Race Street Baptist Church was founded by Gary L. Freeman, and has been used of the Lord over these many years to bring souls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. A good number have moved on to other ministries and are continuing to serve the Lord. The church practices a unique ministry by primarily preaching from the pulpit in a “Verse by Verse” method, commonly called “Expository Preaching.” Church members have become grounded in the Faith and are able to apply the Scriptures to their daily life in order to meet the many challenges with which our modern world confronts them. The following is a brief history of the founding of Race Street Baptist and its leadership, past and present.
In 1975 Brother Freeman graduated from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, Owatonna, MN. On February 1, 1976, he and his father, Paul L. Freeman, started the Bethlehem Bible Church in Bethlehem, PA. A year later they moved the church out of town and called it the Fundamental Bible Church. The next year they purchased the church building at 610 Race Street in Catasauqua, PA, a little suburb of Allentown, and renamed the church to Race Street Baptist Church. On June 10, 1978, Brother Freeman married his childhood friend, Donna M. Stoudt. During door to door visitation, Donna’s father and mother were led to the Lord by Brother Freeman’s father back when he pastored a church in the East Stroudsburg area. The Freeman and Stoudt families grew up together and the Lord was leading to bring these two individuals together. As husband and wife, Gary and Donna served within the Race Street Baptist Church since 1978. They had two children, Jason and Rachel, and several grandchildren.
After 41 years of faithful preaching, our dear pastor, Gary L. Freeman, went to be with his Lord and Saviour on March 25, 2017 after a long battle with cancer. It was a most sad time for our church. We are very thankful for several men of like precious faith who filled the preaching gap during that time.
On April 18th of 2021, Race Street Baptist Church officially installed its current pastor, Brother Chris Weltin.
(to be updated)