Hello Emmanuel Family,

We are very excited to bring you an update on our church planting vision! For decades now, one of our great joys at Emmanuel has been to pursue the fulfillment of the Great Commission by planting churches who plant churches, and God has been blessing our efforts! It began 40 years ago with the planting of Willow Creek in Midhurst, followed by the planting of Emmanuel Orillia 10 years ago, and Emmanuel North Barrie 4 years ago through our present multi-congregational model. Last week, our Sunday morning attendance across our 3 congregations topped out at over 1800 people! Praise the Lord! But the work of the Great Commission is not done, and so our vision to multiply through church planting remains the same. We desire to plant more gospel-centered churches for God’s glory, and for the salvation of many souls. So, for the last couple of years, our ongoing prayer has been, “Where next, and when, Lord?”

Since before the launch of Emmanuel North Barrie, through much prayer and diligent research, the Lord has laid on our hearts several locations for other possible church plants. Our prayerful desire to plant in these locations has not waned. One of the locations at the top of our list is the town of Angus, Ontario. Angus has a population of over 14,000 people, great spiritual need, and yet very little evangelical presence. And so, we have been actively asking the Lord if He would allow us to plant a new Emmanuel congregation there.

Several weeks ago, Emmanuel’s leadership was approached by the leadership of Pinewoods Chapel in Angus. They wanted to let us know that Pinewoods had been struggling badly, and that they would need to close their doors in the very near future. We grieve this reality alongside our brothers and sisters at Pinewoods. Yet since, like us, they could not bear the thought of having the gospel light cease to burn in their location, they had come to ask Emmanuel if we would consider taking over their building and planting a new Emmanuel congregation in Angus. The remarkable timing of all this seems to us to have the fingerprints of our Lord all over it.

With that in mind, we are asking you to join us in praying about this venture. Pray for the community of Angus. Pray for the 14,000+ people who live there, many of whom are lost and without faith in Christ. Pray for our brothers and sisters at Pinewoods as they grieve the impending closure of their beloved church. Pray for our Board of Elders and for those who will be directly involved in the process of discernment and due diligence. Pray that if the Lord would allow us to plant a new church in Angus, that He would already be raising up the church planter that He has in mind for us. Above all, pray for ongoing effective gospel ministry in our region, for the sake of the glory of our Lord!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Yours in Christ,

The Emmanuel Baptist Church Ministry Leadership Team