Emmanuel’s Vision is to help rewrite the story of Craigavon, Ireland and the nations with the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Through our vision we seek to create a compelling picture of a preferred future; a dream we are living for, and to which we aspire. This is something that we will spend our whole lives longing to see and give our lives for whether we see it in our lifetime or not.
On 8th September 1996 Emmanuel Church was birthed in the living room of our founders, Phil and Jill Emerson’s home on Waringstown Road, Lurgan. At this stage of their lives, in their early thirties, they found themselves helping a lot of broken people that had no connection with church. Unsure of what they should do with these people, but convinced of God’s love and purpose for their lives, Emmanuel Church was started. The community gathered and worshipped in the family home for 18 months.
In May 1998, God then led the church to a small building in Donaghcloney and it was there that our community grew to approximately 100 people. This little building became a spiritual home for almost three years and God established deep roots of His love and truth within us. We look back at these days and see them as beautiful times of preparation for His purposes for our lives.
As our church community continued to grow, we purchased our first premises at 99-103 Union Street, Lurgan, in February 2001. We had always sensed that the centre of Lurgan was ultimately where God wanted to position us, and we moved into 3,700 sq ft, allowing us space to increase the numbers and facilitate the various ministries that were now developing. Again, the blessing of the Lord overtook us and within a year, we saw our community double in size with a significant number of people surrendering their lives to Jesus. We recognised that once again we needed to start praying and searching for another building.
God led us to our current ‘home’ on Castle Lane, in the centre of Lurgan, to a massive 37,500 sq ft building. It was almost like a step too far but we believed God was in this, so we went for it. We had our first service there on September 21st 2003. It has been an incredible journey of faith and adventure and we have had the privilege of seeing many of the original seven dreams come to pass.
