The National Baptist Laymen’s Regional Workshop concept began as a vision from God to Walter Cade, Jr. at the start of his presidency at his election as the laymen president at the National Baptist Convention’s annual session in Cleveland, Ohio in 1971.

Walter Cade, Jr. desired to involve more men in the national movement. To get more men to come to the national meetings he knew he must get them familiar with the national work. Therefore, President Cade introduced the regional concept. A mini-national meeting held on weekends in cities within driving distance of laymen, laywomen, laywomen, junior laymen and pastors..

These meetings were called workshops with the primary objective of fellowship among the delegates and to promote the work and ministries of the National Baptist Laymen.. Danny Williams of Denver, Colorado was the state president of the Colorado laymen. He saw President Cade’s vision and played a vital role in helping to implement the first regional workshop.

The first workshop was held in Denver, Colorado in 1971 between the laymen of Kansas and Colorado. In 1974 the states that came together for a regional were Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. From 1975 to 1987 the names used for these workshops between the states of Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona were “Western States”, “The Joint States” and “Four States Workshop”.

During this period small workshop teams of national laymen, primarily from Kansas, were traveling to various states conducting workshops to motivate them to join the regional concept and become active in the laymen’s movement. Initially as states joined together for regional workshops they called themselves Three States, Four States or Five States Workshop depending on the number of states participating. As the workshops became established, other states in their region would join in.

The workshop names in 1992 were changed according to the part of the United States they were located.
The states of Kansas, Colorado-Wyoming, New Mexico and Oklahoma were named the Midwest Region. The states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Organ and Washington were named Farwest Region. The states of Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin were named the Great Lakes Region. The states of Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas were named the Southeast Region. The states of New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D. C. were named the Big East Region. The States of Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were named the Southern Region.

In 1997 all the regional workshops names were to include Walter Cade, Jr. in honor of the founder.
Presently, Texas is part of the Southwest Regional. The Southwest Regional includes the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.