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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.
“Our children worship with us from kindergarten up,” he said. “We think it’s important for them to worship beside their families, parents, and grandparents. We treasure this.”
Connect groups will meet in the middle school, he added, noting the ongoing strong relationship between the church and New Caney ISD.
Kevin Carlton, 62, a founding Emmanuel member who teaches a connect class and works with the youth, is a fan of the location.
“I am most excited about our opportunity to be able to really do more in our community,” Carlton said. “We do quite a bit, but there’s something about four walls that just helps the community go, ‘Oh yeah. They’re the real deal.’”
“We are building right in the middle of everything.”
Prayer and planning
Long before the land’s acquisition, the church had set up an intentional strategy: pray daily, fast weekly, report monthly.
Crutchfield also credits the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention for resources and support as Emmanuel experiences steady growth. The pastor was involved in a Send Network SBTC cohort formed in 2022 and led by Aaron Clayton and Steve Cochran. He also noted the support of Jason Crandall, Send Network SBTC’s director.
Last year, Emmanuel averaged 170 in attendance; in July 2025, the church broke the 200 threshold.
“We have grown quite a bit since this summer,” Crutchfield said, adding that more than 220 now regularly attend. More importantly, they have seen 17 salvations since last July, with 13 baptized to date in a portable baptistry provided through Send Network SBTC.
“The baptistry is a wonderful resource that I am thankful we have had to use quite a lot,” the pastor said. Typically, the entire congregation surrounds the baptistry, which is set up outside or in the high school foyer so the whole congregation can experience a “truly rich” spiritual moment. It is a practice the church plans to continue in the new facility.
The church also plans to continue its commitment to Raise the Roof, its special needs ministry. “We offer one-to-one interaction in unique spaces that help with sensory needs but still provide inclusion with other kids,” he said. Emmauel plans to incorporate Raise the Roof in its VBS this year, as well. Nearly 150 kids attended last year at a local elementary school, sparking connections with families.
The church’s fall fest outreach also attracts kids and parents. Its Disciple Now weekend sees more than 100 students stay in members’ homes and enjoy group activities at a nearby encampment.
In additon to those outreaches, Emmanuel also does door-to-door evangelism, Crutchfield said.
“We equip people to share their faith” and knock on 200-300 doors per month, he said. “We give people a chance to hear the gospel and pray. We don’t always see people respond at the door, but we have had people show up at church almost a year later.”
Door-to-door evangelism grows the church in boldness, Crutchfield said. “It’s not flashy, but the approach is certainly biblical.” Church members go out in teams on the second or third Saturday every month.
Looking back
Crutchfield recalled that when the Powells and 60 members from Northeast Houston Baptist Church planted Emmanuel in 2017, he and his family came over from First Baptist Church in Madisonville to help.
“Our church supported EBC,” said Crutchfield, who pastored the church in Madisonville at the time. “My family came over one Saturday and went door to door with John and his people in New Caney. We were good friends.”
As he continues Powell’s work, Crutchfield is grateful for what his friend started years before.
“Our [church] name means ‘God with us,’” he said. “We are living in that reality. Our aim is to glorify Him and see lives changed by the gospel of Christ, one person at a time.”
