Pastor: Reverend Dr. Elliott Cooke
Pastor’s Assistant: Rev. John Conforti
Secretary: Mrs. Patty Murphy
Interim Organist Dr, James Tartella
Sextons: Mr. Jack Williams, Jr. & Mr. Ed Sallurday
Board of Deacons:
Anthony M. Kniolek II, Chairman of the Deacon Board
John Conforti, Chairman of the Joint Board
Dr. James Tartella, Interim Organist
Val Srebro, Christian Education
Elaine Saar, Secretary
Richard Bailey
About us:
Jackson Street Baptist Church is a Christ-centered, Baptist church, founded in 1871 and committed to the Holy Bible.
Core Beliefs (doctrine):
- The Bible is inerrant, infallible and inspired
- There is one living God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
- Man is unique and a direct creation of God as recorded in Genesis
- Man was created in innocence in God’s image but voluntarily sinned and therefore all men are now sinners by nature and choice, utterly devoid of that righteousness required by law and thus under just condemnation to an eternal punishment in hell.
- Christ died for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice and all who repent and believe in Him are declared righteous
- Salvation is by grace (undeserved) and through faith (not be effort on our part) in Christ
- All who are truly born again are eternally secure in God’s salvation
- Christ’s return for His Church will be personal and premillennial
- All men will experience bodily resurrection, the unsaved to everlasting punishment, the saved to everlasting life
History:
Our church originated on a September evening in 1871 when a small splinter group of Welsh members broke from Welsh First Baptist Church to form Second English Baptist Church of Hyde Park. By the end of the year, the group purchased a lot on Jackson Street for $3,500. Economic woes delayed church construction of the original building, which was completed in 1877 and re-branded as Jackson Street Baptist Church of Scranton. It had seating for 450.
By 1890, membership boomed and the church was rebuilt to accommodate the growing congregation. The new building, which could hold 1,500 people, was finished in 1891 and is the same structure that stands today at it’s present location, 1206 Jackson Street.
In 1901 renovations were completed following a mine cave-in that affected the church. Evangelist Billy Sunday comes to Scranton in 1914, inspiring the formation of numerous men’s and women’s classes within the church. That year, the congregation reaches 1,371 members. In 1919 the church liquidates its mortgage and finds itself debt-free for the first time. By 1955 major renovations turn the sanctuary into a cruciform shape with added classrooms and a re-dedication is held the following year.
