Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptists are the largest baptist and protestant group in the United States claiming 16 million members. It has twenty-nine state conventions and supports thousands of missionaries worldwide. There are more Southern Baptist churches in America than of any other religious group including the Roman Catholic Church. Their greatest numbers are in the southern part of the United States, where they have strong political control. Many southern states have no lotteries or any gambling because of strong Baptist opposition to gambling. Also many counties are majority Southern Baptist and are "dry" counties because of their strong opposition to any alcohol consumption.

Its current president is Dr. Jack Graham, the pastor of the 21,000 member Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Prominent Southern Baptists include Evangelist Billy Graham, probably the most famous Southern Baptist alive today, Bill Clinton, former US President, Charles Stanley, the pastor of the nearly 16,000 member First Baptist Church of Atlanta, GA, Jerry Falwell, the pastor of the 24,000 member Thomas Road Baptist Church, Adrian Rogers, the pastor of the 27,000 member Bellevue Baptist Church, and C. Edwin Young, the pastor of the 31,000 member Second Baptist Church.