A group of separatists from the Baptist Church, who formed an organization at Augusta, Georgia in May 1845 owing to a dispute over the slavery question. Although doctrinally in accord with those of the North, the southern Baptist churches are more strictly Calvinistic, and the Philadelphia Confession of Faith is more firmly adhered to than in northern churches. The Convention carries on foreign missionary work in China, Japan, Africa, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. There have publishing houses in Mexico City, Mexico; Canton, China, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.