Rev. Dr. Ronald L. Bobo, Sr. - Candidate for NBCUSA, Inc. President

The Rev. Dr. Ronald Bobo, Sr., pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church of North St. Louis and Florissant, recently declared his candidacy and began a campaign to become President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Incorporated.  This religious organization has the distinction of being the largest body of African American Christians in the world.  As a matter of fact, with an estimated 7.5 million members, it is the largest collection of African Americans on the globe.  The group has been led by The Rev. Dr. William Shaw of Philadelphia, PA since 1999.

“Change” for Bobo is a call to return to the Convention’s 1886 founding purpose, focusing on collective Missions and Education.  This fits well into his own ministry focus and service, which includes terms as Chair of the Foreign Mission Board for the Missionary Baptist Convention of Missouri and the Evangelism and Education Commission of the Baptist World Alliance.  The Southern Baptist Seminary-trained pastor of “one unified church in two locations” also proposes to help the church buck a national trend of denominational malaise.  But, with denominational identification down among Christians of all stripes, getting local churches to re-ignite loyalty and participation in the national body will be more than a notion. 

Clearly, his election would be good for the prestige of St. Louis’ Black baptist pulpit.  But, even with the open field that seems to be ahead of him, it may be a longshot race.  Bobo’s grassroots strategy is in the first stage of its testing.  He must produce 100 endorsement letters before the end of the year to qualify as a candidate.  The number of those letters signed by local Baptists will be a key factor for the viability of Bobo’s Campaign for Change.