Stony Lane Church sits along Old Baptist Road in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, on a quiet stretch of Washington County where the same congregation has been gathering for worship since 1665. Its motto, "A City on a Hill," reflects the teaching-driven, Christ-centered character the church carries into its community. Today the tagline "Teaching The Word, Exalting Christ" sets the tone for what visitors find on Sunday morning and throughout the week: an expository pulpit, a choir and a band sharing the platform, and a body of believers that takes the work of prayer, fellowship, and global missions seriously.
Three and a Half Centuries on Old Baptist Road
The congregation traces its roots to the original Baptist settlers of what would become North Kingstown and marks more than 360 years of continuous worship. Photographs preserved by the church show the earliest meeting house on the property, the mid-twentieth-century building that replaced it, and the headstone of Rev. Thomas Baker, a later pastor whose grave remains part of the churchyard. Over the centuries the structures have been rebuilt and refreshed, but the road, the calling, and the commitment to the preached Word have carried through to the present.
What Sunday Morning Looks Like
Visitors find ample parking in front of the church and are greeted at the door by an usher who helps them find a seat. Dress is casual. Adult Sunday School begins at 9:30 AM and runs until 10:15 AM, with classes currently working their way through the book of Revelation. The morning worship service starts at 10:30 AM and typically runs 75 to 90 minutes.
The order of service includes several congregational songs led by both a choir and a worship band, prayer, the sermon, a closing song, and a benediction. Children ages four through ten are dismissed for Children's Sunday School during the sermon, around 11:00 AM. Infants and toddlers are cared for in a nursery staffed by two adults at all times, and a glass window between the nursery and the worship hall lets parents keep an eye on their children while still taking part in the service.
Coffee Hour and Covered Dish Fellowship
After the service, everyone is invited downstairs for Coffee Hour Fellowship. The kitchen team sets out an array of sandwiches, salads, pasta, and desserts alongside coffee, tea, and cold drinks, and the room fills with conversation that often continues long after the plates are cleared. Once a month the luncheon becomes a Covered Dish lunch, with members bringing food to share. The church considers this informal gathering an important part of how the body grows closer together.
Midweek Prayer and Bible Study
Wednesday evening is set aside for prayer and Bible study. Beginning at 6:30 PM, the group gathers to share requests and pray together for about 45 minutes before opening the Word for study. Members and visitors are encouraged to send in prayer requests through the church's contact form, and the team lifts them up together. On Friday mornings at 10:00 AM, the Ladies Bible Study meets to walk through books of the Bible together, currently working through the book of Daniel. Friday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 PM are reserved for Praise & Worship Practice, when the music team rehearses for the following Sunday.
Pastor Rick also leads a short Morning Devotion every weekday at 8:00 AM on Facebook. The devotional runs about ten minutes and gives the congregation a way to start the day in Scripture together, even when schedules don't allow an in-person gathering.
Men's, Women's, and Young Adults Ministries
Three distinct ministry tracks give the congregation ways to grow together across age and stage of life.
The Men's Ministry centers on a monthly Prayer Breakfast held on the first Saturday of each month at 8:00 AM. Men from the body gather over food and conversation, lifting one another up in prayer.
The Women's Ministry, called Rooted in Christ, focuses on discipleship, counseling, prayer, Bible study, and quarterly special events. Colossians 2:7 anchors the work: "continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." A highlight of the year is the Rooted in Christ Retreat, held at St. Edmond's Retreat Center on Enders Island in Mystic, Connecticut. The Ladies Prayer Breakfast meets monthly on a Saturday morning at 9:00 AM, and the Ladies Bible Study gathers on Fridays at 10:00 AM.
Young Adults Ministry serves ages 18 to 30 and meets on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at 5:00 PM. Evenings include food, Bible study, discussion, fellowship, and occasional outings.
Children and the Nursery
Families with young children are well looked after. Children ages four through ten attend Children's Sunday School during the sermon. Infants and toddlers are welcomed in a nursery where two adults are present at all times, and parents can keep an eye on their little ones through the nursery's glass window overlooking the sanctuary. The church sees the next generation as part of the body, not an interruption of it.
