About CBC

The Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) was established in 1954 when it gained autonomy from the North American Baptist Conference. Before 1954, Baptist work was already over a century old in Cameroon. The Baptists were the first Christians to proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord on Cameroonian soil.

The history traces back through three main Baptist Mission Organizations: the English Baptists (1840–1885), the German Baptists (1885–1936), and the North American Baptists (1936–1954).

In 1841, the Baptist Missionary Society sent English and Jamaican missionaries, including Joseph Jackson Fuller and Joseph Merrick, to Bimbia, Cameroon. Joseph Merrick arrived in Bimbia in 1843, beginning Baptist missionary work. By 1845, Alfred Saker and his wife arrived in Douala, and in 1849, Saker founded Bethel Baptist Church — the first Baptist church in Cameroon. Saker also purchased land he named Victoria (now Limbe). Saker and Merrick planted churches and opened schools.

The work spread rapidly in the grasslands after evangelists from the Native Baptist Church of Victoria planted the first Baptist Church in Songka-Bum in 1924 through Joseph Mamadou. In 1931, the North American Baptist Conference took over the mission work, expanding church planting, education, and healthcare across the interior.

In 1954, the CBC had over 16,000 members grouped in 218 congregations. By 2023, CBC had grown to 228,507 members in 1,535 congregations and was recognized in 2019 as one of the fastest-growing Baptist Conventions in the world.

Today, the CBC operates 16 hospitals, 27 integrated health centres, 54 primary health centres, 332 nursery and primary schools, 29 secondary and high schools, and counts over 1,300 trained pastors. CBC Health Services alone employs over 4,000 staff. The Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary, founded in 1947 in Ndu, offers courses at Diploma, Degree, and Master levels and is accredited by ACTEA.