This church began when a missionary invited people interested in beginning a Southern Baptist church to meet in the YMCA in New London in March of 1961. At first only a few attended, but the small congregation grew rather rapidly. In November of that year, Pleasant Valley Baptist Church held it's constitution service with 48 charter members and James E. Schneider, Sr. as the pastor. As the church outgrew the space in the YMCA, services were relocated to Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Groton. Ground was broken and our original building was dedicated in 1965 at the corner of Starr Hill Road and Grove Avenue in Groton.

Several staff members and associate pastors have come and gone over the years as the church grew, but Pastor Schneider has been there through all the years. He has been there through every change and challenge that our church has ever faced.

In 1996, Pastor Schneider led us in weathering the greatest change yet: as decision to leave our denominational ties to the Southern Baptist Convention. This decision was largely a result of our church being deeply impacted by the sovereign move of God in Toronto, Canada. The move of Holy Spirit that we began to see evident in our church could not be reconciled with our denominational statements. Therefore, shortly after celebrating our 35th anniversary as a church, we left the convention and changed our name to "Pleasant Valley Community of Prayer & Praise".

We are now a non-denominational church fully committed to seeking the will of the Lord and are completely open to the working of the Holy Spirit. We are following as simply stated, yet profoundly relevant principle: to hear and obey the Word of the Lord.