Greater Love Tabernacle

Greater Love Tabernacle (GLT) officially began Nov 5, 1989. Founder, William E. Dickerson II as a school teacher, husband and father of three children started the ministry with his wife Luella, their three children and a few adults. They would meet for bible study and prayer at their home on West Selden Street in Mattapan, MA. This started during July of 1989 and eventually this new formed church began having Sunday morning worship services at the Afro-American Institute on the campus of Northeastern University. After one year the church moved its worship location to the Mission Hill Community Center in Roxbury, MA. After moving to Mission Hill in 1991, GLT leased its first office at 695 Parker Street in Mission Hill. In 1997 GLT moved its offices to 603 River Street in Mattapan, a property which was purchased by the church. During the course of these changes the church also moved the location of its services to the Tobin Community Center and worship services and bible studies were conducted from this venue while the various committee meetings were held at the Mattapan site.

On December 8, 2000, GLT obtained a mortgage for its current location at 101 Nightingale Street in Dorchester. This building, a former Jewish synagogue was on the verge of being condemned by the city of Boston. The building had to be totally refurbished in order for the facility to accommodate the needs of a growing church. GLT initially used over $300,000 of its own money to finance the cost of phase one of the renovations. The current facility has a sanctuary which seats 750(+), 6 offices, 2 classrooms, a kitchen and a community room which seats 100(+). In addition there is a parking lot next to the church building which can accommodate approximately 40 cars. There is also a smaller lot on the corner that was obtained by the church and is used for overflow parking.

Currently Greater Love Tabernacle serves over 1500 people monthly through its various outreach programs. GLT’s adult membership is approximately 600(+). Since its inception GLT has been steadily growing and providing various services to many people from diverse backgrounds. Through healing, deliverance and restoration, thousands of lives have been changed. GLT has an extensive history of ministering to the disenfranchised of our society. Many individuals and families have been assisted and supported through our homeless ministry, HIV/AIDS outreach, youth programs, prison ministry and educational workshops and conferences.

Recently Greater Love Community Cares (GLCC) was developed as a separate entity to be the social and philanthropic arm of GLT. Through GLCC, monetary support can be raised to assist in the outreach effort to support youth programs, health disparity initiatives and antiviolence efforts but not limited to them.