Missions Beyond North Kingstown
A large portion of the church's tithes and offerings supports a wide circle of mission partners, both local and around the world.
- Providence Rescue Mission: A nonprofit in the West End of Providence that runs a homeless shelter and soup kitchen and shares the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone who comes through its doors.
- Harmony Women's Care: A Rhode Island organization that helps women facing unplanned pregnancies with testing, ultrasounds, support, baby clothing and diapers, and post-abortion care.
- Rhode Island Family Institute: The state affiliate of a national alliance focused on religious freedom, families, and the sanctity of life.
- Gideons International, Narragansett Branch: An association of Christian business and professional men and their wives who distribute Bibles and New Testaments in strategic locations.
- OMF International, Jana: A former member of Stony Lane Church who now serves with OMF, teaching English and fish farming at a university in East Asia and ministering to her neighbors.
- Northern Frontier Ministries, Jason and Lisa Scott: Former Stony Lane members now in Slana, Alaska, who evangelize, disciple, plant churches, and lead Bible studies in remote northern communities.
- CRU, Steve Pierce: A Stony Lane affiliate working with Campus Crusade for Christ to build operations technology that supports gospel ministry in 190 countries.
- WorldVenture, Gary and Karen Shogren: Missionaries serving in Costa Rica. Gary teaches New Testament at Seminario ESEPA; Karen also teaches there and serves on WorldVenture's Child Safety Team for the Americas region.
What the Church Believes
The Statement of Faith begins with the Bible as the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God and the final authority for faith, practice, church order, and discipline. The church affirms one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It confesses the deity of Jesus Christ, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in power and glory.
The church holds that mankind is totally depraved and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for salvation. Salvation is a free gift, possessed by each individual who has, by faith, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, enabling a godly life. The church looks forward to the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost: everlasting blessedness for the justified, everlasting punishment for the unjust. Believers are united spiritually in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The mission that flows from these convictions is to evangelize people through healthy personal relationships, educate them in Biblical truth, encourage them into membership in God's family, and equip them for ministry, all while exalting the Triune God. The church aims to see people respond to the simple Gospel, to encourage change through the application of God's Word, and to be a beacon of light in the community.
Pastors Rick Bringhurst and Jim Ricci
Pastor Rick Bringhurst is the Senior Pastor of Stony Lane Church. He has been a believer in Christ for more than forty years, including ten years as a deacon at New Hope Christian Church in Swansea, Massachusetts, seventeen years as an elder at a church plant in North Kingstown that he helped start in 1999, and a season of service at Portsmouth Evangelical Friends Church in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he served as Interim Pastor before helping launch another congregation with the blessing of the Friends Superintendent. After retiring from a forty-five-year contracting career, he became the full-time Senior Pastor of Stony Lane Church in April 2023.
Pastor Jim Ricci is the Associate Pastor. He served for twenty-eight years as the Care and Counseling Pastor of Cranston Christian Fellowship in Rhode Island and is nationally board certified in Biblical Counseling. He also directs Aletheia Counseling Ministries, a non-profit that provides counseling across the greater New England region. A decorated war veteran who served as a Point Man with the 34th Infantry Platoon Scout Dog Unit, Pastor Jim often shares how those years taught him to turn obstacles into opportunities and pain into purpose.
Planning a Visit
Anyone thinking of stopping by is welcome. Sunday morning begins with Adult Sunday School at 9:30 AM and the Worship Service at 10:30 AM at 921 Old Baptist Road, North Kingstown. The church offers nursery care for infants and Children Sunday School for ages four through ten, a worship team of choir and band, and a casual dress code. After the service, the downstairs fellowship hall is open for coffee, food, and conversation. A Welcome Packet is available in the lobby. The church office number is (401) 295-1921, and Pastor Rick's email is rickbringhurst@stonylane.org. Sermons are available on YouTube.