International Baptist Church of Manila was born out of an earnest desire of 17 baptists from the United States who were then based in the Philippines to have a place in which to serve, worship and study.

These men and women who found themselves in a strange and foreign land and had difficulty locating a church decided to organize a Christian Fellowship on April 24, 1959. This group of American businessmen, government employees and members of the U.S. Armed Forces was known as the Southern Baptist Fellowship of Greater Manila. It was then organized as a church and was called "Emmanuel Baptist Church"; but was eventually changed to International Baptist Church of Manila.