Our Story

In January of 1988, Lenexa Baptist Church met in the Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Lenexa for its first service as a mission church sponsored by Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park. The church was initially named Westside Baptist Church.

On January 21, 1990 the church voted to call the first Pastor, Steve Dighton, who had been serving at First Baptist Church in Piedmont, Oklahoma.

The church met in several different temporary locations in Shawnee and Lenexa from 1988 to 1994. In October of 1994 the church purchased a refurbished office building located at 8865 Bourgade in Lenexa and met there until March of 2001. The church then relocated to its current site on 87th Street in Lenexa.

In 2005, Lenexa Baptist Church was named by Lifeway President, Dr. Thom Rainer, as one of only 13 “Breakout Churches” in America. In his book, Breakout Churches, Dr. Rainer recognizes 13 elite churches out of 52,333 churches that have moved from mediocrity to greatness. Lenexa Baptist was one of only two Baptist churches recognized for this accomplishment.

In January 2007, Lenexa Baptist Church was also recognized by Lifeway Research as one of 19 Standout churches. These are Southern Baptist Churches that met the following criteria: baptized at least 26 people per year for 10 consecutive years; had overall worship attendance growth during the same 10 years; and had a membership–to-baptism ratio of no more than 20:1.

Steve Dighton, the founding Pastor, led our church for 25 years. The church experienced phenomenal growth and Pastor Steve’s influence is still strong in our community and SBC convention. He is a mentor to many!

In 2015, Lenexa Baptist Church called Chad McDonald to serve as Senior Pastor. Previously, Chad had served as a Campus Pastor at our Greenwood location. He had the privilege to work along-side Pastor Steve for a year at the Lenexa location before beginning his role as the Senior Pastor. Chad has continued the tradition of Biblical preaching and a passion for evangelism. He is leading us as a church to reach the lost, teach others to grow in Christ and to be unleashed for God’s purpose.