History of St. Paul's Wickford
The mission of every Church is to know God and make him known.
The Old Narragansett Church,
built 1707
St. Paul’s has been faithfully trying to do just that since its founding in 1706.
The history of St. Paul’s Church in Wickford goes back to the early days of Colonial Rhode Island. The St. Paul’s congregation was formed in 1706 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), the missionary arm of the Anglican Church based in London. Beginning in 1702, the Society had received a number of petitions to establish a church in the Narragansett Country (what is roughly today the geographic area of South County; but so-called in 1702 because it was inhabited by the Native American Narragansett people).
The history of St. Paul’s Church in Wickford goes back to the early days of Colonial Rhode Island. The St. Paul’s congregation was formed in 1706 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), the missionary arm of the Anglican Church based in London. Beginning in 1702, the Society had received a number of petitions to establish a church in the Narragansett Country (what is roughly today the geographic area of South County; but so-called in 1702 because it was inhabited by the Native American Narragansett people).
The First Church Building
The first church building was built in 1707 about five miles southwest of Wickford. Today it is known as The Old Narragansett Church--the oldest church building in Rhode Island and very likely the oldest Episcopal Church building north of the Potomac River. When the population shifted, The Old Narragansett Church was moved to the growing commercial and social center of Wickford in 1800—"likely disassembled and brought to Wickford over rocky, rutted, hilly roads…. It was doubtless an arduous trip, transporting the carefully numbered sills, posts, beams, siding, roof rafters and boards, the round arched windows, and what remained of the pews to the church’s new home.” Upon re-assembly in that new home on Church Lane in Wickford, the long planks arranged on large logs to provide bench style seating were replaced with 30 subscription pews that rented for one dollar each per year. From 1811 to 1866, the church also had a steeple attached to its western end. Structurally the steeple was not designed to support the weight of the swinging bell which eventually caused its collapse.
The Second Church Building
Over almost half a century, St. Paul’s Church in Wickford—holding services at The Old Narragansett Church--grew and prospered, so much so that a new church was constructed in the village in 1847 to accommodate that growth.
Even after the new church was built, services, meetings, weddings, and even conventions continued to be held within the ancient walls of the old church and summer services continue to be held there even now in the twenty-first century. In 1915, the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island officially accepted ownership and responsibility for this important historic structure.
Today these two church buildings stand as bookends of the faith and courage that have characterized this parish and its congregation for well over 300 years. Located on opposite sides of Main Street in Wickford, the two church buildings are connected by a flagstone path along the Greeneway, a shaded walking path also owned and maintained by the Episcopal Diocese of R.I. The flagstones chronicle the history of the parish, bearing the names of the early missionaries and the rectors of the parish from 1706 forward.
On October 22, 2006, in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the St. Paul’s Parish, the Right Reverend Geralyn Wolf, twelfth Bishop of Rhode Island, gave a sermon in which she described the congregation. She said: “In Christ we are one. He reveals his unity in our identity as servants. You, the congregation of The Old Narragansett Church and St. Paul’s have been faithfully living into Jesus’ hope for all of his followers … that we may be people of service to one another."
Even after the new church was built, services, meetings, weddings, and even conventions continued to be held within the ancient walls of the old church and summer services continue to be held there even now in the twenty-first century. In 1915, the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island officially accepted ownership and responsibility for this important historic structure.
Today these two church buildings stand as bookends of the faith and courage that have characterized this parish and its congregation for well over 300 years. Located on opposite sides of Main Street in Wickford, the two church buildings are connected by a flagstone path along the Greeneway, a shaded walking path also owned and maintained by the Episcopal Diocese of R.I. The flagstones chronicle the history of the parish, bearing the names of the early missionaries and the rectors of the parish from 1706 forward.
On October 22, 2006, in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the St. Paul’s Parish, the Right Reverend Geralyn Wolf, twelfth Bishop of Rhode Island, gave a sermon in which she described the congregation. She said: “In Christ we are one. He reveals his unity in our identity as servants. You, the congregation of The Old Narragansett Church and St. Paul’s have been faithfully living into Jesus’ hope for all of his followers … that we may be people of service to one another."
The history of St. Paul’s is the story of two church buildings; it is the story of a long line of devoted rectors who have worked to fulfill the mission of the church to know God and to make him known; and it is the story of the congregation in service to one another. But more than this, the story of St. Paul’s in the Narragansett Country is the ongoing story of celebrating God’s presence and power among us.
Resources for further reading about the history of St. Paul’s:
Saint Paul's Parish in the Narragansett Country edited by the Rev. John Hall and Patricia Belden Carlson and published by St. Paul's Wickford in 2007.
A History of The Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island by Wilkins Updike. Printed and Published by D.B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, 1907.
Information taken from http://www.historicnorthkingstown.com/historic-partners/old-narragansett-church/. Visit the website for more information and photos!
Saint Paul's Parish in the Narragansett Country edited by the Rev. John Hall and Patricia Belden Carlson and published by St. Paul's Wickford in 2007.
A History of The Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island by Wilkins Updike. Printed and Published by D.B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, 1907.
Information taken from http://www.historicnorthkingstown.com/historic-partners/old-narragansett-church/. Visit the website for more information and photos!
