History of Trinity Baptist Church of Indianapolis

The nucleus of the church was organized as Trinity Baptist Church and met officially as a group on March 5, 1967, with four men and parts of their families making up this new fellowship. The group met initially in homes of members and settled at the home of Rev. James M. Wooster who at the time was the officiating missionary pastor. The church was soon named Trinity Baptist Church of Indianapolis and purchased part of the present property on December 22, 1967. A second piece of adjoining property was purchased November 16, 1970. The combined properties consist of almost two (2) acres at a cost of $15,000.00.

The church began supporting missionaries on a monthly basis in January 1968, and was recognized as a duly constituted Baptist Church on March 26, 1968. In June 1968, Trinity became the first predominantly black-oriented church to become affiliated with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC) on a national level. Drawings for a facility with a seating capacity of about 250 were started and completed in 1972. Ground breaking services were held for the proposed new building on May 20, 1973. A $30,000 construction loan was approved in October and construction was begun immediately. Church members helped greatly with construction activities and did everything from digging footings to installing the roof and everything in between, including cleaning the thousands of used bricks that are on the outside walls. This facility still stands as a part of the church facility today.

Construction continued at a steady pace and the church started holding services in the basement of the new building in 1975. In April 1976, services were held in a main auditorium for the first time. However, major building construction needs (piano, pews, platform furniture, and carpeting) were not completed until 1979; for which, a dedicatory service was held. April 1976, also marked the departure of Pastor and Mrs. Wooster from the Trinity family. Rev. and Mrs. Carl Nuss came to Trinity in April and he served as interim missionary pastor until Mr. And Mrs. Kenneth Davis arrived in August of 1976.

The year 1980 marked the church’s vote to become a member church of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association (FBFA). The year 1982 marked the completion of the church’s constitution. Also in 1982, a Pastor Search Committee was formed for the purpose of seeking out the church’s first non-missionary pastor as a step toward becoming self-supporting. On May 5, 1982, the church voted to extend a call to Rev. Robert Anderson who served as the church’s first summer intern assistant pastor in 1977 and ministered to and among the youth of the church during many weekends in 1978. Rev. Anderson accepted the call to officially become the pastor on Sunday, September 19, 1982. On October 3, 1982, the church held a graduation service as a significant milestone to mark the movement of the church from missionary status to self-supporting status.

Four years after achieving self-supporting status, the church completely paid off the mortgage and commemorated this event with a Mortgage Burning Service on June 1, 1986. In 2000, Trinity completed a new addition to the church building. The expanded facility housed a multipurpose room for worship services and recreation events, increased classrooms, a larger Kitchen, new offices, new nursery, sound room, and a garage. In April 2001, Dr. Erskine Dodson became the Senior Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, where he and his wife, “Sister D” served faithfully for almost 14 years.

December 2014, marked the departure of Pastor and Mrs. Dodson. They were officially commissioned by Trinity Baptist Church in March 2015, back to the mission field, training pastors locally and globally. In April 2015, Trinity completely paid off the mortgage of the expanded facility and commemorated this event in the summer of that year. In 2017, Trinity Baptist Church of Indianapolis celebrated God’s grace in allowing them to be in ministry for 50 years. In 2018, the church called Rev. Gordon Rowe to officially become the new Senior Pastor. God has been faithful to this ministry and we are thankful for the impact we’ve had for His kingdom. We look forward to how He continues to move us forward into the future.