About Us

Baptist Church

Our Pastor

Pastor Steve Carlson and his wife, Linda, felt God's plan for their lives was to enter full-time service upon retiring from teaching.


As well as once educating youth as a physics teacher at Greendale High School in Greendale, Wisconsin, Pastor Steve has served as a worship leader, teacher and elder in several area churches. After his 32-year career as an award-winning physics teacher, Pastor Steve retired to become the associate pastor at East Troy Bible Church.


On June 1, 2007 he was called to be the pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church. In addition to studying and proclaiming God's Word, Pastor Steve enjoys reading, canoeing and kayaking, hiking, cross-country skiing and traveling.


Linda is retired from teaching biology, chemistry, and AP biology. She still teaches part-time for the Waukesha School district in its environmental education program. Linda enjoys playing the piano and organ and leading the church choir. She also enjoys teaching, biking, canoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing and traveling.

Pastor Steve's Office Hours, when he is not out calling, are Tuesday through Friday, 7 am to 3 pm.

Please feel free to make an appointment ahead of time, or just drop in -- ring the doorbell next to the office door.

Contact Us

What We Believe

  • About Scripture

    We believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God to man. The Bible is the result of God revealing Himself to us through a variety of men chosen by God. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit this revelation was recorded, preserved and put together in the form that we now know as the Bible. By the illumination of the Holy Spirit the Bible can be trusted as authoritative, has an effect on any that read it with openness, is in every way God’s Word for us today, and is sufficient for everything with life in Christ.

  • About God

    We believe that God is one, infinite, holy being who never changes. He is a pure spirit and, therefore, external to the world, yet He is also a living God who is concerned with developing a personal relationship with His creation. God, being one God, is also a triune God, manifesting Himself from the beginning as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons have the same attributes and perfections.

  • About Jesus Christ

    We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was born into the world through the Virgin Mary. He lived a life of sinlessness and obedience to the Father even in His suffering and death. Christ was raised from the dead and is now in the place of honor at the right hand of God the Father where He acts in our behalf. Through His death He paid the penalty of our sin and through His resurrection death was made powerless so that through faith in Him we might have eternal fellowship with God. We believe Christ will return to earth a second time bringing His Kingdom into its fullness and uniting those who have accepted His salvation into a perfect everlasting fellowship with God.

  • About the Holy Spirit

    We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead who has been at work in God’s people since the beginning of time. We believe that at the completion of Christ’s ministry on earth the Holy Spirit came as a gift from God to dwell within the life of the believer. He reveals Christ to and through the believer, manifesting spiritual fruits and distributing spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit is the sign and seal for the believer that he is a part of the Kingdom. As a part of the Kingdom, the believer has begun a relationship with God that will be perfected at the end time.

  • About Man

    We believe that man was brought into existence by a purposeful act of God. Man is created in the image of God and by the power of God. Adam was the first man created in a state of untested holiness, possessing the power of choice. When Adam chose to sin, the image of God was marred, causing all persons born into the world, since that time, to have a sinful nature unable to have fellowship with God except through faith in Jesus Christ.

  • About Sin

    We believe that sin is man’s decision to run his own life apart from the precepts of God. Every man is born with a sinful nature he inherited from Adam and, therefore, enters this world under Satan’s power, guilty of sin, condemned to death and powerless to change the situation by himself.

  • About Salvation

    We believe that salvation is a gift from God who gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die as payment for the sin of all men. If man chooses to accept this salvation, God makes him a new creature in Christ and adopts him as His own. We believe that once a man is redeemed, he, through God’s power, is secure in Christ forever. Through salvation man experiences the benefits of being God’s child in this age and becomes heir to an eternal life in heaven where he will reign with Christ and be forever united with God.

  • About the Church

    We believe the church, the people of God, is the living body of Christ in the world. We believe that the church exists under the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ to the world until Christ returns. As a body of believers the church encourages one another in the Christian life.


    A. We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the church established by Christ that serves as a public expression of what God has done through Jesus Christ in the believer (Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27). It is also an expression of commitment by the individual to taking off the old life and putting on the new life of Christ ( 1 Peter 1:3; Romans 6:5-14).


    B. We believe that immersion in water is the correct mode of baptism. Baptism doesn’t guarantee salvation (John 3:16; Romans 10:9); however, we believe every believer should be baptized (Matthew 28:19-20).


    C. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the church which is repeated at regular intervals as a reminder and a proclamation of God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Through the cup and the bread the believer is reminded of the blood that was shed and the body that was given in payment for his sins (Luke 22:14-20).


    D. The Lord’s Supper also reminds us that Jesus is coming again to gather His children into the kingdom (Matthew 26:29).

  • About Satan

    We believe that Satan exists as the adversary of both God and man. He has an unending hatred against God and all goodness, ever seeking to defeat the divine plans of grace toward mankind and to seduce men to evil and ruin.

  • About the Christian Life

    We believe that the Christian life is a process of growing into a mature relationship with God. As we grow in our relationship with God we are able to better show Him honor and praise because we learn more about Him and His will and we will become more effective in carrying out His purposes.

  • About the Last Things

    We believe that through Jesus Christ, a new Kingdom and a new age were established. As a citizen of the new age, the believer stands with all the power of the Kingdom of God accessible to him. Although the believer now exists in tension between the old and new ages, Jesus will ultimately return and abolish the old age of Satan, sin, and death. At that time the Kingdom of God will be established in all its fullness and man will glorify God forever.

Baptist Church

Our History

Our Church came into being on September 23, 1867 when twelve active Baptists banded together to organize a new church on the "West side of the city." It was located at 3rd and Sycamore (now 3rd and Michigan) and was named, "Sycamore Street Baptist Church."


Because of the growing membership, a larger building of the former Universalist society was rented in May 1872 at 7th and Spring Street, the move resulting in a change of name to "Second Baptist Church."

Baptist Church

When the property was purchased three years later, the society again changed its name, this time to "Spring Street Baptist Church." In 1880 the City of Milwaukee renamed Spring Street to Grand Avenue and the church thought it best to change the name of the church to, "Grand Avenue Baptist Church."


In September 1886 the property at 17th and Wells Street was purchased where Tabernacle Baptist Church was built-patterned after the famous Spurgeon Tabernacle in London England. The stately building was dedicated on June 26, 1887.


Due to the rapid changes in the community life in which the church was located, and other factors, the congregation decided to relocate to our current location at 11530 West National Avenue. On Sunday October 3rd, 1966, the church took out a mortgage of $172,000.00 to pay for the new structure and on November 20th, 1966 the first Service and Cornerstone Laying were held. This was an appropriate day as it was Thanksgiving Sunday. The dedication service did not take place until the following spring in connection with our 100th Anniversary Celebration.


Twenty years later, on April 13, 1986 the burning of the mortgage took place. This was the fulfillment of many years of prayers, hard work, investment of time and money, sacrifice and dedication put forth by all the church members. We are grateful to have been able to pay the mortgage and put emphasis on mission giving.


With the burning of the mortgage the church was able to focus more on mission giving to such an extent that the denomination includes Tabernacle as one of 97 churches ranking high in per capita giving.


During the 80's and 90's the church membership declined in part because many of the newer members were executive employees and often were transferred from the area. There was also a fairly large number of deaths.


In Spring 2007, Tabernacle Baptist Church welcomed Rev. Steve Carlson as its Pastor.


In 2016 we commemorated fifty years of service to our Lord from the location He has blessed us with in West Allis. And now, in 2017, we mark 150 years of service to our Lord! We pray that we will continue to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a manner that exalts and praises Him, and we look forward with great joy to the path that God created for our church.