with John Spilsbury , a Calvinist minister who helped to promote the strict practice of believer's baptism by immersion (as opposed to affusion or aspersion ). According to Tom Nettles, professor of historical theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary , "Spilsbury's cogent arguments for

6432-420: The five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists. Furthermore, the original group associated with Smyth (popularly believed to be the first Baptists) broke with the Waterlander Mennonite Anabaptists after a brief period of association in the Netherlands. Traditional Baptist historians write from the perspective that Baptists had existed since the time of Christ. Proponents of

6528-555: The idea of making their money work for those that would come after them within their community. Rev. Sullivan's vision was to use the tools of the free enterprise system to foster something that is vital to community progress - a sense of ownership and a stake in the common good. Funds accumulated rapidly under the 10-36 Plan, and were soon used to invest in numerous housing and economic development initiatives. In 1964, PIA made its first investment in an 8-unit apartment building in an all-white community. The rationale for buying this property

6624-407: The lack of black ownership of major businesses in America, the project would deal with the problem of unemployment in North Philadelphia by generating a substantial number of jobs. After convincing the city's Redevelopment Authority to donate land for the project, Rev. Sullivan set out to raise the capital needed to build the shopping center. "So I went to the chairman of the bank and I said, I want

6720-442: The latter attended the Union Theological Seminary (1943–45) and later Columbia University (Master's in Religion 1947). He also served as Powell's assistant minister at the Abyssinian Baptist Church . During this period, Sullivan met his wife Grace, a woman whom he referred to as "Amazing Grace." The couple would eventually have three children, Hope, Julie and Howard. One of Sullivan's greater achievements during his time in New York

6816-485: The level of crises. Baptist historian Walter Shurden says the word crisis comes from the Greek word meaning 'to decide.' Shurden writes that contrary to the presumed negative view of crises, some controversies that reach a crisis level may actually be "positive and highly productive." He claims that even schism , though never ideal, has often produced positive results. In his opinion, crises among Baptists each have become decision moments that shaped their future. Early in

6912-481: The mid-19th century, northern Baptists tended to oppose slavery. As tensions increased, in 1844 the Home Mission Society refused to appoint a slaveholder as a missionary who had been proposed by Georgia. It noted that missionaries could not take servants with them, and also that the board did not want to appear to condone slavery. In 1845 a group of churches in favor of slavery and in disagreement with

7008-484: The name Anabaptist when they were called that by opponents in derision. McBeth writes that as late as the 18th century, many Baptists referred to themselves as "the Christians commonly—though falsely —called Anabaptists." Helwys took over the leadership, leading the church back to England in 1611, and he published the first Baptist confession of faith "A Declaration of Faith of English People" in 1611. He founded

7104-766: The nation. With sixty affiliated programs in thirty states and the District of Columbia, OIC has grown into a movement, which has served over two million disadvantaged and under-skilled people. This approach also led to the formation of the Opportunities Industrialization Centers International (OICI) in 1969. Around the same time, Sullivan established the Zion Investment Association (ZIA), a company which invested in and started new businesses. Sullivan also helped to establish more than 20 programs under

7200-507: The national Foreign Mission Convention to support Black Baptist missionary work. Two other national Black conventions were formed, and in 1895 they united as the National Baptist Convention . This organization later went through its own changes, spinning off other conventions. It is the largest Black religious organization and the second-largest Baptist organization in the world. Baptists are numerically most dominant in

7296-486: The needy, leading in world evangelism and defending human rights and religious freedom. Missionary organizations favored the development of the movement on all continents. The BMS World Mission was founded in 1792 at Kettering , England. In United States, International Ministries was founded in 1814, and the International Mission Board was founded in 1845. Membership policies vary due to

7392-635: The new leaders following King's assassination eventually led to the termination of Operation Breadbasket in December 1971. Operation Breadbasket was founded as a department of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1962, and was operated by Rev. Fred C. Bennette of Atlanta . The first activities were in Atlanta and other Southern cities. A key figure in the later history of Operation Breadbasket

7488-617: The postwar years, freedmen quickly left the white congregations and associations, setting up their own churches. In 1866, the Consolidated American Baptist Convention, formed from Black Baptists of the South and West, helped southern associations set up Black state conventions, which they did in Alabama , Arkansas , Virginia , North Carolina , and Kentucky . In 1880, Black state conventions united in

7584-601: The same biblical positions. They believe that the Bible is to be the only guide and that the believer's baptism is what the scriptures require. In 1609, the year considered to be the foundation of the movement, they baptized believers and founded the first Baptist church. In 1609, while still there, Smyth wrote a tract titled "The Character of the Beast," or "The False Constitution of the Church." In it he expressed two propositions: first, infants are not to be baptized ; and second, "Antichristians converted are to be admitted into

7680-445: The spread of HIV/AIDS. Sullivan used the church to organize the black community, and to create a local economic base that would self-perpetuate. In 1962, during a sermon, he proposed his vision of self-help to the community through investment. "One day I preached a sermon at Zion about Jesus feeding the five thousand with a few loaves and a few fish", he recalls. "Everybody put in their little bit and you had enough to feed everybody, and

7776-551: The subscription period, investors would contribute to the Zion Non-Profit Charitable Trust (ZNPCT), a Community Development Corporation (CDC) that would support education, scholarships for youth, health services and other programs aimed at social uplift. For the remaining 20 months of the subscription period, investors would make payments to a for-profit corporation, Progress Investment Associates (PIA), which would undertake income-generating projects. At

