Our Church History

The Church began in 1887 as a group of Christians meeting as a Brethren Assembly, following - we understand - the ministry of Somerset born Ephraim Venn who was only around 30 years old at the time. He was convinced that he became a Christian on 11th July 1876.

Clearly an evangelist at heart, Ephraim poured his life into sharing the Gospel, ministering both in Dublin and London, but the work in small villages and among country folk lay nearer to his heart. Shortly after his death on 27th December 1930, the following verse was found in his pocket book, and no doubt sums up his whole attitude to life, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil 3: 8)

It's good to know that the roots of the Church are founded in 'mission'. Dorchester Community Church became an Independent Evangelical Church in the early 1970's. In short this means that, although a Bible believing Church, we are not affiliated to any one denomination. We are, however, affiliated to the Evangelical Alliance and increasingly enjoy good relationships with other churches in the town.

Trustees are responsible for all legal aspects of the Church but the spiritual leadership of the Church is the responsibility of the Elders, of which there are currently five (one of these being our full-time Pastor). As part of the wider leadership team, we also have four Deacons, of which three are female.

Moving on to the present, 2004 saw the Church appoint it's first ever Pastor, Roger Frapwell. From a background in Sainsbury's, Roger was trained at Moorlands Bible College, a Christian training centre in Dorset before starting to work for Spurgeon's Child Care at his then home Church at Testwood Baptist Church, Totton, Southampton. It was here that he gave birth to the community project, 'Youth And Families Matter' and indeed managed this project for 11 years. YFM, as it is affectionately known now, has 8 part-time staff and continues to be a key resource in Totton for supporting young people and families.

Roger was one of three ministers at Testwood. In addition to his managing YFM, his main responsibilities for the Church were outreach, youth work, leading and preaching. The journey that brought Roger and his wife Ali to Dorchester, and to Dorchester Community church in particular, is an amazing one…! Click here if you want to read all about it. >>more

A key verse for Roger & Ali, and indeed the Church has been from Isaiah 43: 18 - 19… "See, I am doing a new thing…" - hence the church email address.

The Present Building
Let's have a glimpse of the building, and Church life, 100 years ago…! The building itself was surrounded by other buildings, all fairly close. This together with the stained glass windows gave quite a dark and gloomy appearance! Coat hangers were all around the walls (as most people walked of course!) and selected Bible verses were displayed on the walls. As a result of people not having cars back then, outings were enjoyed by steam train!

Lighting was by 4 gas lamps plus two either side of the platform.

Heating was by two convection gas fires, one on each side of the hall half way down. The effect in Winter was to either freeze or roast - depending on where you sat!

Change is here to stay…! There have obviously been many changes to the fabric of the Church over the years, and that's been very necessary. The back room, known for years as the school room, was built mostly by Church members. This is where Junior Church meets today – but even this is not big enough for the three growing groups there.

We continue to examine 'what we look like' recognising that, whether we like it or not, to the world in which we live image is everything. If people go on first impressions, we want to do all we can to ensure that the impression they receive from Dorchester Community church is a good one…

Did you know…?
Dorchester Community Church was responsible for a 'Counties' evangelist to be seconded. The first being Nelson Walker. For the last 30 years we have supported Stephen Gillham in his ministry. Many of our young people look forward to the camps he runs each year and Stephen is also a regular speaker with us.

Dorchester Community Church was responsible for a 'Counties' evangelist to be seconded. The first being Nelson Walker. For the last 30 years we have supported Stephen Gillham in his ministry. Many of our young people look forward to the camps he runs each year. Stephen is a regular speaker with us, as are Solomon Nathanial (working with the Asians) and Mike Strange (Somerset), and we pray for them and their families regularly.

Dorchester Community Church, together with two Christians from Weymouth, influenced Gideon's International to allow a Dorset branch to be formed. Thousands of Bibles have been placed in hotels, prisons and guest houses, and many children continue to receive a Gideon's Bible at school.

Fact & Faith films, when first produced, were shown in the Church to a full house! We need to do whatever it takes today to rekindle such spiritual interest. More recently we have shown both the ‘Jesus’ film, and the Mel Gibson epic, ‘The Passion of the Christ’

The work amongst children has been going over 70 years, and teas for Senior Citizens have been held ever since October 1967. All ages matter to God.