Purpose Statement 

" For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many." - I Cor. 12:12-14 (KJV)


Temple Baptist Church was started in March of 1979 as a Bible-believing, independent, body of believers in Jesus Christ. The founding and present pastor of the church is Dr. Mike Gilchrist. Pastor Gilchrist has been in the ministry since 1968 and is married with two grown children.

Temple presently has a congregation of about 300 people with an average Sunday morning attendance of about 220. The heart of our church is made up of young married couples between the ages of 24-39. However, all ages and types of people are represented at Temple and everyone is welcome. We have ministries and programs for all levels.

The church is financially stable and is situated on about 6 acres of land on Kennedy Road just west of Keene Village. God has blessed us with a nice facility with about 30,000 sq. ft. of space. We have an ample parking lot and plenty of room to grow. We are thankful for these blessings from the Lord. Temple has a wide range of ministries and programs designed to meet the needs of all age levels.

-There is a graded Sunday School and a children's church program on Sunday mornings.

-We have Master's Club for children ages 4 through 6th grade, Pro-teen for 7th & 8th grades, and Youth Group for high schoolers on Wednesday nights.

-We have a teen youth program that includes weekly meetings, special activities and an annual mission trip.

-There are monthly Senior Citizen lunches and activities, Ladies Ministry Fellowships, Men's Meetings and various Bible Studies and other activities during the month.

-There is plenty of opportunity for ministry.  We can always use more help in the children's, youth, and music ministries. There are Men's ministries and Ladies ministries to be involved in also.

We are a Bible-believing, independent church that recognizes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We believe that the church has a four-fold purpose in the world:

-First, to EXALT AND WORSHIP the Lord. We do this through prayer, praise and music. While we sing both praise choruses and old fashioned hymns, we are more traditional than contemporary in our services. We do not use "rock" or "rap" in our services.

-Second, our purpose is to EDIFY the saints. We do this through the preaching and teaching of God's Word, Ministering our spiritual gifts in the body and by fellowship with each other.

-Third, our purpose is to EVANGELIZE those who are outside of Christ. We do this through church ministries, personal witness and world-wide mission. We presently support about 35 missionaries throughout the world.

-Finally, our purpose is to EARNESTLY CONTEND for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). We do this by teaching the truth of the Scriptures, defending the truth against error and by separating from those who do not teach and practice the truth.

Temple is a warm and caring church. Most people feel welcome upon the first visit. We are not a perfect church but we do try to honor and obey God in our church and our daily lives. We believe that Jesus Christ and the Word of God meet all the spiritual needs of mankind. We try to apply the Word to our daily life. If we sound like a church you may be interested in we invite you to visit and get to know us.