Our Story
The Sunday School Publishing Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Incorporated (SSPB) was instituted in September of 1915 after several debates over the direction of the National Baptist Publishing Board. Under the leadership of Reverend E. C. Morris, who served as president from 1894-1922, the publishing board was one of the first black-owned publishing companies in Nashville, Tennessee, and the South. During the first five years of its existence, attorney Solomon P. Harris and Rev. William Haynes helped fashion the operation of the publishing house and one of its most successful magazines, The National Baptist Voice. However, in the 1920s, Reverend Dr. A. M. Townsend, a graduate of both Roger Williams University and Meharry Medical College, took over the operation and made the SSPB a more progressive entity with thirty employees, modern printing equipment, and a new building. Because Dr. Townsend recognized the need for a new building, he raised funds from three hundred donors who each contributed $100 and purchased the "Old Commercial Hotel."
The building, which was named after the founder, E. C. Morris, was also the site where slave traders gathered to discuss the buying and selling of slaves. The redesigned Morris Memorial Building opened on October 19, 1925, and was among the most modern and best-equipped publishing houses in Tennessee. After Rev. Dr. Townsend's death in 1959, the SSPB operated under the leadership of Rev. Charles Dinkins, Dr. D. C. Washington, and its first female president Dr. Cecelia Nabrit Adkins, who was elected in 1975. She also became the first female administrator to lead a publishing establishment which served 35,000 churches and over eight million constituents. Dr. E. L. Thomas served as Executive Director of SSPB from 1996-2007. Dr. Kelly Miller Smith Jr. served as Executive Director of The SSPB from 2007-2013.
Dr. Derrick Jackson was appointed as the Interim Executive Director in 2013 and officially appointed Executive Director in 2014. He has served in that capacity from 2014 to present. Under his steady, stable, and strategic leadership, SSPB expanded and diversified its product offerings, stabilized its financial position, increased its revenues to its highest levels to date, added the SSPB Institute on-line educational platform that leverages digital technology, high-quality digital instruction, and pertinent resources for church leaders and Christian educators, developed partnerships with the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (NBCA), the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC), and the United Holy Church of America (UHCA), expanded and diversified SSPB's Annual Conference, increased SSPB book releases through its Townsend Press imprint with eBook availability through Amazon.com., Barnes and Nobles, and iTunes, added digital versions of the Faith Series Curriculum, added the Sunday School At-A-Glance Video Resource Series for teachers and Christian educators, expanded the Living the Baptist Faith Bible Study Series, introduced the Empower to Thrive 501c3 arm of the ministry of the Sunday School Publishing Board, successfully transitioned SSPB operations from its home of almost 100 years (The Morris Memorial Building) to the Baptist World Center per the mandate of the National Baptist Convention, USA Inc., successfully led SSPB through the formidable and tumultuous challenge of Covid-19 that resulted in the closure of many African American businesses and religious organizations, led SSPB through a rebranding campaign, and is positioning SSPB to become the premier Christian resource provider for the African-American community and a premier Christian resource provider for the wider Christian community.
We affirm a vision that links the SSPB's proud legacy with a vision for the future that equips today's church to serve. Building upon the legacy started by Reverend Dr. E.C. Morris, the SSPB will continue to address the future with the power of the past for the glory of God and the advancement of God's kingdom.
