Who We Are

It is the purpose of Immanuel Baptist Church to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Chist to the whole world. This will be accomplished by worship, witness, education, fellowship and ministry. Our mission is to Know, Grow & Go!

Chuck Darland

I was born on June 27, 1950 in West Palm Beach, Florida. While growing up there, I made my profession of faith in Jesus Christ in 1960 and surrendered to God’s call into the Gospel Ministry as a college student. South Florida was my home until I graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic College in 1972. From south Florida I went to Louisville, Kentucky to attend The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I earned two degrees from there: the Master of Divinity (1975) and the Doctor of Philosophy (1982).

In 1982, my wife Suzanne and I were called to the Grace Baptist Church in Independence, KY, where I served as pastor until March of 1987. Immanuel Baptist Church in Elizabethtown called us here in 1987, where we have enjoyed twenty-two years of fruitful and blessed ministry.

Suzanne and I were married in West Palm Beach, FL on August 4, 1974. She is an Associate Professor of English and Journalism at the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, where she has taught full-time for twelve years.

We have three sons: Jesse, who is married and lives in Lexington, KY; Daniel, a graduate student at the University of Texas; and, Joel, a senior at Georgetown College here in Kentucky.

Our time at IBC has been blessed with richness in ministry. We have seen many new believers born into God’s family, have seen our brothers and sisters grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, and have seen them go out to serve Jesus by serving others. We believe that God has even greater blessings ahead for us in the days to come.

Scott Wiggins

My name is Scott Wiggins. I’ve been honored to serve the Lord through the ministries at Immanuel Baptist Church since 1991. For the first 11 years, I served as youth minister. In 2002, I made a shift to education ministries. I mainly work with Sunday School (it is our church’s foundational strategy for outreach and evangelism) and discipleship.

I grew up in South Carolina and attended colleges in North Carolina. I graduated from Appalachian State University with a BA in psychology. I also attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and earned a Masters of Divinity.

I’ve been married to Donna, a family nurse practitioner, for 18 years (wow … we were young then). We have two boys, Holden and Levi. With the time left over after ball games and art & drama lessons, we enjoy traveling.

Thank you for taking the time to check us out on the web. It is our prayer for you to find just the right place to worship and serve the Lord. Come and see for yourself what God is doing at Immanuel. We will be honored to have you visit with us. Come “know, grow and go” with us!

Michael Coogle

Hello! Thanks for checking into the Student Ministries at Immanuel Baptist Church! I'm excited that you are interested in us! Let me begin by telling you about what you want to know about, then I'll share some personal info.

First off, our student ministry is committed to Going to serve the Lord! Our groups are very active in local, U.S, and worldwide missions as the Lord leads. We take literally God's word where he instructs us to Go and testify to the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and through Him, we might have eternal life with Him!

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete
the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” Acts 20:24

And we recognize that in order to do this, we must first Grow in that relationship! God insists that we must spend quality time with Him through prayer and His word. Discipleship is a vital part of our ministries. It is through discipleship that we prepare. We Grow, so that we can Go!

Why do we do this? All so that we can bring others to Know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Our Student Ministry is truly Knowing, Growing and Going!

As for our Leader, that's me, Michael Coogle. I am blessed to serve as Minister to Students here at Immanuel, with my beautiful wife of 5 years, Jennifer Coogle. We are both graduates of Campbellsville University. I have been serving in Student Ministry for 8 years now. I see counseling to be a huge part of helping young people grow, and the Lord is leading me back to school to finish a Masters Degree in Counseling & Marriage and Family Therapy. I'm excited to see how the Lord will use this degree to further my ministries!

But WAIT! I'm not the only Leader! Immanuel is DOUBLY Blessed! We have Donna Wiggins who serves as our Children’s Minister/Director/Coordinator, et all!!! Mrs. Donna is a mother of two and wife to our Associate Pastor, Mr. Scott Wiggins. As a mother, Mrs. Donna truly knows how to share the Word with young people and inspire them to have a love and joy in serving and growing in church together. Our Children's Ministries are HUGE! If you have children through the 6th grade, she is the person to see! Come and see our Ministries first hand! We look forward to your visit! God Bless

Mitzi Lynch

I am an Elizabethtown native. I graduated from Elizabethtown High School in 1977. I then attended Elizabethtown Community College and Western Kentucky University.

I retired in 2004 after working in State Government for 22 years. I live with my mother in E-town and I am her primary caregiver.

For the past 20 years, I have taught private piano and voice lessons. I’m very active in the community theatre and love working with the Emmaus community.

I became a part of Immanuel Baptist Church in April 2004 as its Minister of Music. My responsibilities are pre-school choir (ages 4-5), junior choir (grades 1-6), praise team (any age), hand bell choir (adults) and sanctuary choir (adults.)

We are all team members here at IBC and help out in all areas. I plan Sunday worship service, music for special events and serve on church ministry teams. It will be my pleasure to welcome you to Immanuel Baptist Church.