Stockton Community’s humble beginnings started in 1977 in the garage of a family residence located at 6114 Maywood Lane, Stockton, California. Pastor Alfredo Boron along with his wife, Tranquilina Boron, and family led this ministry with the vision to reach the lost, especially other Filipinos in the greater Stockton community. The congregation, which consisted of six different families, met on a weekly basis in the garage of Pastor Alfredo Boron, where they held worship services. The house church grew and after ten years of faithful service and ministry, Pastor Boron and the congregation began to look for a larger facility to hold their weekly meetings. After deep prayer and consideration, Stockton Filipino Church purchased a building on 1136 South Center Street in Stockton, California. Ironically, the building purchased was formerly a night club named “Derby Tavern.” With lots of hard work, many volunteered hours, and generous contributions and gifts from the church members and other partner churches alike, the former home of those searching for joy and meaning through worldly means became the home of those searching for joy and meaning through Christ alone.
In 1986, Stockton Filipino Church moved into their new home. After more than a decade of pioneering and dedicated service, Pastor Alfredo Boron believed God had greater plans for this church and after much prayer he resigned from his position as senior pastor in July of 1989. His son in law, Pastor Ernesto Asio, married to Pastor Alfredo Boron’s daughter, Virginia Boron Asio, was then appointed to the position. Stockton Filipino Church continued to grow and the building was unable to accommodate the people and ministries necessary to keep moving forward with God’s dream and vision for the church. In 2000, two major events happened. The first major event was the remodeling and expansion of the church building. The church building needed to be expanded to accommodate the growing numbers and need for additional space. Ground breaking for this expansion took place in the summer of 2000 and would take a little over two and half years to complete. During this time, the church rented from different facilities where they held the weekly worship services. In 2003, the new building was ready after countless hours of labor, significant contributions from church members and other church partners, and God’s abundant grace and mercy. The church re-opened its doors to the community on March of 2003 with a great celebration!
The second event was the name change of the church. After a church-wide vote, the name was changed from Stockton Filipino Church to Stockton Community Church. When the church first was launched in the late 1970’s the vision was to primarily reach the Filipino speaking residents of the greater Stockton area. This vision was pursued with great expectation and God’s favor was upon that dream by bringing it to fruition. However, with the cultural complexion of the church and community ever-changing, the church saw the need to reach outside of race, ethnic background, color, and/or culture, and spread the love of Christ to all people. Christ died to set all of humanity free and His love and grace is not conditional, but rather it is freely offered and given to all who come to Him. This has become the vision of Proximity Church: to see people come to God and live out purpose-filled lives in Christ.
Today, Proximity Church continues to grow and thrive as a church committed to this vision. Proximity Church has a strong and rich history full of testimonies and stories of God’s grace and provisions. The church is committed to honoring this history by moving forward in excellence, paving a new way for the generations to come to continue this work, all the while doing so with a passion and fervor that reflects the heart of Christ solely for the Glory of God.
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