Faith Baptist Church has been blessed over the years since constituting on
February 7, 1967. From its earliest beginnings the church lived up to its name! Its FAITH
ignited the church's passion for the lost and inspired the church's commitment to do what
God has called the church to do.
Faith Baptist Church began in 1966, first meeting in homes, then later
moving to the Biltmore Hotel in Providence. It was then called Providence Baptist Church.
Rev. Frank Chase accepted the church’s call to become its first pastor. He began as a
full time minister on the first Sunday of November in 1966. Then, in 1968, Rev. Marion
Hayes was called to pastor the church and continue the work in Providence. The
congregation soon felt the need of a church building as their numbers grew. They placed an
ad in the newspaper, a contact was made and they were given a church on Rounds Ave. in
Providence, plus the building fund amount of $5,000.
As the church grew, they later purchased a house next door to the church
for Sunday School space. After ministering to the community there for 7 years, they prayed
about a site for a new building. In 1979 they purchased 2 acres in Warwick on Commonwealth
Ave. It was at this Warwick location that Providence Baptist Church became Faith Baptist
Church. Within a year a building had been erected.
Pastor Marion Hayes resigned as pastor in 1980, and moved to Atlanta,
Georgia to fill the position as Director of Missions for Dunwoody Baptist Church. After a
period of some months, Don Hare (formerly a dean at a boys Christian College), moved to R.
I., after having come here as part of a work crew. He later married a member of church. At
this time he felt a call into the ministry, was ordained, called and served as Pastor of
the church for approximately one year, before resigning. During this transition, the
church began declining in membership; but due to some financial help from the Home Mission
Board, the loving guidance of the newly called Interim Pastor, Tom Moncrief (Direction of
Missions for SNEBA), and God’s perfect plan for the church, the church
survived.
Then in June of 1984 Rev. Richard Wright was called to pastor the
church. Pastor Wright grew up in the Groton area of Connecticut and his family was
originally from Nova Scotia, Canada. He had attended seminary at Midwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. Once again the congregation grew out
of the existing space and plans were made for an even larger church which would
incorporate the existing structure. Ground was broken in 1988 for a new worship center
with additional office and social space, with actual construction beginning in 1989. After
countless hours of volunteer work from church members and teams from South Carolina, the
new church building was dedicated in November of 1990.
The church was able to call Rev. Kevin Knox as our Associate Pastor,
during this growing period, first on a part-time basis, then full time. He and his wife
Debbie came here on faith, with no job prospects, from Michigan to serve the Lord. Rev.
Knox was bivocational for some time as a carpenter and the Lord used him strategically in
guiding our building addition to completion. However, in August of 1994, Pastor Knox,
resigned and became the pastor of Hornersville Baptist Church in Hornerville, Mo.
In July 1995, Rev. Tim Buehner was called as Minister of Education &
Youth. Tim and his wife Marcia were originally from Cleveland, Ohio and were originally
members here from 1986 to 1991. The Lord called Tim to full time ministry in and through
this church and he and his family left for seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, never
expecting to return. The Lord and the church thought otherwise and he accepted a call to
Faith in 1995.
In August of 1999, Dr. Neil Olcott was called to become our senior
pastor after Pastor Richard Wright accepted a call to First Baptist Church of West Plains,
Missouri. Dr. Olcott was born and raised in the Syracuse, New York area.
Dr. Olcott had pastored in Massachusetts and Kansas City, Missouri. His
calling to ministry came when he was 24 and was working with some teenagers in Youth
Ministry. Since that day he has continued to see that calling strengthened. Dr. Olcott
lead us through a major remodeling of our facilities, a revitalization of our worship
methods and a reform of our leadership principles. Dr. Olcott has since moved on to
another calling as of November, 2004 in Pennsylvania.
Dr. David Clay Smith came in view of a call on Feb. 7,
2006. The church voted to call him as their new senior pastor on Feb. 21, 2006 and he
began his ministry on March 19, 2006. David was born on August 24, 1956 and grew up in
Roanoke, Virginia where his parents and four brothers still live. David trusted Christ as
his Savior when he was eight years old. Through the guidance of his parents and pastor, he
came to understand how to be saved and at that time publicly professed his faith in Christ
and was baptized. David is thankful for the godly influence of his family and church
leaders who discipled him through his teen years.
David attended Bluefield College where he met his wife, Betty Hayes
Smith. They were married on August 6, 1977. David and Betty moved to Orlando, Florida
to work with Youth for Christ and David received a BA in History from the University of
Central Florida. David also served as Youth Minister at a church in Orlando. It was at
this time that David sensed God’s leadership and call to become a pastor and they
moved to Ft. Worth, Texas to attend Seminary. David earned his Master of Divinity from
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in May 1983. While in Texas, David pastored two
churches and then was called back to his home state of Virginia where he served two
churches, the last of which he planted through the North American Mission Board of the
SBC. Nearly seven years ago, David and Betty moved from Virginia to Raleigh, North
Carolina, where they planted River Oaks Community Church. David earned his Doctorate of
Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2001. David and Betty have two grown children
who still live in North Carolina.
As we have experienced from our many years of history, the church has
seen all sorts of growth since its beginning. During the later part of the 1980's until
the church moved into the present worship center in 1990 there was tremendous growth as
God blessed. The church peaked in the early 90's and floundered a bit in the past few
years as it fluctuated in size and met new demands on its ministries.
We are certainly in a growth mode once again and have renewed with the
adoption of six core values outside of God's great mission for us. We
believe God has prepared this church to turn to a new chapter of life to bring Christ more
glory by being a body that values:
