History

The word Emmaus comes from Luke chapter 24 where we read of a village by the same name a few miles south of Jerusalem. The root meaning of the word means “warm spring”; a place where people can renew and refresh.

The vision for Emmaus Baptist Church was born out of a burden for the people of the southern part of Whitfield County.  Through a period of time of seeking the Lord about His will for his life and ministry Brother Scott Parrish began to realize the depressed state of life and lost condition that characterized a large portion of southern Whitfield County.  Brother Scott shared with Pastor Darey Kittle of Salem Baptist in Dalton that he was sensing that God may be leading him to plant a new church to minister to these people.  On the next day, April 9, 2007 the Lord providentially arranged that Brother Scott, Brother Darey, and Pastor Wayne Marcus of Toms Creek Baptist Church in Stephens County would have a historic lunch meeting.  Unexpectedly, during that lunch Brother Wayne shared that he had been praying for 9 years for God to raise up a work that would impact the southern part of Whitfield County.  Brother Scott and Pastor Darey agreed that this was the work of God to confirm where He had already been leading.

Shortly after this, Brother Scott resigned his current ministry position and on Mother’s Day, May 13, 2007 at the Country Kitchen Restaurant the first worship service was held. There were 69 people present that first Sunday, many of which were old friends who came to support and encourage the new work.  God blessed and the restaurant quickly became very cramped, especially during Sunday School which began on May 27.  With a shortage of space, and no suitable properties available God worked in amazing ways through the generosity of New Haven Methodist Church.  On June 24, 2007 Emmaus began sharing the building with the Methodist congregation south of Valley Point School near Carbondale.   Only God could have known all this would take place in such a short time.

In February of 2010 Emmaus leased a large facility in the retail district of I-75 and Connector 3. During the 12 months we spent there we developed a hunger for our community and in February of 2011 we again moved. This time we moved right into the heart of the community that God has called us to reach.  We are presently located at 4111 S. Dixie Hwy, where we now occupy 7 of the 10 suites in the South Plaza.

In August of 2014 we finalized a land purchase of just over 5 acres located at 4264 S. Dixie Rd., just 300 yards south of our present location.  We are currently making plans to erect structures that will house the ministries that God has planned for us to be a blessing to our community.

Please continue to pray for us as we continue being the “warm spring” for southern Whitfield County and beyond.