Elm Creek Baptist Church

Members and guests met in their homes December of 1885 when the Church purchased one acre of land from the Vorpahl’s for TEN DOLLARS and built the building then known as ELM CREEK GERMAN BAPTIST CHURCH. All services were conducted in German. In 1942, the name was changed to Elm Creek Baptist Church; however, German continued to be the language of the Church until 1948 when one joined the fellowship who did not understand German. Since that time, English has been used in all services. The original Church clerk’s book was recorded in German until 1945, when some entries started to appear in English.
Electricity was installed in the church in June 1948 and gas in 1950. Until that time, oil lamps were used for lighting and a wood stove for heat. In 1950 a storm wrecked havoc on the aging building and in August 1950 – for a cost of $6,000 -- it was torn down and rebuilt using the original materials. The members provided the labor. The new Church was dedicated on October 8, 1950. The land surrounding the Church is still in the Vorpahl family. Kathy Achterberg, a fifth-generation family member from the charter members, is a current member of ECBC.
The addition of two bathrooms, a kitchen and nursery space was added in 1982. In January 2003, 1200 more square feet of a second addition plus renovation work began, providing for a larger nursery, more classrooms and a fellowship hall.
In March 2004, Otto Vorpahl donated another acre to the church, doubling the size of the church property. The summer of 2004 saw the addition of a baptistery – June 2004 marked the first baptism inside the church.
Improvements, including exterior siding, sidewalks and rails were done in 2007-2008.
Dr. Richard Rupp was called to be pastor in December 2007.
On June 28, 2015 Pastor Don was issued a call as Senior Pastor.