Immerse Church was founded in 2007 by Danny Kyzer, with the help of the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Lexington Baptist Association. Originally located in Gilbert SC, the church moved to Batesburg-Leesville in January of 2021. In January of 2023 Pastor Danny responded to the call of God to step down as Pastor of Immerse in order to pursue other ministries. Our three remaining elders - Trey, Jason, and Jeremy - currently share pastoral and preaching duties as co-equal elder/pastors. It is the belief of Immerse Church that this type of leadership model is the biblical model intended for the shepherding of the Church. Immerse Church also affirms the office of deacon, which office we are eager to fill when the Lord brings qualified men and calls them to service in our congregation.
We are a small congregation pursuing faithfulness to our God in this time of transition and reform. The Elders of Immerse all affirm the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, and all teaching and preaching reflects those convictions.
Even though we've been around for fifteen years, due to changes in doctrine and practice and a decrease in the size of our congregation, we are very much like a new church plant at this time. Please feel free to come as you are and be a part of the exciting work God is doing in and through Immerse Church!
Our Beliefs
We are a Reformed, Covenantal, Baptist Church. We have not always been a reformed church, but we have, since our beginning, been a Baptist church. Our leadership affirms the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. What this means is that we see the 1689 as a mostly accurate summary of many prominent Biblical doctrines. We affirm salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ according to the sovereign plan of Almighty God (Ephesians 2:8). We are Trinitarians and believe in the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, of the Godhead as the one being of God. We are credobaptists in that we baptize believers upon a credible profession of faith. We believe God created the heavens and earth in six literal days, that the whole world was once destroyed by the Noahic flood (Genesis 7:17-22), that Jesus was born of a virgin (Luke 1:26-33), that His death was a propitiatory sacrifice on behalf of all who will believe (1 John 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:21), that He rose from the dead after three days in the grave (John 20:1-18), and that He will return to the earth in bodily form after all God’s enemies have been placed under His feet, and will destroy the final enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15 all). All of our elders lean into or strongly affirm a postmillennial eschatology, though we don’t hold our non-postmil brothers to be heretics or any such nonsense, and we believe in being Godly troublemakers toward our unbelieving culture.
In our Worship we seek to be as faithful as we can to what Scripture teaches. Our Sunday morning Worship Services include a call to worship, reading of Scripture, prayer, singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, preaching of the Word, and a benediction from the elder who preached. The Bible calls us to worship in an orderly manner and we welcome all who would willingly submit to and contribute to orderly worship.
Eldership
Immerse Church is an elder-led church. This is a bit different from many of the churches in our area, but we wholeheartedly believe it is the most biblical form of church government. In the New Testament book of Acts, which is a record of the earliest days of the establishment of the Christian church post-resurrection, we see numerous examples of bodies of believers being governed by a plurality of elders (Acts 11:30, 14:23, 15:2,4,6,22-23, 16:4, 20:17, 21:18). The elders in these churches, as well as any modern churches and bodies of believers, are to be qualified to hold this office according to Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:1-9). Elders are called by the writers of the New Testament to shepherd the flock of God with humility and care (1 Peter 5:1-4, James 5:13-15), and faithful believers and members of faithful churches are called by the same to submit themselves to the Godly leadership of the elders within the church (1 Peter 5:5, Hebrews 13:17). The elders of Immerse Church take their calling as elders very seriously and by prayer and study seek to lead the church they have been appointed over in faithfulness, through sound preaching, teaching, leading their families, and setting an example of consistent prayer. Being an elder-led church means that our elders lead as a group of equals who govern and oversee the spiritual well-being of the church as well as the business and direction of the church (worship, theology, baptism, communion, counseling, charity and giving, mission work, evangelism, etc). Our greatest hope as a church is that through faithfulness to God’s Word our congregation will be drawn to greater faithfulness as believers, that our community would come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ our only Savior, and above all that God would be glorified in the coming of His Kingdom.
Affirmations
1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
Nashville Statement
The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel
