welcome

LeRoy Independent Baptist Church is a Christ-centered church that places a strong emphasis on the teachings of Scripture. The church is known for its welcoming and loving congregation, who genuinely support and care for one another, making everyone feel like part of the family. The preaching is engaging and relevant, rooted in biblical truth, and delivered with passion to inspire spiritual growth and transformation. Whether you’re attending for the first time or have been part of the community for years, the church provides a warm, nurturing environment for believers to grow in their faith and connect with one another.

what we believe

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  • WE BELIEVE every word in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is inspired by God, inerrant in the original writings, and are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. (II Timothy 3:16-17)

  • WE BELIEVE in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

  • WE BELIEVE Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. (John 1:1-19; I Timothy 3:16)

  • WE BELIEVE man was created in the image of God; that man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God; that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and in the cases of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed. (Romans 3:10, 23; Romans 5:12)

  • WE BELIEVE according to the Scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified through faith by His shed blood. (Romans 5:9; I Corinthians 15:3; Ephesians 2:8-9)

  • WE BELIEVE in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life is there for us, as High Priest and advocate. (Mark 16:19; I Corinthians 15:3; Hebrews 8:1)

  • WE BELIEVE that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, become children of God, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and have eternal life. (John 3:16; 14:16, 17, 26; I Peter 1:23)

  • WE BELIEVE Jesus Christ instituted the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper to commemorate His death “til He come”. We believe water baptism by immersion is an ordinance portraying the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. (Mark 14:22-26; Romans 6:4; I Corinthians 11:23-33; Colossians 2:9-13)

  • WE BELIEVE the Scriptures teach these events in sequence: the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to resurrect or rapture His saints; the great tribulation period; the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ with His saints to rule over the earth; the judgement of the nations; the millennial kingdom; the resurrection, judgement, and punishment of the wicked in the Lake of Fire, and the eternal bliss of the righteous in Heaven. (Matthew 24:21, 29, 30; Matthew 25:31-46; I Thessalonians 4:14-17; Revelation 20:6, 12-20; Revelation 22:14-15, 20)

  • WE DO NOT endorse the current charismatic movement. While we recognize the fact that all believers possess spiritual gifts and are to exercise them according to Biblical principles and the Holy Spirit’s direction, we cannot identify with the unscriptural abuses of these gifts or with the erroneous idea that the possession of certain gifts is an evidence of spirituality. We believe that Christ Himself is the source of spiritual satisfaction rather than some undefined spiritual experience. Because ecstatic utterance, commonly known as tongues, is not in accord with and is not commanded by the Scriptures, it has no place in a Christian’s life. (I Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-13; 14:33, 40; Ephesians 4:7-16)

  • WE BELIEVE we must constantly shield ourselves from Satan, worldly influences, cults, false teachers and false movements; from secular humanism, liberal attitudes, and worldly compromise with the World and National Councils of Churches; and from personal behavior, attitudes and beliefs which do not glorify the body of Christ. (Romans 12:1-12; II Corinthians 6:17)

OUR STORY

MAKing jesus known for over 225 years

Just 10 years after the United States Constitution was signed, the early settlers in what is now LeRoy Township began meeting for worship in the log cabin of Deacon Seeley Crofut, located on the present site of the LeRoy Cemetery east of town. The first Sunday School was conducted in a school house west of what is now the intersection of Route 414 and Bailey’s Corners Road. At the time, LeRoy Township did not yet exist and the border between Canton and Franklin Townships was also near this intersection. The church congregation, as a result, grew in Franklin Township over the years. In 1835, LeRoy Township was formed and more settlers began to move here. In 1842 the members of the Franklin church who were then living in LeRoy, requested that they be dismissed from the membership in order to plant a new church in the village of LeRoy. The new church was named LeRoy Baptist Church. Members then met in the schoolhouse in the center of LeRoy (a building that was later moved and is now located next door to the church on Mill Street).


In 1855, the members built and dedicated the church sanctuary. Over the years, many accepted Christ and were baptized either in the Towanda Creek or in the mill pond next to the saw mill that was once located on what is now the LeRoy community grounds. Major renovations were made to the church sanctuary in 1898 to make it look much as it still does today. In 1914, Charles L. Lamb, who had been raised in the LeRoy Baptist Church and had since moved to Minneapolis and had been blessed with a great deal of wealth, purchased a new pulpit, pulpit chairs, and pews for the church in honor of his boyhood home. Charles Lamb died in 1924 and left a significant amount of money in trust to the church. This was to be the beginning of many years of the Lord’s provision. When 1929 rolled around, the stock market crashed and the nation was plunged into the Great Depression. According to church member, Myra Whipple, who was church treasurer at the time, if the Lord hadn’t provided the Lamb Trust interest payments through the Depression and on until 1949, the church would have closed its doors, the expenses being double the income at the time.


It was during the 1940’s that Lyle Pepper served as pastor and many of his descendants have served and continue to serve in the church to this day. During the pastorate of Paul Dale, the Lamb Trust came to full term and the church was allowed to withdraw the principal from the trust. Due to significant growth of the congregation at the time, a cinder block addition was added to the church containing space for Sunday School, fellowship, and the building's first indoor restroom.


In 1978, the church called Pastor Ray Ackley who began his ministry here. The following year, the church held the first AWANA meeting for children on February 23, 1979 and the name also changed to LeRoy Independent Baptist Church. The church grew tremendously, using the neighboring grange hall in addition to the church building for Sunday School and AWANA. In 1980, the church added Sunday School rooms and an AWANA game room. Over the next 33 years many children and adults were saved through the AWANA program, including many who now lead the various ministries of the church today.


Over the past decade, much of the building, and the methods of outreach have been updated – but one thing has not changed – the preaching and teaching of the Word of God as preserved for us in the Bible. To this day, over 200 years later, the LeRoy Independent Baptist Church is still a lighthouse to the lost and we look forward to what the Lord will continue to do in the lives of our congregation and our community.