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On the fifth day of April in the year 1831, a small group of twenty-four
people from the villages of Albion, Cumberland, Ashton and Lime Rock
joined together to form a church; this church became known as the Baptist
Church of Cumberland Hill. The following is an excerpt from a letter
applying for membership in the Warren Association, as it appears in the
records of the Lime Rock Baptist Church:
[W]e have the pleasure to inform you that during the past winter and
spring a very precious and extensive revival of religion was experienced
in this place.... [A]s the fruits of this revival, on the 5th of last
April a regular Baptist Church was formed...which consists of 24 members.
During the first few years, Sunday School
Missions
were organized in Albion, Lime Rock and Ashton.
On August 18, 1835 at a regular church meeting held in Lime Rock the
church changed its name to the Lime Rock Baptist Church in Smithfield.
In January 1836, the Lime Rock Baptist Society was incorporated by an
act passed in the
Rhode Island State Legislature.
The purpose of the incorporation was the erecting of a meetinghouse for
the public worship of God in the vicinity of Lime Rock; the supporting
and promulgating of the Christian religion, according to the forms and
usages of the Baptist denomination.
On August 18, 1836, the first church was
dedicated at the corner of Great and Meeting House Roads in Lime Rock.
On October 20, 1843, the church name was
changed to Lime Rock and Albion Baptist Church.
By early 1873, the meetinghouse had fallen into disuse; in 1876, the
meetinghouse was struck by lightning and burned.
From 1873 to 1886, meetings were held in the Lime
Rock Hotel on Great Road. The Lime Rock Hotel was later known as the
Mowry Tavern. In January 1886, the Charter was amended, by
an act passed by the Rhode Island State Legislature, to rename the
official title of the church to the Lime Rock Baptist Church in Lincoln. On September 29, 1886, a new chapel was dedicated on Wilbur Road.
In 1889, the carriage shed was built to shelter the horses and, in 1938,
the sanctuary was remodeled.
In 1952, a Fellowship Hall and a new kitchen were added to make more space
available for Sunday School and other functions.
On June 2, 1973, a new church (our present church) was dedicated on Great
Road.
Copyright © 2009 by [Lime Rock Baptist Church]. All rights reserved.
Revised:
11/08/09 23:08:10 -0500.
 American
Baptist Churches USA |