A Brief History of Emmanuel Church

In order to accomplish a greater work for God, a group of 37 persons, with the names of 38 who could not be present, met in the Grand Army Hall on   July 15, 1896 for the purpose of organizing a Baptist church. This group of 75 had separated themselves from the First Baptist Church on Franklin Street; they chose the name "EMMANUEL" (God with us) and adopted the Baptist manual by J. Newton Brown as the rules of order as taught in the Word of God. In May, 1897, the church was received into the Regular Welsh Baptist Association of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. On December 15, 1900, Emmanuel Baptist Church was incorporated to Pennsylvania law.

As the history of Emmanuel Baptist Church is studied, it can truly be said that God has been with this church and continues to bless the church a century later. Each milestone, whether a positive thrust forward or an economic setback, is attributed to the unquestionable will of God and has served to strengthen the church.

During the first four years, Emmanuel Baptist Church was under the spiritual care of B.F. Quigg, a layman who served the church faithfully and without compensation.

By 1905, the church, which was still meeting in the Grand Army Hall, acquired property on Poplar Street for a new church building. On the tenth anniversary of the organization of Emmanuel Baptist Church, the first house of worship the congregation ever had was ready for dedication. On Sunday, June 30, 1918, the mortgage was burned.

In October, 1912, the church was received into Center Baptist Association where the delegates met Rev. Jacob Booth. In 1913, Rev. Booth came to Emmanuel as pastor at a salary of $9.00 a week.

On December 19, 1931, Rev. Harvey Warner became pastor during an economic and spiritual depression in the church. At the time, the church was able to pay him a salary of only $20.00 a week. But God was with Rev. Warner, and Warner made great progress at Emmanuel until the flood of March 17, 1936. Overnight, the church faced the loss of an organ, pews, pianos, furnaces, hymnals and other expensive church equipment when the water reached a depth of five feet in front of the second floor sanctuary. There was considerable damage to the main building as well as the adjoining Sunday School annex and parsonage. Included in the rehabilitation of the church buildings was the installation of a new Kilgan electric pipe organ as well as all new furniture. Many items were contributed by individual members and considerable work was done by volunteers. The debt incurred for these improvements was paid off and the mortgage burned on July 16, 1944, commemorating the 48th anniversary of the church.

From February 1, 1953 until January 1, 1954, Emmanuel Baptist Church was without a pastor. However, it was richly blessed by various persons who supplied the pulpit. During this time, the members were drawn closer together in a common desire to continue the Lord's work and to seek His man for the church. In October, 1953, following the weekly Wednesday prayer service, prayers were answered. A telephone call was received which resulted in the Rev. Ray H. Streets becoming pastor on January 1, 1954.

With the Lord's blessing and the strong leadership of Pastor Ray, Emmanuel's greater work for God began to move forward. In 1954, a junior church service and the first Vacation Bible School was initiated.

The church outgrew the building on Poplar Street, and ground was purchased in Richland Township, Dedication of the building was held on September 13, 1959, and a second floor was added in 1965.

The Voice of Emmanuel, a 15-minute, weekly radio broadcast over WJAC radio, went on the air in October 1963 and still sends fourth the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A daily preschool program began in 1974 and continues to function. The filming of the 10:45 a.m. worship service for presentation on the local cable television station (Cablecomm) began broadcasting on February 23, 1987.

With the growth of our youth we needed to seek for our first Youth Pastor. From Liberty University we found Bill Keaggy. Bill and his wife, Angie, came to work with our youth for more than four years. While Bill was here, he helped put together a new contemporary style service at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. That service then began airing on cable television.

In addition,  Dave Streets, who at the time was pastor of Westmont Baptist Church, was hired to work as EBC's Pastor of Small Groups and Discipleship. He accepted the job and began working here at Emmanuel Baptist Church in 1997.

During a period of growth in 1998, T. Jay Williams and his wife, Cresta, came to us, also from Liberty University. Though their efforts the youth ministry was greatly expanded include numerous outreach ministries for the youth of the Greater Johnstown Area through Impact Ministry Teams. Also in 1998 EBC added Leif Horrell as Worship Leader to the ministry staff to support the growing contemporary service.

While the church was still growing, we realized we needed to start a new ministry for our young adults. So we started seeking out somebody to lead this new group. After a long search, Peter Nordlund and his wife, Krista, came to serve here at Emmanuel. 

In 1999, due to growth beyond the existing facilities, groundbreaking took place for a new section of the church. This new 29,000 square foot facility contains the main worship center, office space, classrooms, chapel, nursery as well as various other learning and ministry facilities.

In November 2000, T. Jay left and his position was filled by Leif Horrell. In July of 2001 Kirk Rowland, a local boy, was hired to head the youth ministry of Emmanuel Baptist Church.  In life God moves us on and in March of 2003 Leif heard God calling him to join a new church plant in Colorado.  For 5 months the ministry of music  was lead by Rob Dugan and so many others for which we are so grateful as we sought God's direction and person for that vital ministry.  Our great God is faithful and we saw his man come August of 2003 as Phil Gifford and his soon to be wife Pam answered God's call to be the Worship Pastor. 

During the ensuing two years God was faithful, and we saw many come into newness of life, freed from the bounds of sin and begin living the Legacy of Jesus.  The year 2005 saw some changes, Pastors Dave and Ray Streets became Lead Pastors and Pastor Peter Nordlund moved in the Associate Pastor role.  During the previous years God had been growing our youth and in the summer of 2005 we saw the Lord bring Chris Valente and his wife Becky to direct the Jr. High filling the growing need to separate The Edge Youth Ministry into Sr. High and Jr. High

The church that started with 75 members a century ago continues to grow, with attendance nearing 1200 on a given Sunday. Emmanuel Baptist Church has a burden for its local church family and community, serving both spiritual and physical needs. It is also deeply devoted to missions, supporting ministry worldwide. Over the history of the church, no man has taken credit for the work done at Emmanuel -- all is attributed to God working through the faithful leaders and the church embodiment. God was with this church in 1896, and God is still with this church because God's perfect will is what has always been sought for the ministry of Emmanuel Baptist Church.