A BRIEF HISTORY OF BSBC

The first Swede settled in Worcester in 1868. Within fifteen years the Swedish population had swelled to seven thousand. Many of these Swedes' lives had been touched by revivals back in Sweden and they longed to find Christian friendship here. Those of Baptist persuasion congregated at the First Baptist Church of Worcester where Pastor Marshall took a great interest in these immigrant Christians. He provided Bibles in their native tongue and encouraged them in their worship of God.

These immigrant Baptists often found themselves meeting in homes to sing and to pray in Swedish. It was during one of those meetings that the people sensed the Lord leading them to reach out to their fellow Swedes through organizing the First Swedish Baptist Church of Worcester. The church-our church-was born on November 17, 1880 when nine Swedes of Baptist persuasion became charter members. After holding meetings in homes for several weeks, the people were invited to use some space at First Baptist Church to hold services in Swedish. The 16 members of the newly founded church called Rev. Hjelm to be the first pastor. He brought with him eight others who were part of his church in Sweden.

By the time his two years of ministry were completed, the membership of our church had increased to 92 members. Pastor Ostrom, also of Sweden, was called as our second pastor. During his ministry our first church building was built on Mulberry Street. At the time it was completed and dedicated, only a small debt remained outstanding, due largely to the generous aid received from First Baptist Church. These were fruitful years for the church. Sixty-one people were baptized during those years and by the end of Pastor Ostrom's ministry, the membership of our church had grown to 130.

The churchs' membership grew to 400 during the four years of Rev. Hjerstrom's leadership (1891-1895). Some members that moved to Cleveland, Ohio and Waukegan, Illinois and Gardner, Massachusetts gave birth to Swedish Baptist churches in their respective cities. Here in Worcester, our congregation helped establish a Swedish-Finnish Baptist church and Grace Baptist Church on Vernon Hill where many of our members were living at the time. We also operated a Sunday School of 200 out of a public school building. Many church members soon began to feel the need for a new building in a more suitable location.

In 1904, our church purchased our present lot. Work was begun immediately and the sanctuary was finished in 1908. A pipe organ was installed in 1912. In 1920 we also built a chapel on Sunderland Road where we conducted a vibrant Sunday School. In the '30s, during the Great Depression, the church became a center for distributing used clothing to meet the needs of the community. Attendance records peaked in the years Dr. Peterson served as pastor. In 1942 the church voted to conduct services in English instead of Swedish and the following year we changed our name to Belmont Street Baptist Church.

In 1951, under Pastor Anderson, a lot of road construction was taking place in the city. Thanks to his leadership, a parcel of land given to the church by the Morgan Construction Company, monies received from the State and the generous contributions of the congregation, we were able to erect the Christian Education section of our present facility. Our membership at that time was 507, with 374 students enrolled in Sunday School. In the years that immediately followed we were able to build our present parking lot. After much debate, the church voted to install a new Allen electronic organ rather than repair the pipe organ. In 1976 fourteen members left our church to organize the Bethlehem Baptist Church of West Boylston. Under the leadership of Pastor Abrahamson our constitution was changed to the one we use today. After going to English services, the ethnic composition began to gradually change.

Under the leadership of Dr. Butler, God brought in a small influx of brothers and sisters in Christ from a variety of ethnic groups. God has taken a Swedish Baptist church and transformed it into the multi-ethnic body of believers that we are today. In recent years we have initiated a Vietnamese church plant, shared our facility and Sunday School with a Chinese congregation, undertaken annual short-term missions trips, and some facility renovations.

What will God do next? How will He use us? Will we be faithful to His call? How will the paragraph about our generation read in the future?