The National Baptist Convention (NBC) is the largest predominantly African-American Christian denomination in the United States, founded in Montgomery, Alabama in 1880. It was founded by independent black Baptist pastors with the goal of uniting the black Baptist churches, and it became the second-largest Baptist organization in the world. The NBC is decentralized, with different congregations deciding whether or not to ordain women ministers, deacons, and pastors. The church also believes in the exclusive union of a man and a woman and prohibited its military chaplains from officiating same-sex marriages or civil unions. By 2013, the NBC had 31,000 congregations and 7.5 million members.