“…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, and 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 or thought. 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 tarry 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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