Dr. Charles Surrett - Pastor Emeritus

Pastor Charles Surrett holds a B. A. degree from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, and an M.R.E., M.Div., and D.Min. degrees from Central Baptist Theological Seminary. He entered the ministry full-time in 1967 and served in Independent Baptist Churches his entire ministry. He was a youth pastor for ten years and spent thirty-four years as a senior pastor.

He served on the faculty of Ambassador Baptist College for 28 years. During that time he taught Bible and pastoral courses including homiletics and expository preaching. He also served as Academic Dean as well as Assistant to the President.

He faithfully pastored for over twenty years at Emmanuel, until his retirement in December 2012.  He is the author of the book, Which Greek Text?, a layman-oriented defense of the Textus Receptus, the Greek text from which the Kings James Version was translated. 

His wife, Rosanne, served alongside him throughout his ministry. She taught at Ambassador Baptist College, served the ladies at Emmanuel in women’s ministries and Sunday school classes, and directed many Christmas cantatas. They were married for nearly 59 years when she went home to be with the Savior she loved in 2024. They have five children, twenty grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren.