Our History
Born out of mission.
Better together.
We’re independent churches, each willing to do what it takes to stay faithful to the God of the Bible while sharing the gospel across historic divides. And we’ve been in this together since 1856.
It’s easy to imagine how it felt to be a Christian in nineteenth-century Sweden.
It was a secular society. Many churches had bowed their knees to the prevailing culture. And the gospel’s radical message had been watered down, almost past the point of recognition.
It would have been easy for faithful Christians to isolate themselves, grow discouraged, and stop sharing their faith. But that’s not what happened.
Small outposts of believers known as “Bible readers” gathered in independent groups. They supported each other, lived in simple obedience to Scripture, and influenced their part of the world with the message of Jesus.
And though they were forced into exile, they came to America, their hearts for God undiminished.
Converge was born out of mission in 1856.
That’s when a small group of churches made up of immigrant “Bible readers” first discovered they could be more effective if they worked together. By 1879, the movement had grown to 3,000 baptized believers and 65 congregations, all independent, all willing to collaborate on the one thing that matters:
Lives changed by Jesus, person by person, worldwide.
These churches began reaching across ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic boundaries. Their theology was rooted in the basics of biblical faith. But their spirit was “irenic,” best summed up by the phrase “in essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, in all things charity.”
And their effectiveness resonates today.
Today
Converge is a multiethnic movement of independent churches still collaborating to bring the life-changing message of Jesus to the world.
We still help pioneering leaders start new expressions of Jesus’ Church, ensuring they have all they need to thrive. We still work together to keep our pastors and congregations strong.
And we still reach across boundaries, finding people groups that have never heard the Good News, and helping them understand the message that changes everything.
Converge still welcomes gospel-centered congregations of “Bible readers” who love Jesus and want to work together for His glory. We’re still resisting the pull of isolation, not to control one another, but to resource and help one another stay on course.
You don’t have to let your pioneering spirit lead to isolation or ineffectiveness. You can be more supported, connected, and effective than ever.
We invite you to link arms with us at Converge: Independent churches. Better together.
Our history
Gustaf Palmquist baptizes three adults in Rock Island, Illinois, establishing the first Swedish Baptist congregation in the United States.
Seven congregations from Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota meet in Rock Island, Illinois, and label themselves the Swedish Baptist General Conference.
With 65 congregations and 3,000 baptized believers, the Swedish Baptist General Conference of America officially forms.
Johanna Anderson becomes the first Converge missionary in Burma.
Bethel Seminary relocates to St. Paul, Minnesota. Graduates of Bethel University will come to include Converge pastors like John Piper and Bob Merritt, as well as artists, theologians, business leaders, governmental leaders, and professional athletes.
An independent foreign missions program is launched, initiating significant growth in world missions.
As we reach non-Swedish neighbors for the gospel, we diversify, and the Swedish Baptist General Conference of America drops the word “Swedish” from its name.
Church membership grows from 72,000 to 132,000. Converge begins mission work in Cameroon and Ivory Coast.
Membership grows to over 140,000 people in 880 churches. We do new mission work in the Middle East, France, Bulgaria, Central Asia, Slovakia, Thailand, Uruguay, and Vietnam.
Membership exceeds 140,000 in 1,075 churches and church plants. We launched missions in Cambodia, Haiti, Nigeria, Senegal, Singapore, and Montreal. Structural changes include Bethel College and Seminary becoming Bethel University.
We adopt a new missional name, Converge Worldwide.
We refocus on our mission of “starting and strengthening churches together worldwide,” renaming to Converge.
As our movement has diversified to include people and leaders of many ethnicities, backgrounds, and expressions of worship, we elect our first African American president, Pastor John Jenkins of First Baptist Church of Glenarden.
Converge is a movement of churches and leaders collaborating on the one thing that matters: lives changed through Jesus, person by person, worldwide.
Let’s see more lives changed by the gospel
We invite you to be part of a movement of churches committed to helping more people meet, know and follow Jesus. Start a church, strengthen your church, or send the Good News into the world with us.
Stay connected
Hear stories from our churches, access our latest resources and events, and stay connected to what God’s doing through Converge.