OUR MISSION
Our mission at Immanuel is threefold. We want to be a church that is...
Immanuel Church is all about Jesus and the Good News of his life, death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). In fact, the whole Old Testament looked forward to his coming (Luke 24:27). The New Testament is full of stories about Jesus (the Gospels) and how his church began (Acts). It is also full of letters written by early church leaders to the first Christian churches as they worked out how to follow Jesus in the world they lived in. Today, we read the Bible with the same Christ-centered lens, and explore the same thing today as a church: how to follow Jesus in the world we live in.
When Jesus walked this earth, he preached a clear message: the Kingdom of God was near! (Matthew 4:17). Jesus brought God’s Kingdom from heaven into this world with great authority and power. He healed the sick (Luke 4:40), cast out demons (Luke 11:14-23), and taught with great authority (Matthew 7:28-29). This was all by the power of the Holy Spirit after his baptism (Matthew 3:13-17). We see the early Christians in the book of Acts doing the same things Jesus did through the same power of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost (Acts 3:1-11, 16:16-18, 19:11-12, etc.). We believe that the present Church continues this supernatural ministry today through his Holy Spirit in the church today.
From the beginning, the church was a local presence. Each of the early churches were known not by unique names, but by the place they were located in (The church in Corinth, Galatian, Ephesus, etc.). This meant that as each church lived out the Good News of Jesus, they did so with so in their own cities and neighborhoods. As Jesus sent us to go to all nations and make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20), we also embrace the same job locally. In a way, you could say that modern day America God has sent the nations to us. That is especially true within the very diverse area of Wilmington. Therefore as Immanuel Church, we are focused on reaching our own community with the Gospel through both word and deed as we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.
OUR HISTORY
"A sister of the Second Baptist Church, from no other motives than to advance the cause of Christ... and knowing the need of another church in the growing part of the city... form a new interest remote from the Second Church, under the name of the Delaware Avenue Baptist Church."
- May, 1865
Immanuel has a 155 year history of Gospel-centered ministry in the city of Wilmington. Beginning as a church plant from Second Baptist Church, the first services were held downtown in the summer of 1865 under the name of "Delaware Avenue Baptist Church." Merging with a former church plant, Delaware Avenue Baptist became Immanuel (Baptist) Church.
We proudly continue the legacy of preaching Jesus and sharing his good news to the city of Wilmington and beyond.