In the early 1960’s the Associated Gospel Assemblies (AGA) Steering Committee was fired with the desire to “plant churches” and thus expand their territory. It was Pastors Henry White (building contractor) and Albert Karram, (real estate developer), who identified and purchased land on Red Hills Road in order to start a church. The tent was originally set up at 105d Red Hills Road and later moved next door to 105e which was two out of the five lots that Pastor Karram had purchased. He donated the two lots for the church and a school and sold the other three to help with the construction costs.
In the beginning members from Rehoboth Gospel Assembly came to establish the church and named it “Emmanuel”. At the outset Elder Basil Chen and Pastor Judene Tomlinson were both members of Emmanuel’s Steering Committee. However it was Elder Chen who was chosen to be Emmanuel’s first pastor. The buildings for both the church and school were constructed by Pastor Curtis Cole from Calvary Gospel Assembly.
Emmanuel has seen various stages of advance and decline from the time of its inception in 1964. Never-the-less, the Lord has been faithful and there has been a period of growth and stability since the late 1980’s. Several pastors have made their contribution over the years and today we want to pay tribute all those who have served this church. We sincerely wish to pay our respect to Pastors Henry White, Albert Karram, and Curtis Cole for their foresight and dedication in the “planting” of Emmanuel.
We salute all the pastors who have played their part in advancing the work at Emmanuel. These brethren namely are: Basil Chen; Lancelot Smart; Dennis Brown; Michael Bell; Peter Garth and Kevin Llewellyn. Pastor Lance Lewis played a critical role as an Assistant Pastor while attending Bible School at Jamaica Theological Seminary.
Biblically Emmanuel means “God with us”, but we are also “Emmanuel an oasis in a desert. For over fifty-one (51) years we have been trying to fulfill our God-given mandate and potential. The picture that best describes our efforts is rolling a bolder up and over a steep hill. Today as Emmanuel Gospel Assembly pauses to glorify God and thank Him for His mercies, we declare that “the struggle to fully complete our mandate continues!”