Treasure Valley Baptist Church sits at 1300 S. Teare Avenue in Meridian, Idaho, between the 44 and 46 exits off Interstate 84, in a building that holds 1,200 people in its main auditorium. The church's own description fits on a bumper sticker: "a Bible believing Baptist church reaching our world with the gospel of Jesus Christ." It is independent of any outside denominational hierarchy, committed to the King James Authorized Version of 1611, soul-winning, separated and non-charismatic. Its services lean on traditional hymns and biblical preaching, and the building is busy almost every day of the week with Sunday schools, evening services, midweek prayer, kids' clubs, men's prayer, a bus ministry, and recovery meetings.
From a Grange Hall to 1,200 Seats
The congregation began in 1976 with the goal of reaching Meridian with the good news that Jesus saves. Its first meetings were held in the Meridian grange hall. Years of consistent Bible preaching grew the body, and the church moved to its current Teare Avenue campus, where the auditorium now seats 1,200. The church describes its location as strategic, sitting between two I-84 exits with a desire to make an impact not just in the Treasure Valley but around the world.
The mission field that Pastor Rick DeMichele mentions from the pulpit is concrete. Treasure Valley Baptist currently supports more than 130 home and foreign missionaries, and many of the men now pastoring churches or serving overseas were trained at the church's own Bible Institute. Groups from the church run bus routes across the Treasure Valley, canvass neighborhoods door to door, preach on the streets of Boise, and have shown up at parades, public festivals, and the BSU campus to hand out tracts and share the gospel one conversation at a time.
The Pastors
Rick DeMichele has been the senior pastor of Treasure Valley Baptist Church since 1986. Born in 1956 and raised in Chicago, he came out of a Roman Catholic background and graduated in 1978 from the Pensacola Bible Institute in Florida. He has pastored churches in Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Idaho, and has preached in most of the United States and a number of foreign countries. He also hosts a daily radio broadcast. He and his wife Carol have three adult children, Katie, Don, and Vickie, all married and serving the Lord, and ten grandchildren.
Titus Thomas serves as assistant pastor. Born and raised in Idaho, he started attending Treasure Valley Baptist in 1994 and was saved at the age of 8. He grew up in a broken home and in his teen years felt God calling him to Bible Institute. He graduated from the Pensacola Bible Institute in 2008, married his wife Sarah shortly after, and they have three children. He and Sarah have been involved in a variety of ministries at the church over the years.
The leadership runs on a board of deacons, and a Church Secretary, all elected or appointed under the terms of the church constitution. The pastor is moderator of all church meetings, supervises all teaching ministries, and is free to choose the means and methods of his ministry. Membership is offered to believers eighteen and older who give testimony of faith, have been baptized by immersion, subscribe to the Statement of Faith, and enter into the church covenant.
A Sunday in Meridian
The Sunday schedule opens at 9:30 AM with Sunday school for every age group. Adults gather in classes that are taught by a rotation of men from the congregation and meet in various rooms across the campus. Children, teens, and adults who are college-age, newly married, parents, or empty nesters all meet at the same hour, in classrooms organized by life stage. The goal, in the church's words, is the "focused environment of Sunday School class," where believers learn God's Word with people who share their season of life.
The main Sunday morning service begins at 10:45 AM in the main auditorium. Visitors are met in the lobby by a welcome team who can help with nurseries, orientation, and questions. The service itself follows a traditional Baptist pattern: congregational hymn singing, special music, and biblical preaching. Nurseries are available at every service for babies from newborn through four years old, and the building has overflow parking for the larger Sundays.
The Sunday evening service begins at 5:45 PM in the main auditorium, again with nurseries provided for the same age group. The church considers Sunday evening a quieter, more focused gathering, and it is one of the four set services the church constitution calls for, along with a midweek meeting and the Lord's Supper as observed by the pastor.
Wednesdays: Master Clubs and Prayer
Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM split into two parallel tracks across the campus. In the main auditorium, the church gathers for a midweek prayer meeting and Bible study. In the classrooms and gym, the Master Clubs program runs for children from age three through junior high, September through May.
Master Clubs is the church's Wednesday-night discipleship program. Children play games in the gym, break into small-group lessons, and have one-on-one book time with an assigned leader. They earn badges for memorizing Bible verses, completing civic and outreach projects, and finishing assigned book work. The program is divided by age: Littles for ages three, four, and five; Primaries for grades one through three; Ambassadors for grades four through six; and a Junior High group for grades seven and eight. The Junior High class regularly works to memorize entire chapters of Scripture. Each year closes with an Awards Night that recognizes what the children have done.
Saturdays: Men, Buses, and Doors
Saturday mornings are built around outreach. On the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, the church's canvassing group meets at 10:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall and walks neighborhoods around the valley to witness and invite people to visit. On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Saturdays, the bus ministry meets at 10:00 AM in the church gym to load up buses and head out into Meridian and Nampa to pick up children and bring them to Sunday school and church. The 1st and 5th Saturdays are set aside for rest from this rotation.
