God has given our church a wonder faith journey! Immanuel Baptist Church began as a mission in the home of Shirley and Leon Blackwell in 1965 with the help of the Earl Sears family. Two Texas churches made the commitment to sponsor the mission by sending $350.00 each month and Immanuel Baptist Church of Wichita, Kansas agreed to be the mother church.
George Hair was called to be the first pastor and served from 1965-67. Immanuel Baptist Mission, made up of 54 members, began meeting in the Sister Frieda Chapel. The parsonage at 412 Beverly was purchased for $19,000.
Earl Mann was the pastor from 1968-72. The Mission bought land on Anderson Street for $16,000 on which to build a permanent church building.
F.W. Elmore served as pastor from 1973-80. Plans were drawn and approved for the church building. The Mission was constituted as Immanuel Baptist Church on March 3, 1974. Groundbreaking for the new church was held on March 23, 1975. The congregation began worshiping in the new building (1515 N. Anderson) in 1976. Men, women and children all took part in helping to complete the church building.
During the 1983-86 pastorate of Clyde Elder, the church participated in the “Together We Build” program which resulted in $165,000 being pledged over a three-year period. In 1984, the second phase building, which included educational space and Fellowship Hall, was begun. The building addition was completed in 1985 by volunteer labor supervised by Leon Blackwell. The mortgage on this building project was paid off in 1991.
In the life of a church, no event or person should be regarded as insignificant. Several men have answered the call to be our pastor and many other persons have been a part in the life Immanuel Baptist Church. Every person who has been a part of our church has left a part of themselves with us and has taken a part of us with them.
We are thankful for our past and we are excited for our future! We believe that God has great things in store for Immanuel and the city of Newton. After many months of praying and seeking the Lord for our next Pastor, Immanuel extended an invitation to Austin Reser. Pastor Austin has been serving Immanuel since May 30th, 2022. He loves to preach the Word of God, his family, being outdoors--- hunting/ fishing/golfing and coffee. Pastor Austin and his wife, Dani, have 2 girls: Penelope and Lydia.
We would love for you to join us on this journey and grow in your faith with us at Immanuel!
Secretary - Veri Stroud
Worship Leader - Terry Fruechting
We are part of the Southern Baptist Convention and as such subscribe to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
Deacon- Kevin League
Pastor - Austin Reser
Our Beliefs
Deacon - Troy Slabach