Immanuel Baptist Church Pastor in Marshall, Texas, Credits SBTC Thrive Group for Renewed Ministry

Jeremy Roberts, lead pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Marshall, says he came close to giving up during the early part of his pastorate. He told the Texan that his first year as lead pastor was intense, with spiritual struggle within himself and tension within the church. The congregation lost about a third of its members, roughly 120 people, and he said he did not know what to do or whether he could continue in ministry.

Roberts had long been connected to Immanuel. He and his wife, Katy, attended East Texas Baptist University in Marshall. After serving a church in Carthage for a time, he answered a call in 2008 to serve in discipleship ministry at Immanuel. He later took on administrative roles and was called as lead pastor in 2024. He said that division within the congregation affected nearly everything, including his confidence in ministry. By the summer of 2025, he and Katy were praying about whether God would have them remain at Immanuel. He said he felt clearly called to stay and see the situation through.

Around that time, Steve Cochran, the regional East Texas catalyst for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, visited Roberts and encouraged him to consider a new ministry called Thrive, which Jeff Lynn, the convention’s senior strategist for Church Health and Leadership, was developing. Roberts said he had been asking God for help sustaining him in this struggle. He attended a Thrive meeting, where he described the group’s focus on pastoral wellness, support during difficult seasons in ministry, and pastors encouraging one another.

Roberts said the group’s book studies guided its discussions, but that the most important part for him was sharing struggles with other pastors. He described the prayer times as sometimes emotionally intense but purposeful. After four or five months, he said, his outlook on ministry began to change. He reported feeling more courage, more support and a sense of being upheld by the group’s prayers. He said the group was expected to conclude in February but continued because the members regarded the experience as important. Roberts said he still maintains those relationships.

A year later, Roberts said, he has moved “from surviving to thriving” as a pastor. He credited much of that change to what he described as God’s provision through Thrive, while acknowledging that some seasons have still been difficult. He said Immanuel is on track to baptize more people in 2026 than in any year of the past decade and has added as many people as it lost during the hard years. He described the congregation as markedly different from two years earlier. He also said he was not attributing everything to Thrive and that God had been at work in the church over the past year. Still, he said he did not believe he would still be in ministry without the men he met through the group. Comfort passed from one believer to another is one reflection of the spirit of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

Roberts said the most important aspect of the group for him was feeling that he was not alone. He said no one around him could fully understand what he was experiencing, and that he needed peers facing similar pressures. He said the relationships with other men were what he needed most, and that they had given him confidence in his ministry. He said he had learned over the past two years that God provides in His timing and sustains people through difficult seasons.

Roberts summarized his takeaway simply: a pastor should not try to do this alone. He said he should not isolate himself, but should persevere and remain obedient to the Lord, whatever that requires.

Source: Read the original report