Men's prayer meeting runs every Saturday evening in the chapel, at 7:00 PM from October through March and at 8:00 PM from April through September. The group is open to any man who wants to join the men of TVBC for a focused hour of prayer.
Children's Sunday School, GEMS, and Master Clubs
The children's Sunday school covers ages four through middle school, with classes tailored to each age group's attention span and developmental stage. Teachers use age-appropriate Bible stories to build character and a Christian worldview, and the classes are fully supervised. Parents who want to find the right room can stop by the Welcome Booth in the foyer of the main building.
Master Clubs adds a Wednesday-night track for the same children, with a structured badge and award system that runs from age three all the way through eighth grade. The children can earn Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum crowns for completing the year's book work, along with Sword Pins and awards in Christian Writing, Music, Art, the Triple Crown Award, and the Ambassador Award. The Junior High group pushes for whole-chapter Scripture memorization.
For seniors, the GEMS group, God's Ever Maturing Saints, gathers anyone 55 and older. The church deliberately does not run a separate Sunday school class for the group, instead encouraging GEMS members to join the existing adult Sunday school classes. The group itself is built around fellowship: potlucks, ministry projects, and shared activities, with the stated goal of helping Christians entering a new phase of life seize every opportunity to change the world for Christ.
Middle School and High School
Middle schoolers, grades six through eight, meet every Sunday morning at 9:30 for Sunday school, then stay connected through the week with gym nights, ice skating, hiking, camping trips, and a summer and winter camp. Caleb and Hannah Williams and Garrett and Maggie Johnson lead the group, with Kirby and Laurie Barno serving as assistants. The program emphasizes Bible-based wisdom alongside what the church cheerfully describes as "crazy awesome fun."
The high school group, grades nine through twelve, is led by John and Lindsey Robinson. The class meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 and stays connected through activity nights, gym nights, and a summer and winter camp. The summer camp for high schoolers is held at Shiloh Bible Camp on Gestrin Road in Donnelly, and runs a full week in late July. The camp includes swimming, boating, water tubing, hiking, and field day, and is wrapped into the larger schedule of summer soul-winning efforts the church runs each year.
Adult Sunday School
The adult Sunday school meets every Sunday at 9:30 in the main auditorium. Teaching rotates among godly men from the church family, with Mike and Peggy Wolski, Dave and Sheri Hahn, and Dave and Reyne Holtom among the regular teachers. Dave Hahn teaches a "Through the Bible" class; Dave Holtom has taught Sunday school for 25 years and also serves in prison ministry; Mike and Peggy Wolski, both saved out of a Roman Catholic background in a Chicago suburb in 1972, served in Poland as missionaries for 20 years before relocating to Nampa in 2018 and making TVBC their home church. The adult class follows an expositional approach, tying different portions of Scripture together with the goal of scriptural knowledge and Biblical application.
Family Foundations, Newly-Weds, and College & Career
Family Foundations is for couples, single parents, and families at any stage, with a stated openness to couples married six to twenty years and to single parents. Jason and Kristy Starner teach the class. They came into their own faith through a series of struggles and conferences and have been part of TVBC since 1998, including more than 15 years of working with the middle school youth group. The class is built around fortifying the family unit against the pressures the Starners say are coming at it from every side.
The Newly-Weds class is built for couples in their earliest years of marriage, while the College & Career group is for single adults out of high school who want Bible teaching and community. Jake and Michelle Parker and Marshall and Kristyn Wells lead it, with Wells having grown up as a missionary kid in Papua New Guinea before his family started Graceway Baptist Church in Washington D.C. and he moved to Idaho to attend the Bible Institute. The class meets every Sunday at 9:30, with game nights, gym nights, a summer camp at Camp Cascade near Donnelly, and outreach sponsorships for ministries around the church.
Widows of Faith
The Widows of Faith ministry, also called the Woman of Faith ministry, gathers women who have lost a spouse for fellowship, food, and encouragement. The director is Cherie Espinosa. The group meets roughly once a month, and the church is careful to frame it as more than a grief support group: the focus is on growing closer to God and to one another, not on sitting around talking about loss and pain.
Reformers Unanimous: A Recovery Ministry
Reformers Unanimous is the church's addiction-recovery ministry. It runs a chapter of Reformers Unanimous Inc., a Bible-based program that, in the church's description, brings victory to an estimated 20,000 lives every year across the country. The TVBC chapter is led by Ben and Vivian Brandt, who have been involved with RU for nine years and have personal experience with the sorrow addiction brings. Each meeting breaks into counsel groups to share burdens and blessings, with personal counsel also available. Child care is provided at no charge, and the meeting point is open to anyone who wants to stop by for a visit. Twelve self-assessment questions cover obsessive thoughts, hiding the habit, using it to cope with stress, trying and failing to quit, and isolation from meaningful relationships, ending with the invitation to come to a weekly meeting for encouragement, accountability, and freedom.
