The Gospel is Central...
The gospel simply means, "Good news." It is the good news that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose from the dead." This is good news because without Jesus’ death and resurrection everyone would suffer eternal torment because of their sin. But God loved you so much that He gave His Son for you that if you place your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will have eternal life.
Why is the gospel at the center of who we are at Plainville Baptist Church?
God’s promise of eternal life through simply believing in Jesus Christ has great implications for our lives. God has removed from us the fear of death and hell. God has no condemnation for those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior. We have freedom and joy in our hearts because we are no longer under the wrath of God. Jesus took it all upon Himself on the cross. The sentence of judgment against us was removed and we have eternal life with God and a relationship with Him through faith.
The gospel is at the center of who we are because without it, we would still be at enmity with God. But because of it, God has reconciled to us through His Son, Jesus Christ and we want others to know this remarkable truth of the love of God.
Our Vision
Our vision for the church is simple:
Because God loves individuals and they matter to Him,
1) We want to see people rescued from their sin through the new birth by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2) We want to see people growing in that relationship with God.
So, we desire to make the following a reality with reliance upon God:
A.) We seek to teach our congregation through every possible means including one-on-one discipleship.
B.) We seek to reach our community by implementing biblical outreaches in a way that the congregation feels empowered to share the gospel with others.
C). We seek to replicate this gospel outreach in other communities through church planting both locally and globally.
Our History
The Plainville Baptist Church was first born in the heart of Harold F Crowell while a student at Liberty Baptist College in Lynchburg, Virginia in September 1976. He continued his education in preparation for the task of planting the new church, as he had three more years of college to complete.
In November 1978, Harold and his new bride, Pam, asked his father-in-law, Thomas Bonifield, a student at the Liberty Baptist Seminary, if he and his family would join him in starting the church in Plainville. Tom laid out some specific conditions and after they were met, he felt led of the Lord to say yes. Tom completed his seminary education and earning a Master of Divinity degree in the spring of 1979. Harold completed his Bachelor’s degree the following December.
The Bonifields moved to New England in August of 1979, living in a travel trailer in the KOA Campground. They purchased a home in Plainville with Harold and Pam moving in with them on Christmas Day staying until they acquired their first home the next summer.
The very first "service" of the Plainville Baptist Church was held by the Rev. Thomas Bonifield while they were still living in the KOA campground in November 1979 with one visitor, Mr. Charles "Chuck" Videto, their real estate broker. He is still a very active member in good standing to this day!
The first public service of the Plainville Baptist Church was held in the John Edward McNeill American Legion Post #217 on Sunday, January 13, 1980. We would prepare the hall for our services there with what we called our "Instant Church Kit," which consisted of a large Bible and table stand, 2 offering plates, and a banner we would drape over the Budweiser Beer clock on the wall… Oh, and a can of Lysol spray to freshen the air to dispel stale tobacco odor from the evening before!
With folding chairs, an electric reed organ and a box of donated hymnals, we started. We received some publicity in the local paper and we proceeded to knock on as many doors in town as we could, to leave literature and invite people out. By the time we held a charter service that summer, we secured our first 42 members!
Because the legion hall was previously rented to run a little Christmas store from mid-October thru Christmas, we had to find alternate quarters. The town of Plainville graciously permitted us to use the old Evelyn Wood Elementary School during these periods in 1980 and ’81.
Almost from the very beginning, we began to plead with God for a place of our own in Plainville. How He answered was supernatural!
The old Roger’s Nursing Home at 62 South Street had closed. It had become a day-care center, then apartment units, but these enterprises failed; primarily because of high heating costs during the 1970’s. Much of the building was said to have pre-dated the Civil War, and was a heat sieve!
After learning it was unoccupied, we inquired diligently about its availability. It was owned by a firm in Boston and they wanted a ridiculous amount of money for it, $80,000 or more. Because we had already been 'told’ of the Lord we would acquire the property for $64,000, we prayed about approaching the seller with this offer, not wanting to insult or offend. We made the offer of $64,000 determining that if they wanted more, we would simply not come back with a higher offer. To our amazement, without countering for more money, the owners accepted our bid! Hallelujah!
It was the summer of '82 then, and the initial interest rate on the mortgage was 18%! The monthly payment seemed like an astronomical sum at about $650 a month. Because we were a church and the property itself was not deemed to be sufficient collateral, it was also necessary for Pastors Tom and Harold to put their own homes up as collateral. It never occurred to us that we might fail and lose our homes! At that point, failure could not be an option!
During the first years windows, roofing and vinyl siding were replaced. Load-bearing walls were removed and steel beams added to create the "auditorium" such as it was, seating 92! And, the Lord be praised, we filled the place within a matter of a few years, going to two morning services for a time during the mid '80s.
Thomas E. Bonifield and Harold F Crowell co-pastored the Plainville Baptist Church from its inception in January 1980, until Harold resigned his position in January 1995. Dr. Bonifield carried on as the pastor until November 2000, when the church called David Meunier, Tom’s youngest daughter Lora’s husband, to assume the pastorate. Tom went on to serve as a missionary to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, until it was necessary for him to return home in the summer of 2006 for cancer treatment. He passed away in March 2011 at 83 years of age.
The original Roger’s Nursing Home building was demolished in 2005 to make way for the current structure. There have been many conversions and many baptisms over the course of the first 40 years of our history, and the present auditorium, seating nearly 200, is often filled to near capacity on Sunday mornings. The songs and hymns of worship, the voice of ardent prayer, and faithful preaching of the Word of God and the Gospel still ring out, calling Plainville and the surrounding communities to come to repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.