ABOUT US
OUR HISTORY
A Place of Grace
Emmanuel Baptist Church was founded in 1978 by Pastor Walt Zimmerman in Manchester NH. Pastor Z, as he is still referred to today many years now after his passing, was a member of “The Greatest Generation”. He was a WWII hero and a missionary to the Nursing Homes of New England, providing hope and comfort to many in their twilight years. He finally settled down and planted Emmanuel, where he would serve as her lead pastor until 1994. The vision that Pastor Z had for Emmanuel still continues today.
WE ARE A PLACE OF GRACE
We are a church where the abundant grace and abundant truth of God mix together to form something unique in our society. A welcoming, loving, and understanding church, with strong convictions on what the Bible says, and strong convictions that the amazing grace of Jesus is powerful enough to cover our sins and make us righteous before God. Pastor Z would routinely say that we were a “church of the do! Not a church of the don’t!” He never wanted our community to think of us in a negative way, as a church of great restrictions or as an oppressive ministry. So it is today. A place of grace, a place of truth.
Following the ministry of Pastor Z, his long-time associate Pastor Ron Clow took leadership. Pastor Clow ministered at Emmanuel from late 1994 to 2009. One of the most accentuated parts of his ministry was the authority of the Bible as the very Word of God. He stressed following the Lord unreservedly and without compromise. His was an exacting ministry with a emphasis on faithfulness and excellence.
Our current pastor, Eric Davis, having come to faith under the ministry of Pastor Z, embraces the values of abundant truth and abundant grace existing in tension. Our theme verse under Pastor Davis is found in 1 John 4:17. He defines our vision today from this verse… “To raise up a generation of believers that are ‘as he is, in this world”. Under Pastor Davis we have adopted the motto “Bless God, Bless Others, Be the Blessing” because being like Jesus means blessing and glorifying the Father and loving the people of the world. It means that we become the hands, feet, heart and mind of Jesus in our culture. Pastor Davis has been our lead pastor since 2009.
WHO WE ARE
TO BE "AS HE IS IN THIS WORLD"
Bless God, Bless Others, Be the Blessing is our motto and a summary of our strategy built on three simple goals.
Bless God. We want to bring glory to God and make Him smile. The Bible teaches us that we need to love Him first most and best, that we need to live our lives to His glory. At Emmanuel this is the first objective. Will this bless God? From our worship to our generosity to our service we seek to bless God.
Bless Others. Jesus lived to bless others, and particularly the church. Paul teaches in Galatians that we are to look for opportunities to bless especially those who are part of the household of faith. This includes our ministries within the body, such as small groups, fellowships and training events.
Be the Blessing. This is where we take all that we are learning and live it out in the world. From missions, to helping out in our community with projects or having a positive gospel presence at Christmas events, Old Home Days, we seek to be the hands, feet, heart and mind of Christ. This is where we join in the mission of Jesus to take the gospel to all people.
The FOUR Cs of OUR VISION
Christ - We strive to love Him first most and best. We do this through engaging in worship together, giving and serving through His church.
Church - We strive to love the Capital C Church. That world-wide body of Christ. We seek to love the CHURCH by supporting more missionaries abroad, local churches and pastors and church plants here at home.
church - We strive to love OUR local church. We do this through faithful attendance and support of her ministries. We seek to bless one another through more engagment in small groups and service to one another.
Community - We strive to love our community through ministries designed to help others outside the faith or the church, such as our food pantry. We strive to love by finding ways to present the gospel and invite people to worship services to hear the good news.
JESUS, GRACE, TRUTH AND THE REST OF OUR VALUES
At Emmanuel we value the grace and truth that is found in Christ and through His Word, the Bible. We try to value what He values. We understand that we are all a work in progress. We have a saying that we have adopted, welcome to the church of broken people, from the pulpit to the pew... being made whole in Jesus. Practically speaking this looks like the following.
