Location: East Providence, R.I.

Presbytery: Atlantic

Organization: 2000

Membership: 49 communicant; 21 baptized

Pastor: Daniel Howe

Website: www.christrpc.com

My first exposure to Christ (East Providence, R.I.) RPC came by way of organ donation. No, not for me. All of my organs are fine as far as I can tell. I keep a close eye on them and drink plenty of water, of course.

It was 2014, and my family and I were part of another church in Providence, R.I. One of the members in our church was in desperate need of a kidney, and a member of Christ RPC found out about it. Without telling anyone, this sly fellow took it upon himself to go through all the tests, because, as you may know, doctors don’t just go swapping out kidneys willy-nilly. The donated kidney has to be a match for the person in need. By God’s grace, his kidney was a match.

Imagine someone basically jumping out of the bushes and saying, “Surprise, I’m giving you a kidney!” Exciting? Terrifying? Either way, incredible.

That’s how I found myself helping to lead a joint service between our two churches to worship and pray together and to raise some money to help the donor. Interestingly, that service was held at yet another church’s facility, and I suppose that says some good things about churches in Rhode Island. Whatever you need to borrow—buildings, kidneys—the answer is “welcome” and “yes.”

That night, I was struck by the simplicity and portability of the psalm-singing tradition, and I was impressed by the kindness of the people. A few months later, I found myself and my family, by consequence of a very sad circumstance, walking through the doors of Christ RPC. Suffice it to say that, while I wasn’t in need of an organ transplant, my heart was not doing well. We were in search of a safe harbor to rest and recover. The answer, once again, was “welcome” and “yes.”

Christ RPC came to existence in the early 2000s as a church plant of First (Cambridge, Mass.) RPC. We began as a Bible study and, in 2006, gathered for our first worship service in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in East Providence, R.I., a rental arrangement that lasted a bit longer than anyone initially anticipated—16 years. Our ears are still ringing from the monthly fellowship meals in the echoic basement. That building was an enormous blessing to our church, but we’re happy to report that this past fall we purchased a beautiful building just six minutes from that former rental space. It’s nestled in the Riverside neighborhood of East Providence. Where’s the river that Riverside is supposedly beside? No idea. We’ll keep looking.

Over the years, our church has grown from fewer than 20, including children, to a congregation of 70. We’re a mix of homemakers, engineers, salespeople, soldiers, doctors, tradesmen, tradeswomen, refugees, scientists, service workers, artists, college students, good writers, sarcastic writers, and swarms of children who occasionally slide around on the tiled floor in their socks after service. For a time, we had our sermons translated into Swahili for our African brothers and sisters.

Our Sunday services are still simple and portable. In fact, during the summer, we often saunter down the road to sing psalms in the evening at a grassy bayside park. It’s kind of like Presbyterian busking. There’s no tipping or saxophones, but we do take requests. A typical Sunday morning service features prayer requests large and small, psalm singing good and loud, praying, preaching, giving, the Lord’s supper, benediction, coffee break, Sunday school, and then the sock sliding begins. Throughout the year, we also get together for book discussions, prayer meetings, classes, games, home repair efforts, camping trips, multi-church Reformation Day extravaganzas, and a monthly “Thirsty Thursday,” where we read through entire books of the Bible in one sitting (see article, May/June 2022).

Speaking of our new building—it’s big, and we want to use it well. In fact, if you’re looking for a way to pray for us, please aim your efforts there. It’s hard to know where to begin. It’s clear God has placed us in this neighborhood for a reason, and we want to be good stewards of the oppor-tunity, laying the foundation for decades more of ministry, bringing the gospel—the “welcome” and “yes” of Jesus—to the people of Riverside. Lord, let that river be found in us and flow through us, for your glory and your kingdom. Amen.