Church of the Good Shepherd (Pawtucket, R.I.)

The Church of the Good Shepherd was established in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1868 in a former volunteer firehouse on Carnation Street. It was begun primarily to serve as a Sunday school, services followed after school for the benefit of students, teachers and the elderly. The school was founded on November 1, 1868 with eighteen students on its opening day by Silas H. Woodcock, Frederic Merris, Rebecca Yates, and Rev. Storrs O. Seymour, the rector of Trinity Church . Over the course of the next year, a parish library was established and the population of the school increased to nine teachers and sixty students. Wednesday evening services were added beginning on February 10, 1869. The attendance at the school and services continued to increase over the next year, and it was felt that a chapel was needed in order for the parish to expand further. To serve this purpose, a lot on the corner of Broadway and Woodbine Streets was purchased in 1869-1870 from parishioner Martha Sidebottom .

Ground was broken for the chapel on March 9, 1872. The first baptism in the new chapel, a small plain building with heavy benches instead of pews, took place on the day of the opening service, June 23, 1872. The chapel was under the direction of Rev. Seymour until mid 1872 when Rev. George A. Coggshall took over missionary duties from Rev. Storrs O. Seymour. Coggshall left the parish in 1874 and later converted to Roman Catholicism. Following Coggshall, Rev. Benjamin Eastwood became rector in 1874, on the first Sunday following Easter. At this time, regular Sunday and weekday services were established.

...