trinity's History
140 Years Strong in Brockton
Introduction: Since its founding, the church has been actively involved in missions, ministry to other groups within the city, and was an early member of the Swedish Baptist Conference, a denomination, now called Converge Worldwide.
Below are some selected highlights of our history. The hope is that we will all appreciate the grace of God as He has led TBC to accomplish His will in these years. Most specifically, we hope to be able to see how together we each have been used to grow in making disciples, serving our city, and helping add to the unity of the greater Church of Brockton.
July 24, 1883: Eleven Swedish believers met in a room above a tavern on Main Street in Brockton and started what we now know as Trinity Baptist Church. Their foundational scripture was Ephesians 4:1-16, emphasizing the unity of believers. It is worth noting many Swedes were coming to Brockton for economic reasons at that time. However, Baptists and others were experiencing various forms of persecution by the Swedish king, if they did not belong to the established state religion of Lutheranism (Church of Sweden). Our roots stem from a persecuted church!
November 11, 1885: The first church building at the corner of Main and Grand Street was dedicated. The church grew and in 1903 a new building was erected on that site; which still stands today.
1930s: The church, recognizing the need to reach more people with the Gospel, changed the services from Swedish to English. Church growth continued.
1954: Trinity Baptist Church had long outgrown its building and, by faith, purchased the Harold Keith estate, in the Campello area of Brockton for $25,000. The mansion is still in use today. Constructing the church building took some time, starting downstairs with the Fellowship Hall and ending on the main level with the Worship Center, but by 1962 the structure was complete. This is the church property as we know it today.
1959: Brockton Christian School was started with kindergarten, then grew into grades K-8. It served families well for many years, until declining enrollment and other factors resulted in its closing in June 2010.
2005: Rev. Dr. Mark Oliver was installed as Senior Pastor; bringing an emphasis on intentionally discipling church members, mainly through small groups and loving accountability; which continues to date. He also brought an emphasis on city-wide ministry by involvement with other churches and organizations within the city.
2006: A fire caused damage in the main part of the building displacing us for 1½ years, but God provided a meeting place. Teen Challenge generously allowed us to use their facilities, while the areas damaged by smoke and fire were renovated. The opportunity was taken to make much needed updates to the kitchen, and the building was made more accessible to those with disabilities. This strengthened our community outreach ministries.
2008: In April we returned to our building. The Baptist General Conference, our denomination changed its name to Converge Worldwide. In light of this, the TBC Council of Elders decided to change the name of the church property and facilities to The Converge Christian Center. Included in the decision was the hope that in a small way we could demonstrate to the community that all believers, regardless of their denomination, are “one” because we must all “converge” at the cross.
2009: Recognizing not everyone is at the same place in their walk with Christ, several kinds of small groups (Growth Groups, Care Groups and Accountability Groups and Ministry Teams) were launched. They each helped to remind us that every sincere believer needs more than the Sunday morning worship service if they want to grow as a disciple. New leaders were trained and a variety of classes and small groups were offered in rotation. Also, a special outreach in the Campello High Rise called Trinity Chapel was started by some key leaders to bring the Word of God to our neighbors across the street.
2015: In a several year process, Trinity Baptist united with churches and other concerned groups to defeat the proposal to bring a casino to the former Brockton Fairgrounds. After much prayer and many gatherings, the proposal was finally, decisively defeated by the state gaming commission, despite the money spent and lobbying done by the developers.