We value JESUS. He is EVERYTHING. We believe that He is God in the flesh. That He is our savior, master, our guru, our teacher and we attempt to bring His teaching to life by living it out. We believe that we can KNOW Him in a personal way, just as He was known over 2000 years ago because He is alive and hears our prayers and speaks to us through His Spirit and His Word.
We value GRACE. Everyone has a story, and that story hasn't been completed yet. We understand that everyone is at a different place on their journey of faith and we seek to be merciful and graceful with one another and with those with whom we disagree. Our goal is to reach our community and the world with the glorious grace of the gospel and to live it out with each other.
We value TRUTH. The Bible is the only authority in faith and the practice of that faith. The Bible is an uncomfortable book, it forces us to see ourselves and all of our flaws, it offers us salvation from our sin and the penalty of it through Jesus. It shows us how to live a life that pleases the Lord.
We value RELATIONSHIPS. This means that conflict and confrontation aren't dirty words. We understand that true growth sometimes comes through discomfort. We seek to build relationships with each other, with the Lord and we try to help marriages and families through sermon series, teaching and other events.
We value PEOPLE. Yup. babies to elderly and everything in-between. People are God's creation and people are awesome and JESUS loves them and so do we. Even when WE are loud and messy and BROKEN.
We value our COMMUNITY. We want to be a blessing materially as well as spiritually by providing a safe place for people to come worship, a building that various groups use during the year, an amazing food pantry, toys for tots event among others, and by getting out into our towns and cities to help where we can.
WE BELIEVE
Follow the link below to an abbreviated Statement of Our Faith. We believe that the Bible has been given as a gift to the world and the church and that it is just as relevant today as when it was first written. The Bible is a supernatural book and is the sole authority for Faith and the pratice of that Faith.
OUR PASTORAL STAFF
Our leadership team recognizes the authority of God, and realizes that we are shepherds who serve under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We desire to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Our passion and goal is to equip the believers for the work of the ministry until we all attain maturity in the fullness of Christ. At Emmanuel we believe strongly in the “plurality of elders” as taught in the New Testament, with a “ruling elder” who is first among equals. This provides accountability for the ruling elder who is our lead pastor, as well as encouragement and mutual discipleship among our leaders. The following people are these elders. Coming alongside these men is a team of over 20 other men and women that by the help of the Holy Spirit lead this church.
ERIC & TRISHA
Lead Pastor
Pastor Eric has been our lead pastor since June of 2009. He first came to Emmanuel as a teen when his then girlfriend, now wife dragged him kicking and screaming on a Wednesday Evening Bible Study. He was hooked. First on her, then on Christ. Since then he has served in nearly every ministry in the church and briefly left to start a new church north of Concord NH.
When not pastoring, Eric enjoys reading novels, graphic design, coaching his son's football team and football in general.
RICK & LORRAINE
Pastoral Staff
Pastor Rick has been a fixture at Emmanuel almost from the very beginning. He has been on staff since 1993 and has served in almost every ministry. He leads our maintenance ministry and oversees our student and children's ministries.
Rick is a contractor by trade and loves building things, canoeing and camping with his wife.
PETER & KERRIE
Pastoral Staff
Pastor Peter was born at Emmanuel... He has been a part of the fabric of Emmanuel for nearly 40 years. Over last several years Peter was ordained and now leads our Discipleship ministries as well as fills the pulpit.
Peter is an avid baseball fan. When not studying leadership and reading, you will find him coaching or managing one of his kid's baseball teams.
RON & MICHELINE
Pastoral Staff
Cap (as he is often referred by) has been at Emmanuel for over 20 years. He has been instrumental in leading our worship ministry and guiding our church into a more contemporary culture. Currently Pastor Ron leads our finance ministry and plays bass on the Worship Team.
When not helping with worship or caring for the finances Ron enjoys riding his motorcycle and taking classes earning new degrees.
OUR DEACONS
Our Deacons are men who fulfill the biblical qualifications to serve the church by caring for material needs and processes. These are men who have been tested and tried by life and ministry. They and their wives are instrumental to the health of our church.
John & Debbie
Brian & Amy
Angel & Kim
Have Questions?
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