In the summer of 1980, Pastor Rick Dinoff and his family moved to Toms River, NJ. for the purpose of starting an Independent Baptist Church. On November 30, 1980, Ocean County Baptist Church held it first church service in the East Dover Elementary School. In 1982 they purchased the property on which the church is presently located for fifty-nine thousand dollars. The ground breaking ceremony for the first building, 8,352 square feet, was held on June 20, 1982. In September 1986, Pastor Earl Thompson became the Pastor of Ocean County Baptist Church. The church continued to grow and the facilities needed to be expanded. The church approved a 6,693 square foot building consisting of classrooms and a fellowship hall. In 1992, while maintaining their present mortgage, they built the four hundred fifty thousand dollar addition, debt free. In September 1995, Pastor Michael A. Weigel became the Pastor of Ocean County Baptist Church. Since his coming, the church has experienced consistent growth numerically, financially, and spiritually. God opened the door for the establishment of a Christian school. In August 2003, the Ocean County Christian Academy (OCCA) began with eighty-five students. Ground breaking for a new addition was on November 21, 2004. It was in September in 2005 that we were able to begin to use the new classrooms and gym. Now we are celebrating 39 years of ministry in Toms River, NJ. To God be the glory!