Services
Sunday School 9:15- 10:15 a.m.
Sunday Morning Service 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Sunday Evening Teaching 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday Evening Children Desiring God and Youth Group 6:30-8:00 p.m.
History
In the fall of 1984 a group of five families began meeting together for Bible study and prayer, seeking God's direction concerning starting a new church in the growing area of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. God progressively and collectively gave them a vision for an evangelical church which would have a distinctive ministry in reaching men, women, and children for Jesus Christ. The first Sunday morning service was held in a home in February, 1985. From there they moved to Western Avenue Community Center in the spring of 1985. In November of 1989, the former Vale Baptist Church building was purchased to serve as a meeting place for the Immanuel Baptist Church family.
Immanuel's first full-time pastor, Scott Harrison, joined the work in the fall of 1985. Keith Throop has served as pastor since 1994.
Doctrine
The sole basis for our beliefs is the Bible, which is uniquely inspired of God, inerrant in the original autograghs, and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
There is one God, eternally existing in three persons -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- each possessing all the attributes of deity.
Although created in the image of God, all men in their natural state are lost, alienated from God, spiritually dead, in need of God's forgiveness and salvation, and incapable of doing anything to save themselves.
Salvation is only by grace, a free gift of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Those who are born of the Spirit and receive Christ by faith have their sins forgiven, their hearts cleansed, become children of God, and are made new creatures in Christ.
After being born of a virgin, living a sinless life, and dying on the cross for sinners, our Lord Jesus rose from the dead in the same body that was laid to rest in the tomb. The bodies of all believers who die will likewise be raised from the dead, and they will receive an incorruptible body like unto His glorious body. All other men shall be raised unto eternal damnation.
Christ will come again to earth a second time, personally, bodily, and visibly.
For a more detailed explanation of our doctrine, download our Confession below.
If you would like to read the Constitution and By-laws of Immanuel Baptist Church. It includes a copy of the confession. Here is a copy:
This page was last updated: October 13, 2011
Immanuel holds to an amended version of the Baptist Confession of 1689. Here is a copy of the Confession only: Also, for those interested, here is a copy of the Confession showing the changes proposed by the Elders:
Our Elders
From left to right:
George Drye has been an Elder at Immanuel since 1999. He has retired as the City Engineer for Bloomington, but he currently works as an engineering consultant. He and his wife Lena are the parents of 4 adult children, 3 sons and a daughter. They have 1 granddaughter.
Dennis Luhn has been serving as an Elder since the beginning of 2006. He works as a Project Management Consultant at State Farm. He and his wife Diane are the parents of 4 adult children, a daughter and 3 sons. They also have 3 grandsons.
Keith Throop has been serving as the primary teaching Elder since 1994. He and his wife Kim are the parents of 3 children living at home, a son and 2 daughters.
