Our History

Lord willing, on November 12, 2023, Bethany Community Church together with the congregation formerly known as Rome Baptist Church will launch a new church plant in the Rome/Chillicothe community called Covenant Community Church. The information below serves as a timeline.

• June 2022: Rome Baptist Church (RBC- Chillicothe, IL) and Bethany Community Church (BCC- Washington, IL) began praying together about a potential partnership for gospel ministry in central IL.

• August 2022: The two congregations began intentionally developing relationships as they pursued the likelihood of partnering together.

• December 2022: It became clear that the Lord was leading both congregations to link arms together in formal partnership as they pursued the vision to re-plant Rome Baptist Church to be a brand-new gospel work.

• January 2023: RBC suspended their ministry, and their congregation began worshiping at BCC and infusing themselves into the life and ministry at Bethany for a season as plans for the eventual re-plant began to take shape.

• February 2023: The process to develop a leadership team (elders and deacons) began and a pastoral candidate (Jordan Embree) was identified.

• April 2023: At a family meeting on April 23, Jordan Embree was affirmed by the congregation as the church plant pastor. Jordan was brought on staff at BCC as a pastor/elder and is serving there as he works towards replanting the church in Chillicothe. Jordan’s first objective was to develop a core team and leadership team for the new work.

• June 2023 – The two congregations identified the need to begin some simple renovations on the property on Stevenson Avenue as they prepare for relaunch.

• July/August 2023: A group of families and individuals from BCC (approx. 60 people) committed themselves to join the existing body at RBC. This new group of people will make up the initial core of Covenant Community Church as they look to minister the gospel to this community through this new work. A leadership team of 6 other men from among the core team was also identified to serve alongside Jordan in a leadership capacity.

• September 2023: A new launch date for the re-plant was determined: November 12, 2023!!