Pastor John and Karen Ames

John grew up in Wayland, Massachusetts in a family of six children. His interests were sports and music. Graduating from High School in 1971, he went on to UMASS in Amherst and graduated in 1975 with a B.S. in Physical Education and Health. During the 70’s he was involved in a collegiate and high school discipleship ministry with the Navigators, joining the staff in Boston working with college students for two years.

Karen grew up in Lancaster, Massachusetts and met John earlier in life through a youth ministry. Karen pursued studies in nursing and she also was involved in discipleship ministry in Maine and Boston. They were married in 1981. John pursued seminary studies while pastoring in Norwood, MA and graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1985 with his MDIV degree.

Commissioned to Global Missions in 1985, with the Baptist General Conference, the Ames family spent 15 years on the mission field: 2 Years in France and 13 years in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Returning home to the States in June of 2001, John served as the Director of Missions for the Northeast Baptist Conference. Karen served as a missionary alongside John and continued to use her nursing skills in Africa and America.

In January of 2003, John and Karen were called to serve at Emmanuel Baptist Church. They bring a wise outlook to the Global Mission of the Church and a missionary heart to the pastorate.

They have three children: John; 25 (attending seminary and working in banking), Matt; 23 and Christelle; 21. John and Karen speak French and maintain ties to West Africa and Haiti. He is also an adjunct faculty member of Bethel Seminary of the East teaching courses in Global Ministry and Culture.