Our Story

The history of the North Wales Baptist Church goes back to 1835 when, as an outreach of the Montgomery Baptist Church, occasional preaching was held in the old Gwynedd stone school house. A Sunday school was established in 1851. On July 12, 1860 to was decided to organize the Gwynedd Baptist Church.

The Church accepted an offer of an acre of land from James Beam for a meeting house and graveyard on Allentown Rd near Wales Junction. The building was completed in May of 1861. The new converts were baptized in the Wissahickon Creek not far from the new church. Because of the distance from the town center, it was decided to build a new church in North Wales. On July 13, 1874 the corner stone was laid at the new church building at the corner of Shearer Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The Church also established mission stations in West Point and Lansdale. In 1885 the congregation supervised the building of a church at 3rd Street and North Broad Street in Lansdale. 38 members of the congregation were dismissed to organize the Lansdale Baptist Church.

In 1863 the name of the church in North Wales was changed from Gwynedd Baptist to North Wales Baptist. In 1905 the building was completely remodeled, including a new corner entrance, stone front, and a Sunday School building. In 1914 the parsonage was erected at the rear of the property and in 1929 another addition was made to the Sunday School.
In 1966 the congregation faced the decision of either moving to a new location where there would be more room for expansion or remain at the current location. It was decided to remain at the current location and four adjoining properties were purchased. These purchases allowed for future expansion and the addition of a small parking lot. The renovations which included an enlarged sanctuary and additional classrooms were completed in the 1970’s.

Thirty pastors have served the North Wales Baptist congregation in its history. During the past 59 years the church has been served by The Rev. J. Sydney Kane 1959-1984, The Rev. Christopher Gardner 1985-1993, The Rev Douglas Hargis 1996-2001, The Rev Dr. Leon E Runner 2005-2017, and the present pastor The Rev Dr. Rodney Ragwan was called to serve the congregation in July 2018.

The congregation of the North Wales Baptist Church is still very active in our mission work. We support a variety of missionaries through the American Baptist Churches. The North Wales Baptist Church has also become a sister church to a congregation in Cuba.