Emmanuel Baptist Church

God's Growing Work of Grace at Emmanuel:
A Brief History

by Dr. George M. Ella

Time Line



The Birth of Emmanuel Baptist Church: 1961

On August 1, 1961, twenty-five Baptist believers gathered together at the Darnell Funeral Home, Enid, with one aim in mind. They had received a great burden from the Lord to start up a new evangelistic work in the West of the rapidly growing town. What they planned seemed daunting but, guided by the example of Abraham who left his homeland in Ur of the Chaldees, motivated only by the call of God, these people of vision realised that if God were for them, nothing could be against them. Within two weeks, the faithful few, now numbering 85 and supported by letters of fellowship and support from their former churches, had voted to buy a 165 feet by 1300 feet plot of land on Lahoma Road. The property at that time housed two living quarters, several workshops and a chicken house. It was unanimously decided that the new church should be called Emmanuel Baptist Church, using the New Testament spelling of Christ's title.

The Chicken House Church under the Big Tree

On August 27th, moderated by Cliff Morton, the first Sunday morning and evening services were held under the shelter of the chicken house and a large elm tree using seating partly brought from homes and partly loaned from Calvary Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs Gene Ruhl rustled up an old peddle organ to accompany the singing, with members taking turns to work the bellows. Business and devotional meetings were held daily and when rain disturbed the open air gatherings, the young church sheltered for worship under the roofs of the Indian Hills shopping area then under early construction.

September opened with 98 students registered in the Sunday School and the Organisational Service was held at 2:30 p.m. when Dick McCarthy, Director of Public Relations, Oklahoma Baptist Convention preaching the word and assisting in constituting the church. Office bearers were appointed, Cliff Morton, being confirmed as Moderator until a pastor could be called. Wallace Fuller was appointed Sunday School Superintendent and Al Hatfield became General Sunday School Secretary. By the third week, there were 103 members on the church role with 120 students attending Sunday School and 111 in the Training Union. During the fall, a Women's Missionary Union was formed under the leadership of Mrs Clifford (Opal) Oringderff, and a Men's Brotherhood led by Gene Ruhl. The old pump organ now gave way to a fine electric organ donated by Mr. And Mrs. Fred Spleth, then of the First Baptist Church.

A Shepherd Takes over the Flock

On November 25th, Mack Roark came to pastor the church, bringing with him Sandra, his wife, and their infant children Amy and Sam. The church made financial plans for their outreach and development during the coming year and believed the Lord had enabled them to invest $31,200.00 in the work.

Ground-Breakers and Builders in the Lord's Work: 1962

With a membership reaching 302 during the second year, and a Sunday School attendance of 385, the members gladly took on the three-fold duties of witnesses to the neighbourhood, manual workers and tithers. By April, a large Sanctuary was under construction and the original property was adapted for church use. $100,000 was raised for this work under a special plan involving the selling of bonds. The entire massive building project was completed by December 9th. There was much rejoicing as ardent worshippers could now truly praise God with David, proclaiming "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise!"

Now Mack Roark, the pastor, received strong support from nine elected Deacons, several of whom are still on this side of Jordan and whose testimony has not abated. These pioneer Deacons were Cliff Morton, John Blackburn, Francis Stephen, Forrest Miller, Wallace Fuller, Dillard Bryce, Clifford Watson, Orville Luckinbill and Ed Allen.

The First Sanctuary: 1963-1970

The church now reorganised the election of Deacons with one Deacon being elected per 50 members for an initial term of three years. With a membership of almost 400 by 1963, the church voted that members would be drawn from all those who professed saving faith in the Lord Jesus which automatically opened Emmanuel's doors to people of all races. Baptisms now averaged over thirty per year and many newcomers to Enid joined the church. Membership thus rose by some 150-200 per year.

In 1964 buildings were raised to cater for nursery needs and further Sunday School classes and committees were formed to take care of the educational and musical work. This meant that the annual budget was growing by more than $1,000 per year but as soon as needs arose, the Lord provided for them.

The year 1965 opened the doors to purchasing further property west of the sanctuary for $40,000. Faye Benton reported that the Women's Missionary Union was growing rapidly and they now had four circles. Stanley Jenkins was the first to be called from the church to be ordained for the ministry.

On January 12, 1966 a Long Range Planning Committee was formed under the Chairmanship of Cliff Morton and a full-time Education and Music Director was appointed in the person of Bob Reno. The need for a church bus was met by all the members faithfully handing in their trading stamps to raise the appropriate funds. Very conscious that the Lord had great things in store for the church, Al Hatfield was appointed to keep a record of all the blessings experienced. Now the annual budget was already double of that for 1962. The year 1967 saw the membership rise to 630 with an ever growing Sunday School. By 1969 work was under way to build a fellowship hall with kitchen and more educational space. In that year membership shot up to over 800 with a Sunday School of 847 students. The church had set its hand to the plough and never looked back.