7872-404: The table and took my hand and said, Reverend, we can work together." Rev. Sullivan's theory about the power of money to deal with persistent racial inequalities was proving to be correct. As he concludes: I found that $ 400,000 makes a difference in race relations in America! Progress Plaza, which is located on Broad Street , one of Philadelphia's main thoroughfares, was dedicated in 1968 before

7968-462: The true Church by baptism." Hence, his conviction was that a scriptural church should consist only of regenerate believers who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith. He rejected the Separatist movement's doctrine of infant baptism. Shortly thereafter, Smyth left the group. Ultimately, Smyth became committed to believers' baptism as the only biblical baptism. He was convinced on

8064-518: The week. The architecture is generally sober, and the Latin cross is one of the only spiritual symbols that can usually be seen on the building of a Baptist church and that identifies the place where it belongs. Baptist churches established elementary and secondary schools, Bible colleges , colleges and universities as early as the 1680s in England, before continuing in various countries. In 2006,

8160-675: Was Jesse Jackson . In 1964, Jackson left his native South Carolina to study at the Chicago Theological Seminary . He participated in SCLC's movement in Selma. When Jackson returned from Selma, he joined SCLC's effort to establish a beachhead in Chicago. In 1966, SCLC selected Jackson to be head of the Chicago chapter of its Operation Breadbasket. Influenced by the example of Rev. Leon H. Sullivan in Philadelphia,

8256-400: Was "Don't buy where you don't work" and the boycott was extremely effective since blacks constituted about 20% of Philadelphia's population. Sullivan estimated the boycott produced thousands of jobs for African Americans in a period of four years. The New York Times featured the program with a front-page story, and later, Fortune magazine brought the program to greater public attention on

8352-596: Was established with the assistance of the New Light evangelist Henry Alline . Many of Alline's followers, after his death, converted and strengthened the Baptist presence in the Atlantic region. Two major groups of Baptists formed the basis of the churches in the Maritimes . These were referred to as Regular Baptist (Calvinistic in their doctrine) and Free Will Baptists (Arminian in their doctrine). In May 1845,

8448-564: Was financed by using 10-36 funds to leverage a loan from the Federal Housing Administration and a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While pursuing these development projects, Zion continued to build an equity base through the 10-36 Plan. In 1965, the plan was opened to new subscribers from Zion's congregation, and another 450 joined. Over the years,

8544-595: Was held by English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon as well as Jesse Mercer , the namesake of Mercer University . In 1898 William Whitsitt was pressured to resign his presidency of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for denying Baptist successionism. In 1612 Helwys established a Baptist congregation in London, consisting of congregants from Smyth's church. A number of other Baptist churches sprang up, and they became known as

8640-670: Was influenced by Leon Sullivan's thinking in his book "Build, Brother, Build." In 1971, Sullivan joined the General Motors Board of Directors and became the first African-American on the board of a major corporation. He went on to serve on General Motors ' board for over 20 years. In 1977, Sullivan developed a code of conduct for companies operating in South Africa called the Sullivan Principles , as an alternative to complete disinvestment . As part of

8736-534: Was initiated into the Tau chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. A foot injury that ended his athletic career and scholarships forced Sullivan to pay for the remainder of his college by working in a steel mill. Sullivan became a Baptist minister in West Virginia at the age of 18. In 1943, Adam Clayton Powell , a noted black minister, visited West Virginia and convinced Sullivan to move to New York City where

8832-509: Was not enough and said, I found that we needed training. Integration without preparation is frustration. In 1964, Sullivan founded Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC) of America in an abandoned jail house in North Philadelphia . The program took individuals with little hope and few prospects, offered them job training and instruction in life skills, and then helped place them into jobs. The movement quickly spread around

8928-564: Was raised in a small house on a dirt alley called Washington Court--one of Charleston's poorest communities. His parents divorced when he was three years old and he grew up an only child. At the age of twelve, he tried to purchase a Coca-Cola in a drugstore on Capitol Street. The proprietor refused to sell him the drink saying: "Stand on your feet, boy. You can't sit here." This incident inspired Sullivan's lifetime pursuit of fighting racial prejudice. Sullivan also attributed much of his early influence to his grandmother: ... my grandmother Carrie,

9024-479: Was that it would help address a long-standing problem facing blacks - racial discrimination in housing. The leaders of the Progress Movement believed that money often has the power to speak louder than words in the struggle to improve race relations. One year after its first investment in housing, PIA built Zion Gardens, a middle-income garden apartment complex in North Philadelphia. The $ 1 million project

9120-537: Was the recipient of the following awards: During his lifetime he was also awarded honorary doctorate degrees from over 50 colleges and universities and served as a board member of General Motors , Mellon Bank and the Boy Scouts of America . Baptist Baptists are a denomination of Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers ( believer's baptism ) and doing so by complete immersion . Baptist churches generally subscribe to

9216-721: Was the recruitment of a hundred colored men for the police force in Harlem with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia 's support and encouragement. In 1945 Leon and Grace Sullivan moved to South Orange, New Jersey where Sullivan became pastor at the First Baptist Church. Five years later, the two moved to Philadelphia and Leon took on the role of pastor at the Zion Baptist Church. There, he became famously known as "the Lion of Zion". Sullivan took his first active role in

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