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PLAINVILLE

After spending more than two decades in a converted house and more than a year in rented space, members of Plainville Baptist Church are now in their permanent home.

The congregation has moved into its new church on South Street that is striking in its old New England looks and spacious enough for the future.

The members began worshipping there in early December, and are now preparing to officially dedicate the building in a special service this Sunday.

"This is what we have prayed for, that God would make this place a house of salvation," said Pastor David Meunier. "That's what our hope is, that God will use this to bring more people to know and love him." A ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially open the doors at 9 a.m. on Jan. 7, and visitors can then tour the building and enjoy refreshments until 10:30, when the dedication service begins first in song, then with a presentation on the history of the church and its former home, and on the year of construction that resulted in the $1.1 million new church.

The service also will feature talks by a guest speaker and by Meunier, who has been pastor of the Baptist church since 2000.

"I will speak on what we are all about, what we are here for," he said.

The congregation also will have a time of thanksgiving before the actual dedication of the building, and the closing songs, including one written by a church member especially for the occasion.

The service is open to the public, and the church seats about 200 with room for more.

What visitors will see is a bright, open worship space dominated by the white pulpit for preaching and teaching scripture, which at the core of the independent, Bible-centered conservative Christian church.

"The central focus of our ministry is the word," Meunier said. "It is the word that changes lives."

Just behind the pulpit is the baptistry, which is at the heart of Baptist belief, and above it is a mural depicting the cross and the Christian path. The mural was created by church member Leah Montgomery, a student at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

Even as the congregation held services at the Masonic Hall in neighboring North Attleboro for the year of construction, it was gaining members, Meunier said, and several baptisms already have been performed in the new church, with several more planned.

The main floor also has offices for Meunier and the church staff, and the lower level includes a large fellowship area, several classrooms, a library and kitchen. Construction took a bit longer than expected, and the elevator still has not been installed, but the church has been able to open with a temporary occupancy permit from the town, Meunier said. About $700,000 of the construction cost will be mortgaged, he said, while the rest has already been covered by donations from church members.

The church currently has 80-90 members, and more than that usually attend services. The congregation's goal, he said, is to grow to a certain size, then to plant new churches in other areas where some of the members reside.

Established in 1980

Plainville Baptist was established in 1980 as an independent church not tied to any denomination. Two years later, the congregation bought the rambling house on South Street that dated back to the 1800s.

The house was converted for church use and suited the congregation for several years, until the need for more space became obvious.

The house was torn down in the fall of 2005 and construction soon began on the new 45-by-90-foot church.

Meunier was a member of Plainville Baptist in the 1980s and later left his job as a nuclear engineer to enter the seminary and then become a pastor in Minnesota before being asked to return to Plainville as the pastor there.

The foundational truth for the congregation, he said, is that the Bible is the word of God from beginning to end. The Bible, he said, is "our foundation for living, and for how we conduct the church."

Sunday services are held at Plainville Baptist at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and adult and children's Bible studies are at 9 a.m. Bible study and various activities for youths and adults are also held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

The church can be reached at 508-695-3724.

GLORIA LaBOUNTY can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at glabounty@thesunchronicle.com.