Our History

Our History

A Historical Note

From founding Pastor J.C. Joiner

"It was my privilege not only to pioneer this work, but to have pastored the Church for sixty years. After graduation from Baptist Bible College (1957) and Tennessee Temple University (1959), Nita and I believed that the Lord was directing us to Arizona to start a new Church. The Book of Acts was our pattern – knocking doors daily … from house to house (Acts 2:46,47), even to the leasing of a school (Acts 19:9) for Sunday services. After three weeks of visitation, 41 were in attendance for our first service. I’ve often described the initial service (March 29, 1959) as three-fold: Nita played the piano and sang a solo, I preached a Gospel message, and our three children cried. Hopefully, it was more than that! If anyone came forward at the invitation, I’d surely remember, but I don’t. We were not very impressive – only 23 showed up the next Sunday! For six months our financial needs were met with home missions support from Baptist Bible Fellowship churches; after that interval, our Church was financially self-supporting.

Of this I am sure: the Lord fulfilled His promise about His preached Word(Isa.55:11) as souls were saved and added to the church (Acts 2:47; 5:14). The Lord rewarded those early efforts! From the infancy of New Testament Baptist Church, the lost were converted, backslidden Christians were restored, wounded hearts and broken homes were repaired, and the prospects were eminent for a new body of Christ!

We used the public school for three years until the purchase of a five-acre site on Craycroft Road, a major Tucson avenue. The Church now has property and buildings valued in excess of four million dollars. During the time of an accelerated bus ministry, the Sunday School recorded a high attendance of 1640. We extended our outreach through Tucson Christian School. A major emphasis of the Church since the second week of its inception has been home and foreign missions. The church has conducted forty- five annual Missions Conferences. Our missions giving is over $5 million. Twenty-five per cent of our total income has gone to projects outside the Church – supporting Bible Colleges, foreign missionaries, and over 100 pastors who started Baptist churches across the United States. More than 350 members submitted to God’s call to attend Bible Colleges in preparation for full time service as preachers, missionaries, school teachers, youth leaders, etc. Sadly, not all who went out from us with this calling continued with their commitment to serve the Lord in full time ministry."

About Our Founding Pastor

After battling cancer for a few months, Pastor Joiner was taken to heaven on December 21, 2019. The family and all who were mentored by him will dearly miss him.


Raised in Sante Fe, New Mexico, J.C. Joiner graduated from high school in 1949 and headed for New Mexico State on a football scholarship. A shoulder injury curtailed his athletic career, and he enlisted in the U.S.A.F. and served in the Korean War. While serving in Roswell, N.M., he attended Tabernacle Baptist Church. Under the preaching of Howard Ingram, J.C. realized that even though he had been a Baptist for years, he had never gotten saved. He trusted in Christ as his saviour in the summer of 1953.


There at Tabernacle Baptist Church he met Nita. J.C. and Nita were married in November, 1953. After J.C. was honorably discharged from the Air Force they moved to Springfield, MO where J.C. attended Baptist Bible College. He graduated from the Baptist Bible College (Th.G. 1957), and then attended Tennessee Temple University (B.A. 1959). He has been honored with four doctorates from Baptist Bible College, Springfield, Missouri; Freedom University, Orlando, Florida; Bible Baptist Seminary, San Jose, Costa Rica, and Pacific Coast (Heartland) Baptist College, San Demas, California.


In March 1959, he and Mrs. Nita Joiner established this church in a rented elementary school. In 1973, Tucson Christian School was founded. He and Nita had five children: Jamie, Kim, Paul, Kelly and Brian. After fighting a battle with cancer for six months Nita went on to heaven in November of 2008.


Dr. Joiner has served Christ in a missionary outreach through the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, a Missions Committeeman, Director of B.B.F.I., Trustee of Baptist Bible College, President of Pacific Coast Bible College, San Dimas, California (which is now Heartland Baptist Bible College, OK), and as President of the Western Baptist Bible Fellowship.


For sixty years under Pastor Joiner’s leadership New Testament Baptist Church has been a Bible preaching, soul winning, missions minded church. Well over 300 members have gone out from New Testament Baptist Church to go to Bible College to train for full-time service as preachers, missionaries, school teachers, youth leaders, and faithful servants in local churches, etc.


Pastor’s favorite Bible verse is 1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

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