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     401-232-7575   office@orelc.org    54 Cedar Swamp Road  |  Smithfield  |  RI  |  02917
    Worship: 9:15 AM  |  Sunday School: 10:45 AM   

History

About Us  /  History

Our Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church (LC-MS)

On January 10, 1988, a church was born in a most unusual place, the Anderson-Winfield Funeral Chapel in the village of Greenville, RI.

The very first worship service of Our Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church was attended by about 80 individuals, some 60 of whom were visitors and supporters from its “mother church”, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Providence. It soon became clear that a larger and “more permanent” worship space was needed.

This led to a move of the growing congregation into the Laurel Grange Hall in Gloucester, a site that became the home of Our Redeemer for the next 9+ years.

In April of 1998, the church moved into a brand-new church building at its present site in Smithfield.

Humble Beginnings in 1988

 
Our congregation was started in January, 1988. Several members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Providence, Rhode Island began meeting in each other's homes here in Smithfield. Since there were no Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregations in the northern part of the State of Rhode Island, the group shared a mutual vision to begin one.


With the blessings and financial backing of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Providence, the congregation began worshiping at Anderson Winfield Funeral Home in Greenville, RI. 

We keep growing!

 
Within a year, the congregation grew to over 100 members and was forced to find a larger worship facility. The congregation began worshiping at the Laurel Grange in Glocester, RI where we remained for the next 9 years.