This message inspires me so very, very much! I need this today! Glory to God in the Highest! What are you doing today to serve God and people?
Baptist Press
By Jane Rodgers /Southern Baptist TEXAN, posted April 7, 2026 in Churches & Ministry, SBC News
NEW CANEY, Texas – July 18, 2020 is a date that still touches Joshua Crutchfield deeply.
It was on that day he lost his friend, John Powell, Emmanuel Baptist Church’s planter and first pastor, who was killed while helping rescue the passengers of a burning vehicle along a North Texas roadway.
Today, Crutchfield, Powell’s successor at Emmanuel, continues to lead a church that honors its planting pastor’s contributions while also focusing on the future. Last November, Emmanuel broke ground on its own worship facility after meeting for years in the New Caney High School annex. Fittingly, Powell’s family attended the ceremony.
“The church took time to remember John, to remember his family … to honor them and appreciate them,” said Crutchfield, who became Emmanuel’s pastor in December 2020.
New Caney is located in Montgomery County, a booming area considered one of the fastest growing in the nation, Crutchfield said. After years of searching for the right property and repeatedly encountering soaring land costs, the church acquired five acres adjacent to a middle school along a main thoroughfare.
Crutchfield first noticed the acreage while dropping off his son at the school. It was a prime location at the right asking price. New homes and subdivisions, he noted, crop up constantly.
“We moved forward on it very, very quickly,” Crutchfield said. “We are building right in the middle of everything.”
The church prayerfully moved through each phase of the construction project: dreaming, designing, and developing a financial plan for a facility that will seat 325 with space for a nursery and children’s Sunday school. More Here
