Pastor Duke Crawford

Pastor Duke wants you to know the joy of seeing that you are made by God and for God. He believes the only way you can begin to see this is by hearing, understanding and embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:5 is one of the foundational verses that guides his ministry, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

Pastor Duke came in 2009 to Emmanuel after nineteen years as senior pastor in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He is a graduate of Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary, and a certified Biblical counselor through the National Association of Biblical Counselors (NANC). Since his days of playing basketball at Faith, Pastor Duke has been preaching God’s Word, building up the church, and reaching the lost for Christ. He has enjoyed ministering the Word internationally in places like India, Hong Kong, Haiti, Mexico, the Ukraine, and Israel. In addition to Bible study, Pastor loves reading, sports, and watching the History Channel and Food Network. Most of all, Pastor enjoys spending time with his wife, Deb, and their three children: Anthony, Austin, and Abby, as well as his daughter and son in law: Ametheny who is married to Austin, and Jason who is married to Abby.

Pastor Duke’s ministry is guided by these five fundamentals of Christian living:

  • Life is fundamentally about living for the GLORY OF GOD
  • The GOSPEL is fundamental to our entire Christian life
  • The HEART is the fundamental target for change
  • Change is fundamentally a PROCESS not an event
  • The CHURCH is fundamental to our continued growth

2 Corinthians 4:5-6 “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”