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Immanuel Baptist Church History
Immanuel
(Old Testament,
Isaiah 7:14) or
Emmanuel
(New Testament, Matthew 1:23) means
GOD WITH US, which is our prayer.
Two churches, the Free Street Baptist Church,
organized in 1836, and the First Free Baptist Church, organized in 1810, merged
to form Immanuel Baptist Church on November 27, 1922. Rev. William H. Jones,
D.D., was called to be the first pastor of the combined congregations on June
12, 1923.
To build a new
church structure, the Hannaford property on the corner of High and Deering
Streets was purchased. This lot was not large enough so an extra lot next
door was also purchased. The two lots still were not large enough so it
was decided to add a third floor to the parish house
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Groundbreaking
was held on April 28, 1926. The laying of the cornerstone was
held on October
1, 1926. Dedication of the parish house was held from April 24 through 29,
1927. Dedication of the entire structure was held from April 1 to 5, 1928.
The church’s
sanctuary and parish house are a modified form of English gothic. Material
used is granite, so fitly joined together that the whole structure has been
called a poem in stone.
There have been
five pastors of Immanuel Baptist Church: Rev. William H. Jones, 1923-1945;
Rev. Edward R. Nelson, 1945-1979; Rev. John Holt, 1980-1987; Rev. Paul Hanneman,
1988-1998; and Rev. Deborah Davis-Johnson, 1999 to the present.
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