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History and message

The Converge North Central story

The Spirit is moving.

He’s moving in Iowa and Minnesota.
He’s working through Jesus-followers—people like you.
You may not always see it, especially when culture moves away from God. But from our view at Converge North Central, it’s unmistakable.
We see immigrants find church homes.
We see teenagers give their lives to Jesus at summer camp.
We see congregations encourage one another to move the gospel forward fearlessly.
Because in our more than 150 years, we’ve learned that churches bring more people into Jesus’ arms when they work together.

And you’re invited to be part of the movement.

You’re invited into iron-sharpens-iron relationships between pastors who spur each other on.
You’re invited to help start faith communities that will transform lives for generations.
You’re invited to learn and share your best with other churches that need your wisdom.
Join with churches around Iowa and Minnesota, the nation, and the world, holding one another up as we share the gospel with the people God has called us to reach.
And imagine how many more people we can tell about Jesus when we unite for God’s mission.

We are Converge North Central.

Uniting churches to move the gospel forward.

CNC history

  • 1856

    Seven congregations from Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota meet in Rock Island, Illinois, and label themselves the Swedish Baptist General Conference.

  • 1879

    With 65 congregations and 3,000 baptized believers, the Swedish Baptist General Conference in the United States officially forms.

  • 1888

    Johanna Anderson becomes the first missionary of our movement, in Burma.

  • 1914

    Bethel Seminary relocates to St. Paul, Minnesota. Graduates of Bethel University (and seminary) include a multitude of pastors, as well as artists, theologians, business leaders, governmental leaders, and professional athletes

  • 1944–1945

    Baptist General Conference's independent foreign missions program launches, initiating significant growth in world missions.

  • 1945

    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.

  • 1960s–1970s

    Baptist General Conference church membership grows from 72,000 to 132,000. The movement begins mission work in Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

  • 1980s–1990s

    Baptist General Conference grows to over 140,000 members in 880 churches, with new mission work in the Middle East, France, Bulgaria, Central Asia, Slovakia, Thailand, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

  • 2000s

    Baptist General Conference exceeds 1,075 churches. Converge launches missions in Cambodia, Haiti, Nigeria, Senegal, Singapore, and Montreal. Structural changes include Bethel College and Seminary becoming Bethel University.

  • 2008

    Converge adopts a new missional name, Converge Worldwide.

  • 2010s

    Converge Worldwide refocuses its mission of “starting and strengthening churches together worldwide,” renaming to Converge.

  • 2022

    As our movement has diversified to include people and leaders of many ethnicities, backgrounds, and expressions of worship, Converge elects our first African American President, Pastor John Jenkins of First Baptist Church of Glenarden.

  • Today

    Converge is a movement of churches and leaders collaborating on the one thing that matters: lives changed through Jesus, person by person, worldwide.