Buddhist Churches of America. One of the oldest Buddhist groups in north America established in 1899 in San Francisco. Originally called the Buddhist Mission of North America, the organization adopted its present name after the First World War and membership has since grown rapidly ever since to number over 100,000 today. Japanese in origin, it promotes the teachings of the Jōdo Shinshū in its numerous centres across the United States.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)