(RNS) — The Rev. Boise Kimber was officially installed as president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., during the midwinter board meeting of the predominantly Black denomination — which he hopes will become more inclusive of women and young leaders.
NBCUSA members and guests filled the 2,000-seat sanctuary of the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, for a three-hour service Monday (Jan. 13). Some 500 people planned to attend a sold-out inauguration ball on Tuesday.
Kimber, pastor of a New Haven, Connecticut, church, was greeted by officers of other Black Christian organizations, including the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention, the Conference of National Black Churches and Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship, before he was installed into his new role by his predecessor, the Rev. Jerry Young.
Young reminded his successor of the importance of having a strong spiritual life as a leader.
“You can’t lead Black Baptists without orders from Jehovah,” Young, who concluded two five-year terms, advised his successor. “That’s all I got to say. Just spend your time with God.”
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The Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood of Brooklyn, N.Y., right, preaches at the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., presidential installation service at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 13, 2025. The Rev. Boise Kimber, the new NBCUSA president, second from left, and the Rev. Shevalle T. Kimber, left, listen to Youngblood’s sermon. (Photo by DuWayne Sterling/NBCUSA)
The installation service was held in the church that over 60 years ago was bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, resulting in the deaths of four girls readying for a Sunday church service. Kimber, 65, also chose the church as the location for his 2023 announcement to run for the top role of his denomination.
“My main goal now is, one, to restore our headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee; two, to focus on Christian education, which our convention was founded upon,” Kimber, the former president of the Connecticut State Missionary Baptist Convention, said in an interview hours before his installation. “Three, is to have a better and a greater relationship with our young people of our convention; four is to have women to become a part of the administrative parts of our convention.”
Baptists gathered at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex for sessions to handle denominational business and p …