Converge, formerly the Baptist General Conference (BGC) and Converge Worldwide, is a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

denomination in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is affiliated with the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is an international communion of Baptists, with an estimated 51 million people from 266 member bodies in 134 countries and territories as of 2024. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accounts f ...

and the

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an American association of Evangelical Christian denominations, organizations, schools, churches, and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than ...

. The headquarters are in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. The current president of Converge is John K. Jenkins.

History

The Baptist General Conference grew out of the great revival of the 19th century, but its roots can be traced back to

Radical Pietism Radical Pietism are those Ecclesiastical separatism, Christian churches who decided to break with denominational Lutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast with Church Pietists, who chose t ...

in Sweden. In 1852 Gustaf Palmquist emigrated from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

to the

. Forty-seven days after his arrival, he and three others organized a Swedish Baptist church in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

. Fredrik (F.O.) Nilsson, who was instrumental in leading Palmquist to

views, arrived in America the next year with 21 immigrants. Some of these united with the Rock Island church, while others organized a church at Houston, Minnesota. Nilsson traveled widely, founding and strengthening churches. Anders Wiberg was another pioneer among these churches from 1852 until 1855, when he returned to Sweden as a missionary. It also had influence from and a partial connection with fellow Pietists and Radical Pietists of different denominational traditions within the Mission Friends movement. Christian experience was a major emphasis among these Swedish Baptists, and they prospered from the awakenings in the 19th century. Immigration, aggressive evangelism and conversion through revivals brought rapid growth to the denomination. John Alexis Edgren founded the ''Swedish Baptist Seminary'' (now Bethel University) in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1871. In 1879, when the Swedish churches had grown to 65 in number, they formed a General Conference. The members of these churches assimilated into American society and gradually lost their separate ethnic identity. By 1940, most churches were English-speaking. In 1945, the Swedish Baptist General Conference dropped "Swedish" from its name and became the Baptist General Conference of America. Swedish Baptists had maintained an alliance with the American Baptist Publication Society, American Baptist home and foreign missions, etc., and later the

Northern Baptist Convention The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline Protestant and Baptist Christian denomination. It is a reorganization from 1907 of the Triennial Convention. The Triennial Convention was renamed as the Northern Baptist Convention in ...

. Some Swedish Baptists expected to merge with that body, but the groups moved toward different developments of theological emphasis. The conservative Swedish Baptists pulled back from growing liberalism of the Northern Baptists, and in 1944 formed their own Board of Foreign Missions. This moved them toward independent existence, which they have maintained to the present. From its beginning among Scandinavian

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s, the BGC has grown to a nationwide association of autonomous churches with at least 17

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

s and missions in 35 nations. The Baptist General Conference adopted the new movement name of Converge Worldwide in 2008, and was renamed to Converge in 2015.

Statistics

According to a census published by the denomination in 2023, it claimed 1,346 churches and 324,163 members.

Beliefs

The denomination has a

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: ...

. It is a member of the

Schools

Converge operates the Bethel Theological Seminary and Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minnesota near St. Paul.

Missionary Organization

The Convention has a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

organization, Converge missions.

Social programs

It has a humanitarian organization, Converge crisis response. Converge
Converge crisis response
converge.org, USA, accessed July 24, 2024

Notable Members

* John Piper - theologian, professor of

biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

at Bethel University, and pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis). * Bob Merritt - former senior pastor of Eagle Brook Church in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul.

References

Sources

*Glenmary Research Center. ''Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, 2000'' *McBeth, H. Leon. ''The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness'' *Olson, Adolf. ''A Centenary History as Related to the Baptist General Conference'' *Wardin, Albert W. Jr. ''Baptists Around the World''

External links

Converge
- official website {{National Association of Evangelicals Religious organizations established in 1879 Members of the National Association of Evangelicals Baptist denominations in the United States Radical Pietism Baptist denominations established in the 19th century Evangelical denominations in North America Christian denominations founded in the United States