Cadis Baptist Church
Pennsylvania's Most Forgotten Church
Cadis Baptist Church traces its roots to 1834, when Free Will Baptists in Warren Township gathered as the First Free Will Baptist Church of Windham. The congregation moved into a purpose-built sanctuary in 1881, raising the white frame building along the ridge between Rome and Cadis that appears throughout township histories. Membership rolls documented in county directories show a small but steady fellowship supported by pastors trained at Practical Bible College and Baptist Bible College.
Newspaper coverage in The Evening Times chronicled the church’s revival meetings, missionary offerings, and Ladies Aid events through the early 1900s, underscoring how the sanctuary doubled as a community gathering place in rural Bradford County. Later ministers such as Richard Rizzi and Richard Curtis maintained those traditions, capturing photographs and local press that preserved the building’s role in township life even as attendance waned.
By the early 2000s the congregation could no longer sustain weekly services, and Cadis Baptist Church officially closed in March 2003. Former members continued to care for the property until time and weather took their toll, and the structure was finally removed in 2021. Today only photographs, aerial surveys, and personal remembrances - including tributes from longtime members like Blair Hanel - recall the simple meetinghouse that anchored the Cadis community for more than a century.
Historical images
