Greater Love Tabernacle Church’s story began 25-years ago, when William E. Dickerson II, a Massachusetts Certified Teacher, a youth pastor, and counselor, founded the church in 1989.  After working in the Boston Public Schools for years, he did not wait for someone else to do something about the number of youth failing in school and succumbing to violence.  He answered the call to address the urgent need to provide services that make a real and measurable difference in people’s lives.  Starting with six members, Greater Love Tabernacle has an active membership of 600+ adults. 

 

In addition to serving as a place of worship, the church also harnesses its members’ volunteer time, talents and resources, and collaborates with government, community-and faith-based organizations, to offer the following services in the community:

 

• Works with survivors of gang violence and homicides in the community by providing trauma and grief counseling to families burying murdered children, while working with youth to prevent revenge killings;

• Provides youth development services teaching youth about God’s transformational love and providing opportunities to escape the street-life and the trafficking of illegal goods,

• Operates a prison ministry for ex-offenders seeking redemption and a new life, on re-entry to the community, by providing prison prevention counseling, job training and placement services for adjudicated youth, plus counseling and referrals linking adult ex-offenders to needed services to rebuild their lives;

• Works in collaboration with health care providers to address glaring health disparities and increasing community mortality rates, by integrating health education/nutrition and exercise activities into the fabric of all services;