Union Baptist Association

What Union Baptist Association does

Union Baptist Association (UBA) is a nonprofit Baptist church association operating in the Greater Houston area. The organization serves member churches and individuals through three strategic pathways: Sending (church planting and missions), Renewal (church revitalization), and Caring (pastoral and congregational support). UBA operates with a staff of approximately 13 and is funded primarily through donations from member churches and individual donors. No disclosed revenue figures, audited financials, or IRS Form 990 data are referenced in the available information.

The association maintains an ecosystem of partnerships with denominational and parachurch bodies including the North American Mission Board (NAMB), Texas Baptists, Send Network SBTC, the International Mission Board (IMB), and the Houston Church Planting Network. UBA has established a subsidiary entity, Mission Centers of Houston, and has acquired property at 3600 Michaux Street (internally branded 'Project Norhill') to support expanded ministry operations. The organization has hired multiple church consultants with diverse specializations, including backgrounds in Hispanic ministry and African American ministry, reflecting programmatic breadth across the three strategic pathways. The organization does not appear to operate proprietary technology platforms; its digital presence consists primarily of content such as blog posts.

UBA's business model is donation-dependent, relying on contributions from affiliated congregations and individual donors rather than fee-for-service revenue. The model is geographically anchored to the Greater Houston market and structurally limited to a Baptist-aligned constituency, with no apparent move toward earned-income streams, SaaS delivery, or technology-enabled scaling.

Name

Union Baptist Association

Legal name

Union Baptist Association

Website

https://ubahouston.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1841

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Union Baptist Association is a Houston-area nonprofit Baptist association that supports member churches through church planting, renewal, and pastoral care initiatives, funded by member church and individual donations across the Greater Houston region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Member Church Donations: The ministry of UBA is primarily funded by regular donations from member congregations. Member churches contribute financially to support the association's operations and programs.
2. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute to UBA's work, including specific projects like Project Norhill which accepts financial investments from individuals who believe in the mission.
3. Project-Specific Giving: UBA accepts donations for specific initiatives such as Project Norhill (church planting incubator property at 3600 Michaux Street in The Heights), with giving facilitated through online donation platforms.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Union Baptist Association (UBA) is a nonprofit collaborative network of Baptist churches in the Greater Houston area that provides church planting support, church renewal and revitalization consulting, pastoral care and leadership development, and missionary sending services. It organizes its work along three strategic pathways — Sending, Renewing, and Caring — and delivers cohort-based programs, direct consulting, and a subsidiary mission ministry (Mission Centers of Houston) to its member churches and leaders.

Product overview

Union Baptist Association is a collaborative church association serving the Greater Houston area with three core ministry pathways: Caring Pathways (pastoral care and leader support), Sending Pathways (church planting and missionary deployment), and Renewing Pathways (church revitalization). Additional offerings include African American Ministry with the Leaders Collaborative, Hispanic leadership through Lideres Transformadores, and various cohort programs. The organization also operates Mission Centers of Houston as a subsidiary ministry. Project Norhill is an initiative to establish a church planting incubator in The Heights. The portfolio is structured as service programs rather than software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mission Centers of Houston: UBA's local mission subsidiary aimed at meeting the physical and spiritual needs of marginalized people throughout Greater Houston
• Project Norhill
• Sending Pathways
• Renewal Pathways
• Caring Pathways
• African American Ministry
• Lideres Transformadores
• The Leaders Collaborative
• Resilient Cohort

Products and services

• Caring Pathways
• Sending Pathways
• Renewing Pathways
• African American Ministry / The Leaders Collaborative
• Lideres Transformadores (Transformational Leaders)
• Mission Centers of Houston
• Church Consulting Services
• Project Norhill

