Providence Baptist Church, Cornerstone of the Nation

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Providence Baptist Church is a historical landmark located on the corner of Broad and Center Streets, Monrovia. It is the oldest church in Liberia, built in the 1890's. The brown building behind it is the new church built in the 1970s.

In 1821 Lot Carey, with colleagues and their families, sailed for Liberia on the ship Nautilus as the first African American missionaries from Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society, an organization Carey had helped to organize in 1815. In January 1822 Carey, his colleagues and their families arrived at Providence Island on the Mesurado River. Immediately on arrival they established the Providence Baptist Church on a high level area overlooking the Mesurado River to the north and the Atlantic to the south.

In 1839 the present stone sanctuary (the old church) was completed. It was in these sacred walls, the nation Liberia was born, and declared African's first independent nation, a beacon light of hope to African and the world. The first Legislative Assembly - The House of Representatives and the Senate was held in this sanctuary. Thus Providence has been revered as "The Cornerstone of the Nation." Providence was the first Christian Church established and founded in Liberia and one of the oldest on the African continent.

In 1989, the series of civil wars erupted resulting in massive numbers of death and displacement. The national economic, health, and educational were destroyed. Providence provided holistic care to thousands of displaced persons in the face of extreme danger. The church closed for six months, but at great risk served the Liberian people the rest of the time. The preachers often spoke prophetically to and acted against both governmental and rebel forces to provide care and comfort to those in need.