After laboring in the ministry for many years, the founding pastor of Grace Community Baptist Church, Sherwood Becker, was called in the 1980s to pastor a Baptist church in Massachusetts. During his time there, he proclaimed and explained the Scriptures in truth as articulated in the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. In time, some within the church concluded that these doctrines were not what they desired. However, by God's goodness, other members came to embrace these biblical truths, and as a result, Grace Community Baptist Church (GCBC) was established in 1987 in East Mansfield, Massachusetts, as a Reformed Baptist congregation.

After outgrowing its East Mansfield location, the church relocated to rented facilities in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

In 2003, Pastor Jack Buckley joined the eldership and has faithfully served as a bi-vocational elder ever since. In 2007, Pastors Becker and Buckley invited Pastor Rob Ventura to candidate for the position of full-time pastor. Several months later, the congregation called him to serve, and he has been a devoted shepherd of the church ever since. After serving as pastor of GCBC for approximately twenty years, Pastor Becker was diagnosed with cancer, stepped aside from active pastoral ministry, and then went to be with the Lord in 2009.

In 2011, the Lord graciously provided our building in North Providence, Rhode Island.

In 2025, the church called Victor Claudio to labor alongside Pastors Buckley and Ventura as a fellow elder. Together, the three elders enjoy sweet fellowship and are grateful for the privilege of shepherding such a loving, biblical, Christ-centered, multicultural, and multigenerational congregation. The church is also blessed by two faithful deacons, Bob Tetrault and Nate Blaser, who have served the brethren wholeheartedly for years.

Thank you for your interest in our church’s history. We warmly invite you to come and worship our great God together with us.