Quantifiable outcome

• Houston needs 2.5 church plants per day to keep pace with population growth of 250 people/day moving to the city
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mission Centers of HoustoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUBA Subsidiary Ministry serving churches, groups, and communities. Mission Centers of Houston meets physical and spiritual needs of marginalized people throughout Greater Houston through Gospel-centered classes, relational programs, coaching, mentoring, and collaboration with faith-based ministries.
• North American Mission Board (NAMB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Southern Baptist mission board providing church planting assessment, training, and resources. UBA refers church planters to NAMB for assessment and connects with their church replanting guide that UBA helped create.
• Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState-level Baptist convention providing church starting resources and support. Referenced as a training opportunity for Houston church planters.
• Send Network SBTCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChurch planting network associated with Southern Baptists of Texas Convention providing training resources for Houston church planters.
• Houston Church Planting NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal network coordinating church planting efforts in Houston area, providing training opportunities for church planters.
• International Mission Board (IMB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouthern Baptist international missions organization providing missionary self-assessment tools and cross-cultural training resources utilized in UBA's diaspora and international missionary sending pathways.
• Jeff ChadwickminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeader of Mission Centers of Houston, UBA's subsidiary ministry serving marginalized communities in Greater Houston.
• Crossover Bible FellowshipminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChurch where Darrell Jackson, UBA Church Consultant, serves as Pastor of Ministry Operations.
• Higher Expectations ChurchminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChurch where Bryant Lee, UBA Church Consultant, serves as founding and Senior Pastor in Humble, Texas.
• One Church at Harvest PointminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChurch where Lawrence Scott, UBA Church Consultant, serves as Lead Pastor.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Acts 29: Church planting network supporting church planters and replanters across multiple denominations with assessment and coaching services. Emerging player peer with significant thematic overlap on UBA's church planting and renewal pathways, though operating across a broader geographic and denominational footprint.
• Send Network: Church planting network associated with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention providing training and assessment for church planters. Emerging player peer with focused overlap on UBA's Sending Pathways work, but operating as a specialized network rather than a full regional association.

Broad incumbents

• Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC): State-level Southern Baptist convention operating across Texas with church planting and missions programs. Broad incumbent peer providing overlapping sending and church planting resources at statewide scale, where UBA operates locally through affiliated networks like Send Network SBTC.
• Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists): State-level Baptist convention providing church starting resources and support across Texas. Broad incumbent peer to UBA because it serves as the wider parent network offering overlapping church planting and missions infrastructure, while UBA operates at a metro-level within its territory.
• North American Mission Board (NAMB): National Southern Baptist missions agency providing church planting assessment, training, and replanting resources. Broad incumbent peer because it operates at national scale across the same sending and church planting space, overlapping with UBA's Sending Pathways while serving a much larger footprint.
• International Mission Board (IMB): National Southern Baptist international missions organization providing self-assessment tools and cross-cultural training. Broad incumbent peer that overlaps with UBA's missionary sending and diaspora engagement work, but at a global rather than Houston-specific scale.

Direct peers

• Tryon Evergreen Baptist Association: Regional Baptist association serving the Charlotte, NC metro area. Direct peer because it operates the same membership model of supporting affiliated churches through sending, renewal, and caring pathways in a defined geographic territory — and is explicitly cited in UBA's data as a comparable association.
• Houston Church Planting Network: Local network coordinating church planting efforts specifically within the Houston area, explicitly listed as a UBA partner. Direct peer in mission and city, focusing on the same sending and church planting work that overlaps with UBA's Sending Pathways.
• Tarrant County Baptist Network: Baptist association serving the Tarrant County / Fort Worth metro area of Texas. Direct peer to UBA because it functions as a citywide collaborative network of Baptist churches offering church planting, renewal, and missions support in a different Texas metropolitan market.
• Bexar Baptist Association: Baptist association serving the San Antonio metro area. Comparable to UBA as a regional Baptist association providing church planting support, pastoral care, and collaborative ministry services to affiliated congregations in a Texas metropolitan context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/jjellis
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCRhWfI__2RsYPYPismhf4rA
• Facebookfacebook.com/ubahouston
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/union-baptist-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Union Baptist Association