Meshanticut Park Community Baptist Church

The Meshanticut Park Community Baptist Church in Cranston, RI was founded in 1905 when the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention bought the church building from the Congregational Society. The congregation struggled during their first decades, and it was not until the 1920s that they hired a settled minister. The 1940s ushered in a dramatic increase in the population of Cranston and the Meshanticut Park Community Church. They outgrew the old chapel on Cranston Street, so they built a new meetinghouse at 180 Oaklawn Avenue in 1950. The congregation prospered until the 1970s when the church declined somewhat, paralleling the experience of the Baptist denomination. By 2000, the church had various problems and issues of conflict. The last pastor, who took over in September 2004, was Robert Lancia who drew his inspiration and models from Robert Schuller (the Crystal Cathedral) and Rick Warren (Saddleback Baptist Church). Lancia sought to remake Meshanticut Park including renaming it “The Orchard Church” in 2008. The church dissolved in 2011 and the building was sold to the Evangelical Euphrates Armenian Church. The records date from 1932-2010 and contain Board of Trustee minutes, Church Council minutes, newsletters, documents about the church building, scattered membership records, and photographs dating from the early 2000s. This is part of the Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection.

Format(s): Graphics, Letters, Documents
Library: John Hay
NOTE: This collection is housed off-site. Prior notice is needed for retrieval

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Access to the collection:

Online Catalog (BruKnow):
General description of the collection available on BruKnow

Other Online Access:
RIAMCO: Guide to the Meshanticut Park Community Baptist Church

Related Collections:
Baptist Collection
Niantic Baptist Church Records
Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center Collection
Roger Williams Baptist Church Records
Shawomet Baptist Church Records
Trickett (Homer) Papers
West Exeter Baptist Church Records