Minneapolis hosts National Baptist Convention this week
Some 15,000 people are expected to visit downtown Minneapolis this week for the National Baptist Convention.
The convention is in its 138th year and is the nation's oldest and largest African American religious convention, with an estimated membership of 7.5 million, according to organizers.
Pastor Billy Russell of Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis is helping coordinate the convention.
"We come doing what we are supposed to do, which is reaching out to people and teaching people," Russell said. "That's what we are doing, reaching and teaching."
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Russell said he reached out to several Minneapolis churches to invite their members to sing and worship together throughout the week.
"It's a celebration, a revival," Russell said. "It shows the church is alive and well, but it also shows that we are inclusive, that we are still a very vibrant faith."
The week of events is open to the public; click here for more information, including a schedule of events.
The convention previously was held in Minneapolis in 2001.