Life in the New Facility: 1970-1975

The new sanctuary was dedicated and opened on May 24th, 1970 with Pastor Bobby Sunderland, who had taken over the church in 1968, presiding. Young Mack Roark, the most popular of pastors, had taken up an academic call but remained a most faithful friend and supporter of the church. Gene Calhoun, who had become Music and Youth Leader in 1969, assisted Pastor Sunderland in providing a day of meetings around the text "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord." (Psalm 122:1). Under Bobby Sunderland's ministry, the church opened their doors to the airmen and civilians working at the Vance Air Base which has continued to reap a steady harvest of souls and has formed an unbreakable alliance and centre of outreach as young families, won for the Lord through Emmanuel's witness, move out from the base and are sent all over the world. In April, 1973, Dr. Joe Ray Stith took over the pastorate and immediately began to discuss with the church the need for a new fellowship hall as the ten-year-old building was bursting at the seams as more and more worshippers came to the services.

The Second Sanctuary: 1975 onwards

Now, with a church membership rapidly approaching a thousand, the new sanctuary was dedicated on June 1, 1975. It was a difficult time for the church as there had been no full-time pastor since October of the previous year. However, the Lord sent Stanley Jenkins and John Mattiesen to fill the gap in an excellent manner and church growth continued. No full-time pastor was found until James Reimer accepted a call in September, 1975, after which God's work at Emmanuel progressed in leaps and bounds. Indeed, during Pastor Reimer's relatively short pastorate of less than four years, he baptised 303 new converts and 444 new members were added by church vote and letters of transfer. Pastor Reimer was also very active in the academic world and, in February, 1978, received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the California Graduate School of Theology.

A major new step taken in April, 1978 was the formation of the Emmanuel Christian School. Building work was started in 1979 on a multi-storied project, 70 by 140 feet, to house further Sunday School classes and the new day school. Meanwhile, Dan Heath had joined the church as Minister of Music, serving also as Associate Pastor and Minister of Administration. Dan is still with us. And no one could possibly imagine his ever leaving us.

The new school was able to start on August 24, 1981, with 105 pupils, under the headship of Ernie Trebing. Dr Reimer moved to First Baptist Church, Lake Jackson, Texas in January, 1979, whereupon Stanley Jenkins and John Matthiesen took over the supervision of the church. In May of that year, the Lord graciously provided a new pastor in the person of Hayes Wicker. Numbers continued to grow and in October, 1980, the church won two local association prizes for the largest numerical gain and the largest average attendance gain in the Perry Baptist Association. Pastor Wicker received a doctorate in December, 1984 and resigned the pastorate in July, 1985 to take over a church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Faithful Mack Roark took over the interim pastorate until Gary Smith arrived in May, 1986.

Leading the Way into the Nineties

Under the fruitful ministry of Gary Smith, the church developed its outreach by supporting foreign mission fields, especially in South America and providing short term workers who offered their vacations to assist in the Lord's work abroad. In this way, a lasting witness has been established in Asia, the former Soviet Republic (now Mogilev, Belarus) and South America. Brother Smith also organised an extensive home visitation programme, supported by the Deacons, making sure that all members and friends of Emmanuel received individual counselling, spiritual and material care where needed. A high percentage of the churches annual budget was now being given to foreign missionary work. Brother Smith also set into motion a fund-raising campaign to provide additional buildings for the expanding work of both church and school, linking up the Educational Building with the Fellowship Hall. Pastor Gary Smith accepted a call in August 1991 to the Fielder Road Baptist Church, Texas. This was a sad move for the Emmanuelites, made bearable because of the return of Mack Roark as interim pastor.

Since March, 1992, Wade Burleson, a young Texan with the wisdom of a man of many decades of experience has been our pastor, supported by his lovely wife Rachelle, who is also greatly gifted with wisdom from on high. Wade and Rachelle have four young children, Charis, Kade, Boe and Logan, who have quite captured this writer's heart. Pastor Wade is supported in the growing work by Associate Pastors, Dan Heath, Kevin Choate, Ted Kuschel, Dr. John Stam, Jay Risner, and Headmaster Paul MacDonald. In this writer's opinion, a nigh perfect team.

The New Millennium Awaits Our Work and Witness

During Pastor Wade's ministry, which is taking us into the new millennium, the church has grown by leaps and bounds and the enthusiasm of the church for deep doctrinal teaching, coupled with a desire to make the mercies of God known to all, has improved the spiritual life of the church no end. Weekly now, some three thousand believers and seekers converge on Emmanuel Baptist Church to find fellowship and strength in the Lord. Once again, the present buildings are far too small to house the gathered church and to provide pastoral facilities for the up to fifty weekly meetings and events that have become so much part of Emmanuel's life. This is in spite of the fact that recent additions of multi- purpose buildings have included a large kitchen, further classrooms, a gymnasium, a Women's Lounge and a better utilization of the sanctuary facilities. Each addition soon proves to have been too small for the growing church. This is why we are all carefully and prayerfully considering the challenges that Project Jubilee mean to us because we know that "the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."




emmanuel@enid.com