Our History

The Ohio Baptist State Convention was organized and chartered on January 21, 1918. The first annual session was held in Cleveland, Ohio with Dr. J. Franklin Walker presiding as the first President. The Zion Hill Baptist Church, Reverend C. C. Ailers, Pastor was the host church.

The Ohio Baptist State Convention is the oldest Baptist State Convention in the state of Ohio. The Convention was established out of the need and mandate of the Church to reach out and encompass a larger diverse segment of people who needed to know the goodness of God in spite of what was going on at that present age (War Time, Gross Civil Rights Violations, etc.} The Convention’s aim was to impact the local church community, the state and nation with the Word and Teachings of God.

The Convention’s primary focus for establishment was based on the Word of God as recorded in Matthew 28: 19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

The Ohio Baptist State Convention has been a leading Christian Organization that has given strength, and support to the Church, the greatest and most important institution affecting the sustained life of mankind.

The objective of the Ohio Baptist State Convention is to be an organized body of Missionary Baptist Churches seeking a common ground for State Unity, Fellowship, Home and Foreign Missions, Christian Education/ Training, Evangelism and Social Welfare.

The Ohio Baptist State Convention has contributed thousands of dollars towards Christian Training and created a Department of Christian Training in 1958. This department, presently known as The Congress of Christian Education, has provided ongoing teaching and training in the area of Christian Education and Spiritual Development. The Convention has given out numerous scholarships to our members through out the eighty-four (99) year history.

Evangelism is an ongoing Convention effort. Preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and gathering lost souls for the Kingdom is a major arm of the Convention.

The Ohio Baptist State Convention, during its inception has had over 300,000 members and 18 District Associations. The Convention is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

The Ohio Baptist State Convention has remained strong and withstood two declared wars and the great depression. It has transited through the Agriculture Age; the Industrial Age; the Technological Age: The Scientific Age and the Computer Age.

The Women’s Auxiliary was organized and approved to become an auxiliary to the Ohio Baptist State Convention in 1920.

The leadership of the Ohio Baptist State Convention is still forging ahead “God Is Doing a New Thing” with new concepts but continuing to promote the sound biblical principles as well as maintaining the dignity and integrity exemplified by the stalwarts and trailblazers of the past.