| "...they
ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
-Acts 5:42
On
May 11, 2002, 13 people met for the first service of the
Loudonville Baptist Temple, a mission church plant of
the Mansfield Baptist Temple. Under the leadership of
the retired Pastor of MBT, Richard K. Folger, the church
grew and in just 6 short months, the church was
commissioned as an independent Baptist Church, with 16
members. Three months later we called David J. Koehler
as our Pastor. Since that time the church has continued
to grow. Many souls have been saved. Many have followed
in Scriptural Baptism, and grown in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We
did not plan it, but the church would soon adopt
Ephesians 3:20 as our ministry verse. "Now unto Him
that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that
we ask or think according to the power that worketh in
us." There can be no doubt that God's loving hand
has been upon this ministry. Our sincere desire is to
glorify our Lord and Savior, to lift Him up, so that he
may draw men to himself.
In
June of 2004, the church had grown to the point where
there was simply not enough room to house all of the
children and adults that crammed the small building on
St. Rt. 3, 2 miles north of Loudonville. Under the
vision and direction of our pastor, months of planning
and laboring, we broke ground on a new 9,000 sq. ft.
church building. It was completed in February and
dedicated to the Lord on March 13th, 2005.
Once
again, the Lord has done exceeding, abundantly above all
we have asked. The current facility is continuing to be
utilized to the fullest extent. The ministry has
continued to grow, people have been saved, baptized, and
grown in the Lord.
We
do not know exactly what the future holds if the Lord
should terry His coming. But we do know this, Jesus
promised, "I will build my church and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it."
LBT is an
independent, fundamental Baptist church. We are not
affiliated with any other church or organization. We
believe that God's word is our "only rule of
faith and practice" and that we want to do all
that we can to follow His word. We are focused on
spreading the loving gospel of Christ throughout our
area, growth and edification of our members, and sending
missionaries around the world. We want to meet you and
minister to you. We want you to know that Jesus Christ
loves you and wants you to know and follow him. We
invite you to visit our church and contact us with any
questions or needs you may have.
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