Who we are


Kingdom Advancing Gospel Church

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OUr Mission

At Immanuel, God is calling us to create a Kingdom Advancing Gospel culture. We want to see lives transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From this culture comes four priorities we hold as a church. We want our worship gatherings to be presence centered. As we proclaim God's Word, sing God's Word, and pray God's word his presence among us is our aim. Our groups are Word driven. Our D-Groups take the Word of God further into deep discipleship. As a result, we want to see God move this culture forward in joyful evangelism as we go into our communities and serve our neighbors. 

OUr Vision

for the gospel. For the city. for the world.

To be for the Gospel is to understand that we have one message of hope for the world and that hope is found in Jesus. This message is revealed in the perfect word of God. The word is the means by which we know Jesus, and Jesus is the means by which we know God the Father. We are not presenting a message, but re-presenting what God has said in His perfect word.

To be for the city means that we care for Little Rock. We want our city to thrive in every possible way, knowing that the greatest gift we can give to this city is a strong local church- a church that knows this city and is fighting for her welfare.
To be for the world means we are seeking Kingdom Advance around the world. This means through our partnerships with other churches and our partnership with church planting movements, we are seeking to take the Gospel to dark places and hard places.

our history

Immanuel Baptist Church has a long and rich history of serving our community and proclaiming the name of Jesus. When founded in 1892, Immanuel was named Third Baptist Church, but on October 16 of the same year, the members agreed to change the name to Immanuel Baptist Church, signifying “God with us.” Through the years, Immanuel has been blessed with outstanding pastoral leadership including Rev. J.B. English, Dr. W. O. Vaught Jr., Dr. Rex M. Horne Jr., Dr. Gary Hollingsworth, and our current pastor, Dr. Steven W. Smith. 
 
Immanuel began with only 17 charter members in a small church on Jones Street. Over the years, Immanuel grew with many building changes and renovations at the Bishop location in downtown Little Rock. In 2001, members voted to relocate our church to its present location on Shackleford Road and the first service on the new campus was held December 14, 2003. 
 
In 2016 the church began its Acts 1:8 ministry establishing Go Partners in the US and around the world. And, in 2020 the City Center opened in the former Kroger story adjacent to our main campus. This new facility represents a long history of mercy ministries for the city. The City Center houses the Dental Clinic, an adult education center, a clothing closet and food ministry. 
 
We are praying for a next generation to be for the Gospel, for the City, and for the World!