Our Heritage

Rice Memorial Baptist Church was named in memory of Luther Rice, who served as a missionary overseas with Adoniram Judson before returning to the United States to spend the rest of his life leading churches in cooperative efforts to support foreign missions. He also played a key role in establishing institutes of higher learning for pastors and missionaries.

The real beginning of Rice Memorial can be traced back to 1960, when a couple from neighboring Westborough, the Charltons, received Jesus Christ as their Savior while visiting Florida. They returned home and initiated a Bible Study group that met in private homes and was led by Reverend Elmer Sizemore.

After the Bible study, it was common to have a business meeting to discuss the operational aspects of starting a church. Interestingly, one of the first purchases was offering plates, followed by hymnals.

The fellowship began with about six people meeting in a home, and then gradually grew to 9, then 13, and so on.

Sunday services commenced in the Northborough Town Hall in 1961, with the group being served by Rev. Eugene Trawick and Roland Tietz from Screven Memorial Baptist Church in Portsmouth, NH, which was Rice’s sponsoring church. Services later relocated to the Grange Hall on School Street before the church eventually purchased property and broke ground.

Reverend Merwyn Borders was called to Northborough in the mid-1960s and served as Rice’s first full-time pastor. During his ministry, the church held services at the Northborough Grange Hall. As the congregation expanded, land was purchased on Southwest Cutoff (Route 20), and later on Lincoln Street. Groundbreaking ceremonies followed, and preparations were made to commence construction. Shortly after this time, Rev. Borders felt led by God to Vermont, where he became the Director of Missions.

The congregation continued their efforts to complete their first building and moved into these facilities in 1970. Rev. Jack West served as the interim pastor. The newly appointed Rev. Robert Lingle arrived in July 1971. A parsonage was built on Oak Avenue. In 1975, an education wing was added to the church. Pastor Lingle served for a little over ten years, departing in September 1981.

Rev. Arthur Kreidel served as pastor from March 1982 to August of the following year. Rev. David Milligan, who, along with his wife, served as the curator of the Luther Rice homesite, served as interim pastor until the arrival of Rev. J. V. Davis in September 1984.

In May 1988, ground was broken for a larger sanctuary and additional classrooms and office space. The original educational wing was remodeled into the preschool area. New kitchen facilities were added during 1990 and 1991.

Following Rev. Davis's move to Tennessee in 1990, Rev. Milligan again served as interim until Rev. Richard Drehmer assumed the pastorate in March 1991. He and his wife June served until the summer of 1996.

During these years, the church grew to almost 200 members, with well over 150 attending Sunday School and worship services regularly.

Rev. Ken Klingler served as the interim pastor until August 1997, when Rev. Weldon Moak was called as pastor. He served at Rice for two years before accepting a call to pastor a church in Louisiana.

Rev. Rafael Hernandez served as the interim pastor until the church called Rev. Stephen Bickel to serve as pastor at Rice Memorial, and he assumed the pastorate in September 2000. Rev. Bickel and his wife, Carolyn, served at Rice until August 2004 when Rev. Bickel accepted a music minister position in Florida.

Once again, Rev. Hernandez served as the interim pastor. In May 2005, Stephen Georgeson was called and confirmed as the new pastor of Rice Memorial. Stephen had been a member of Rice for thirteen years and accepted the call to the ministry and to serve as Pastor at Rice along with his wife, Mish. Rev. Hernandez mentored Stephen for ten months until March 2006 when Stephen was ordained into the gospel ministry and installed as Pastor of Rice Memorial Baptist Church, a position he holds to this day.

Rice Memorial has been active in funding and supporting mission churches, including Christ Baptist Church in Hopedale, North County Christian Fellowship in Leominster, Central Baptist Church in Rutland, Rice Korean Church in Northborough, and most recently, a Quechua Indian church in Northampton. Rice has always been a mission-minded church and generously supports domestic and international missions through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program.

Rice Memorial is one of the first five Southern Baptist Churches in New England, started by Screven Memorial Baptist Church in Portsmouth, NH. It has also played a role in starting several churches, including First Baptist Sudbury, which started Grace Baptist in Hudson, which in turn started Hope Chapel in Sterling.

The membership of Rice continues to anticipate God doing mighty things through the local church, and by His grace, they remain committed to being part of that work.