The Bus Ministry
The bus ministry has been running since 1995. Buses follow routes across the Treasure Valley, picking up children from homes in Meridian, Nampa, Boise, Caldwell, and Kuna. The drivers and workers are fully supervised and background checked. The bus is not only a ride to church; it is a chance for kids to make friends, learn Scripture, and have a safe, age-appropriate time with leaders. Parents in the area can fill out a contact form to be matched with the bus captain closest to their address.
Door-to-Door and Street Outreach
Beyond the bus routes, the canvassing ministry meets at the Fellowship Hall on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month at 10:00 AM and walks neighborhoods to witness and invite. The street ministry takes groups of church members into Boise on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings for preaching, singing, and tract distribution. The church has also organized special outreach efforts at public events, including the Meridian Dairy Days Parade, the Boise Fourth of July parade, and the September Boise Pride parade, with coordinated teams handing out tracts and engaging in conversation. Members are encouraged to view themselves as "soldiers of the cross" and to look for one-on-one witnessing opportunities at work, in their neighborhoods, and anywhere else the Lord sends them.
Music Ministry
The TVBC Music Ministry coordinates congregational singing, special music, multiple choirs, and an orchestra. People who want to join a choir, a singing group, or the orchestra can stop by the information booth in the auditorium, and the music team will help connect them with a group that fits.
Nursery
The nursery is open at every Sunday and Wednesday service and is staffed by a specialized team of background-checked workers in good standing with the church. Each worker is limited to one service per week, which means the ministry is always looking for additional help. The contact point for joining the nursery team is Mrs. Huddlestun.
Bible Institute and Christian School
The Treasure Valley Bible Baptist Institute, often shortened to TVBBI, exists to help believers establish and strengthen their faith in the Word of God. It operates as a structured training program that has, over the years, prepared many of the men now serving as pastors and missionaries who were sent out from TVBC. The assistant pastor Titus Thomas is one of its graduates, as is Marshall Wells.
The Treasure Valley Baptist School, often called TVBS, is the church's K-12 Christian school. It exists to train and equip students to excel in God's purpose for their life. The school runs alongside a separate home-school support group for families in the church, which offers a formal graduation ceremony, field trips, science and craft fairs, a major biennial theatrical production, parent-to-parent help with difficult high school subjects, and opportunities to participate in JV and Varsity sports through the Christian school. The home-school ministry is a support group only; the church does not endorse curricula or certify credits.
What the Church Believes
Treasure Valley Baptist holds a written Statement of Faith that the church describes as a summary of Christian doctrine whose authority rests entirely on its agreement with the Word of God. The full statement, adopted as part of the church constitution on November 23, 2014, runs more than a dozen articles, each tied to specific Bible verses.
The church teaches that the Bible in the King James Authorized Version of 1611 is the preserved, inerrant Word of God. There is one living and true God, infinite and personal, existing in three co-equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh, true God and true man. He died for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day, ascended into heaven, and now makes intercession for believers, who are eternally secure in Him. Salvation is by faith alone, and the blessings of salvation are freely offered to all.
The church practices believer's baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper with self-examination. It teaches a pre-tribulation rapture of the church followed by a thousand-year millennial reign of Christ. It teaches the verbal plenary inspiration and preservation of Scripture, the deity of Jesus Christ, His blood atonement, salvation by faith, aggressive New Testament soul-winning, and the pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ. It opposes modernism, liberalism, formalism, and worldliness. The church identifies itself as separated from charismatic practices and from ecumenical cooperation with groups that deny the faith. Its position on marriage is that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman, that God made two distinct genders, and that any attempt to alter one's God-given gender is forbidden.
The church's officers are the pastor, the board of deacons, and the church secretary. Members enter into a written covenant that includes watching over one another in love, walking together in Christian love, contributing cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, maintaining family devotions, and seeking the salvation of their kindred and acquaintances. Members are expected to demonstrate special loyalty to one another, and discipline follows the steps outlined in Matthew 18.
Giving, Visiting, and Staying Connected
Visitors can reach the church office at +1 (208) 888-4545 between Tuesday and Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The building has parking plus overflow parking. The church runs an active livestream on its YouTube channel for those who cannot attend in person, and full messages are also posted online as video and as a podcast. Online giving is available for tithes, missions, and special offerings, with separate giving options for camps, the Bible Institute, and Master Clubs. A faith-promise pledge form is available for members who want to commit to missions giving on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis.
Visitors who want to know what to expect can fill out a contact form online or simply walk in on Sunday morning. The Welcome Booth, located in the foyer of the main auditorium, can answer questions about Sunday school placement, nursery, and the times and locations of any of the church's many groups.
Treasure Valley Baptist Church is at 1300 S. Teare Avenue in Meridian, between the 44 and 46 exits off I-84, and Sunday school starts at 9:30 AM.