The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world.
The words Southern Baptist Convention refer both to the denomination and to its annual meeting of messengers. Messengers are those who are elected by a congregation to attend the annual meeting as representatives of the local church. Though they are similar to delegates, they are not obligated to cast votes representing a particular stance on any issue. All messengers are free to vote according to their conscience. Many times, however, messengers are chosen based on their loyalty to positions held by the majority in their local church.
The SBC is the largest Baptist group in the world and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the second largest grouping of Christians in the United States, the Roman Catholic Church being the largest.