In October of 1956, about ten committed Christian families assembled to form Harvest Baptist Church, the very first authentication of what is now the well-established Greendale Baptist Church of Greendale, Wisconsin. These ten faithful families held their initial meetings in several homes, on the south side, in the city of Milwaukee as they worshipped the Lord and studied His Word. Seeing that the Lord was unfolding His purpose and plan for them, they began to experience spiritual growth both individually and as a church body. Harvest Baptist was beginning to reap its first harvest.

In February of 1957, they rented a store building on Delaware Avenue in Bay View, a small town in close proximity of Greendale and Milwaukee, and continued to grow. These dedicated families then took the next step and purchased used pews for the use of worship services in their new place of gathering. The basement area of the building served adequately as the place for Sunday school.

About six months later, the Lord led in the purchase of a small church building, with a parsonage, at 2425 West Ramsey Avenue in the City of Milwaukee. The church auditorium held about sixty people and was undoubtedly more accommodating than the previous gathering location.

The First Conservative Baptist Church was organized in December of 1958, with about twenty members, under the leadership of Pastor Leslie Knee. Pastor Knee was a State Missionary for the Conservative Baptist Churches, which led to Harvest Baptist Church becoming First Conservative Baptist Church. The church services continued at 2425 West Ramsey Avenue in the City of Milwaukee until the year 1963.

In May of 1963, the presently existing property at 5651 S. 51st Street, Greendale Wisconsin, was purchased from the Milwaukee Community Development Corporation. In November of 1964, ground was broken for the new church facilities. Greendale Baptist Church held its first service on May 3rd, 1965.

The cost of the church building and the parsonage was approximately $125,000.00. Much of the work and some of the materials were the donations of church members and friends. In 2003, the Lord graciously led His people to begin construction to remodel and expand the existing building to accommodate a growing congregation. In September of 2004, the congregation returned after four months in a temporary meeting place to a beautifully expanded and renovated facility. The Lord is faithful and gracious and will do great and mighty things in the future, with His church, if His people remain faithful to Him.

The following is the chronological order of the pastors that served God in this local body of believers from 1959 to the present time:

Do you know where you will be spending eternity after you die? Most people acknowledge that they will spend it in one of four places: Heaven, Hell, Somewhere in Between, or Six Feet Under.

The Bible teaches that all will end up in either Heaven or Hell. There is no “in between” and while your mortal body is definitely limited by the grave, your immortal soul is not (Luke 12:4-5). Where YOUR soul spends eternity completely depends on what YOU do with Jesus Christ within your appointed earthly lifetime. It is appointed unto Man once to die. After this, the Judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

There are only two things that you can do with Jesus Christ. You can choose to either accept or reject him as your Savior. Both have consequences in this lifetime, as well as after death.

To accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you need to fully recognize that you are a sinner (Romans 1:18-32). Your sins have alienated you from God (Isaiah 59:2). You are completely bankrupt morally and spiritually (Romans 3:12), you are beyond all earthly hope, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do of yourself to change that (Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah 64:6-7, Romans 3:20). All of us are sinners, there are no exceptions (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23). The recognition of your sins is important here because your sins illustrate your need of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24).

Along with recognizing your sins, you need to fully recognize that there is literally Death and Hell to pay for your sins in eternity, and that the only “currency” that will satisfy this payment is your immortal soul (Psalm 49:7-9, Ezekiel 18:4, Matthew 16:26). God’s Holiness demands Justice, and Justice is never served when the proper punishment is not meted out. All sin is worthy of Death and Hell (Romans 6:23). To believe otherwise is to minimize God’s Holiness and the Justice it demands. We’ve all heard the expression “let the punishment fit the crime” at one time or another in our lives. Do you honestly believe that God’s eternal punishment of YOU should fit YOUR crimes against Him? Really? REALLY?

Recognizing that you are a sinner and that you deserve to spend eternity in Hell for your crimes against God, you need to fully recognize that you don’t HAVE to spend eternity in Hell for those crimes because Jesus Christ (John 14:6) paid the penalty for your crimes in full, on the cross, on your behalf, with His own blood (Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:22). It’s a free gift. All you have to do is simply accept and receive that payment with your heart, present yourself to God for His service (Romans 12:1-2), and you’re a free Man/Woman. At this point and this point ONLY can you be confident that you are God’s, and God is yours.

Considering the alternative, why NOT accept Jesus Christ as your Savior today? We all know for certain that our life on earth WILL end someday. However, none of us knows for certain WHEN our life on earth will end. Of all the things that you can afford to put off until later, the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and to live for Him isn’t one of them. No one is guaranteed tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1, Luke 12:16-20), which is why God has stressed that NOW is the accepted time, NOW is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). We at Greendale Baptist Church strongly urge you to settle this matter immediately; and for God’s honor and glory alone, we stand ready to help you do so.

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We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God and infallible in the original writing, and they are of supreme and final authority in faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Exodus 20:2-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; James 5:7)

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is the true God and true Man. (Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14)

We believe that man was created in the image of God and that he 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. (Romans 5:10-19; Genesis 3:1-6, 24)

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and all that believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. (I Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 5:1-11)

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there for us as High Priest and Advocate. (Matthew 28; 1 Corinthians 15)

We believe in "the blessed hope," the personal, pre-millennial and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We believe that all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born again of the Holy Spirit and, thereby, become children of God. (John 1:12; John 3:16)

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting peace and happiness of the saved, and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

We believe the modern Charismatic movement is unbiblical because the Bible teaches that the gift of tongues has ceased and is not for this age. (Hebrews 2:2-4; 1 Corinthians 13-14)

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