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HISTORY

Late in 1976, the Lord burdened Emmanuel's Founding Pastor, Pastor Jim Devney, to begin a new work in the Johnson County area. Pastor Jim expressed this burden to some friends, Darrel and Pauline Towles, and they wanted to be part of this work. The Lord worked on two other families who were also friends of Pastor Jim and Carol's, and the number began to grow. They decided to meet on Easter Sunday, 1977, for their first meeting. They met in Darrel and Pauline Towles’ home, and there were 17 in attendance.

The church continued to grow in size, and it was time to look for a larger meeting place. Emmanuel began meeting at The Johnson County Sports Day Camp building in Franklin, IN. The Lord was gracious, and souls were saved, and many people continued to pour into the church. The Sports Day Camp was also a disco on Friday and Saturday nights, and the "cleaning crew" would come in on Sunday morning at 5:00 AM and mop and clean the facility and pull out the portable altars and folding chairs. Many people have fond memories of those times spent cleaning the Day Camp, because the cleanup would always end with a special time of prayer around the altars, seeking God's will for Emmanuel.

In December of 1978, Emmanuel purchased the Faith Baptist Church property at 3051 Stones Crossing Road. After refurbishing, the first services were held in January of 1979. In a very short time--we began to "bulge at the seams" once again.

The Stropes property at 1636 and 1640 W. Stones Crossing was purchased, and a new building was erected. The property also included a green farmhouse which became the parsonage, and a beauty shop which was turned into Sunday School classrooms. The first Sunday service in the new building was Christmas Sunday, 1981. In 1983, new wings and classrooms were added to accommodate growing numbers of new people attending the church. Then, as God continued to bless His work at Emmanuel, we broke ground in November of 1988 on our new 2,000-seat sanctuary. We held our first service in our new auditorium on December 10, 1989.

In the summer of 2005, Pastor Jim announced his retirement from the ministry of Emmanuel, and the church voted Pastor Danny Anderson to become Emmanuel's senior pastor. Pastor Danny had been the Senior High Pastor for approximately four years. After 29 years, Pastor Jim stepped down as senior pastor on Easter Sunday morning, 2006, and Pastor Danny Anderson began as the full-time senior pastor.

The congregation of Emmanuel understands the importance of continuing the vision that Pastor Jim founded this work on--seeing people come to Christ and grow in Christ. With that vision in place, Emmanuel looks forward to the future and all that God has in store for it as they follow Pastor Danny and his leadership.