Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center collection (Ms. 2008.017)

Historical note

The Rhode Island Baptist Heritage Center was the culmination of the work of individuals who were deeply concerned about the identity and history of Baptists. As a result of the decision by the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island [ABCORI] to move its headquarters from Providence to Camp Canonicus in Exeter, some thought that a "Baptist presence" should be maintained in Providence. As early as June 1999, Dr. Homer Trickett, retired associate pastor of Phillips Memorial Baptist Church, and others met with Rev. Donald Rasmussen, the Executive Minister of ABCORI, to discuss the creation of a "Baptist Cultural and Heritage Center," located in Providence. Disagreement about the concept caused it to languish until October 2001. In the meanwhile, a few members of the Providence Baptist Theological Circle, an organization founded in 1851 to promote the continuing education of ministers, formed another group to consider issues of Baptist identity, history, and distinctives. The leader in this movement was Trickett, who was particularly concerned that "the ecumenical movement had caused Baptists to water down their distinctive beliefs about how one became a Christian and as to the nature of the Church as the body of Christ." In September 2001, Trickett and Rev. Clay Berry, pastor of the Wakefield Baptist Church, invited a number of persons that they believed would be interested in participating in such discussions.

Numbering about twelve individuals in October 2001, the group initially called itself the "Baptist Distinctives Discussion Group" while they searched for an appropriate name. By April of 2002, they called themselves "The Baptist Authority Project" and elected formal officers. In addition they adopted a Purpose Statement written by Rev. Dr. Charles Hartman, pastor of the Swansea Baptist Church, which proposed:

to identify and reclaim the authentic witness of the early English and American Baptists in order to provide an authoritative critique for comtemporary Baptist practice.

In early October 2001, Trickett, Rasmussen, Dr. Robert L. Carter, retired pastor of the Congdon St. Baptist Church, and Rev. Paul Schoonmaker, retired pastor of Calvary Baptist Church met to draft a proposal for the "Baptist Heritage and Cultural Center" to be presented to the Board of Mission of ABCORI. On October 15, 2001, Trickett and Carter, submitted to the Board an elaborate proposal for a research center, repository for Baptist records, a meeting place, and educational center. The Board responded on January 29, 2002 by establishing the "Providence Presence Task Force." This task force met for the first time on May 1, 2002 with Trickett and Carter serving as co-chairs. By July, when it reported to the Board of Mission, the task force was being called the "Baptist Heritage Center Task Force," and Trickett and Carter were officially elected by the Board to be co-chairs. As the task force met in the summer of 2002, the original grand scheme for the Baptist Center was pared to a much simpler plan with the hope that the Center would grow. In October 29, 2002, Trickett retired as co-chair and Berry was elected to replace him.

The task force approved a constitution and by-laws for the Baptist Heritage Center [BHC] on May 8, 2003 and forwarded it to the Board of Mission, for presentation at the Annual Gathering of ABCORI on May 17, 2003. ABCORI voted to create the BHC as an affiliate with its own governing board of directors. In the ensuing year, leaders of the task force met and selected officers to be elected officially at the next Annual Gathering. The general officers and new members of the board of the BHC must be elected each year by the delegates at ABCORI's annual business meeting. Headed by Clay Berry, the first board of directors of the BHC was elected on May 15, 2004, and held its first meeting on August 19, 2004.

(Historical overview written by Dr. J. Stanley Lemons.)