Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church

Welcome to Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church

At Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church, we support people as they seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are an American Baptist Church in partnerships with American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island and American Baptist Churches, USA. We are ecumenically minded and seek opportunities for worship and service with other community churches.

Our church welcomes diverse families. We provide for Christian Education (Sunday School) for school aged children, as well as a nursery for pre-school children during worship services.

A very important part of our worship at Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church is our music program. We have been blessed with a strong music ministry consisting of a Sanctuary Choir, Hand bell Choir, two organists, and many musically talented members who readily share their gifts during the worship services throughout the year.

At the conclusion of worship every Sunday all are invited to the fellowship hall to join in conversation and refreshments.

Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church is located at 229 Wilbur Avenue in Cranston. We warmly invite you to worship with us on a Sunday morning at 9:30 am. Until then, may our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you!

Annual Church Life Report

Annual Church Life Report 2017-2018
Report is available to download here:
2017-2018 Annual Church Life Report full[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [346.2 KB]

Movie Night Under The Stars

Family Bingo Night

A Message From Pastor Barbara

Summer 2018

As you know, in the summer we combine the July/August newsletter into one mailing as things slow down in the summer months for everyone.

Summertime gives us a chance to regroup, catch our breath, decompress, and rest.

But, resting seems to go against our grain. Resting is often perceived as "idleness," "wastefulness," and a "non- productive" use of our time. If you want to stay afloat, get ahead, and keep your edge, there is not a lot of room for "time off," "a hiatus" or "down time." You have to keep moving!

In Mark 4:33 we see Jesus set out in a creaky, leaky boat, letting other people navigate. Then he happily curls up and is sound asleep at the drop of the oar before they've hardly drifted away from shore. There is no suggestion in Jesus’ attitude or behavior that He should be doing anything else at that time. It is simply time to rest.

This effortless ability to sleep and rest is indicative of Jesus' divinity. Jesus can relax in the sure knowledge that there is no "power or principality" that can ultimately undo Him.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to rest like Jesus?

What about those of us who have difficulty shutting out the world and shutting down our minds?

Perhaps, it’s time for us to learn from Jesus. Like Jesus snoozing in the storm, we need to trust in the power of God’s divinity and have faith that “If God is for us, who can be against us?” “God has put all things in subjection under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:27).

Secondly, we ought to remember that we are beloved children of a Heavenly Parent who knows what we need. Good parents know that their children need to rest and sleep so that they can grow and be healthy. Good parents enforce "bedtime" even if it is through the use of bedtime stories, favorite songs, snuggly times, and special prayers.

In the same way, we need to recognize that resting is a God-ordained command. At the conclusion of Creation, God "rested," and as a gift to the human beings God has created, we are invited to share in this rest.

Jesus knew that it was important to disengage so He could later be fully engaged and just look at what Jesus accomplished after He took a nap!

As the summer moves on, let us follow Jesus’ example and take time to rest and be renewed.

Gracefully yours,

Pastor Barbara