VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 8/20/09)—This may be a historical first. “A father and son will soon be at the head of major interests of two significant religious denominations,” according to Dr. Walter Parrish II who has served as the executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of the South (ABCOTS) since 1979.
ABCOTS is one of the 33 covenanting regions of the American Baptist Churches (ABC). Since 1970, ABCOTS has served the 16 southern states including Washington, DC.
In August, his son, Dr. Walter Parrish III, was elected general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), a Baptist denomination of more than 2,000 churches with a total membership of 2.5 million.
Founded in 1961, the PNBC is the third largest African American Baptist convention in the world.
He will begin his new ministry in October after the retirement of Dr. Tyrone Pitts, the current general secretary.
Dr. Parrish comes to this position from the senior pastorate of Union Baptist Church in Montclair, NJ, a church dually aligned with the PNBC and the American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA).
Before assuming the pastorate of Union Baptist Church, Dr. Parrish served on the staff of the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board of ABCUSA for 12 years.
“ABCOTS joins me in congratulating my son on his election,” noted Dr. Parrish II who, in the 1970s, worked with both the PNBC and ABCUSA in a capital fund campaign called Fund of Renewal.
“Someone asked me how I felt about the competition,” Dr. Parrish II said. “My response was ‘There is no competition. We’ll continue to work in a collaborative partnership in strengthening kingdom ministries.”
“Although there is a DNA connection, our administrative styles and audiences allow for individual relationship to be distinct. PNBC is a national organization; ABCOTS is a regional entity of a national body.”
“We congratulate both the PNBC and Dr. Parrish on this call," said A. Roy Medley, general secretary of ABCUSA. “Walter is well-respected within ABC life where he has served for years, and we know he will bring excellent leadership to PNBC.”
“We have enjoyed the increased relationships between ABC and PNBC under the leadership of Dr. Tyrone Pitts, the current general secretary, and we look forward to continuing to explore how our mutual efforts in mission and ministry might increase,” he continued. “Dr. Pitts has been known internationally for his prophetic ministry, and we wish him God’s blessings in his upcoming retirement.”
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.