Sep 27 2006
History
Emmanuel Church began as a child of America’s Industrial Revolution. Among the many textile mills established along the banks of the Blackstone River was one owned by a Mr. Mann, for whom the village of Manville was named. Seeing a need for “a sober Religion” in the community, Mr. Mann appealed to the RT. Rev. Alexander Griswold, Bishop of Rhode Island, to send a missionary. In 1835, the Reverend Ephraim Monroe arrived and became the first rector of Emmanuel Church, Manville.
During the 1950’s, nearby Cumberland, just across the Blackstone River, was in a period of rapid growth. The Diocese of Rhode Island established a new mission congregation in Cumberland Hill called The Church Of The Incarnation. Eventually these two congregations merged, and a church building was constructed on a tract of land that the Diocese purchased on Nate Whipple Highway. The combined mission was now known as Emmanuel Church.