Tour offers opportunities to peek inside churches

By Pat Martin



Have you ever looked at the churches in our area and wanted to take a peek inside? Well, now you can, thanks to the Canning and Area Interchurch Council and the Canning Fieldwood Heritage Society (CFHS) who have been diligently organizing the Churches of Blomidon Country Tour.

The tour will take place Sunday, Aug. 17, from 1 to 4 p.m. with the expectation that the churches, the social heart and pride of each community, will provide visitors with a wealth of historical and spiritual inspiration – and light refreshments.

“We welcome you to the churches we love and in which we worship,” said Wilma Gibson of the CFHS.

Visitors will admire the luminous beauty of stained glass windows, chandeliers and lamps; view large cast bells that send their tones across the Cornwallis area each Sunday, and the towers and steeples that house them; see original pipe organs and artifacts; awe at the intricacies of the religious statues; appreciate the attractive hand polished wooden pulpits and pews; and gaze at the historic architecture that radiates with country charm.

They will visit beautiful memorial gardens or search out descendants by way of records books and adjacent cemeteries. Or they will just stop and chat with a guide, or listen to music and enjoy refreshments, while appreciating the significance each church has with their communities.

Thirteen participating churches will open their doors and hearts and welcome everyone to join them with stories and displays specific to each church during the tour.

Will display history

St. Lawrence Roman Catholic, Highway 358 built in the 1960’s when Dutch Catholic immigrants came to the area has a warm, bright and open interior. Joe Foy welcomes all with history displays.

Trinity United, Main Street and Chapel Road, Canning built in 1909 has stained glass windows and is joined with Kingsport becoming one Cornwallis Pastoral Charge. Lady Borden and Sir Frederick’s monuments are in the Hillaton Cemetery, owned and maintained by the church. Flora Brown welcomes everyone.

Canning United Baptist, 223 North Avenue, Canning began in 1909. In 1906, the 5th Cornwallis Baptist, Canning and the Free Baptist, Habitant formed the United Baptist. The 5th Cornwallis Baptist, on the post office site was purchased by the Government and moved becoming the Canning Armouries, then the Royal Canadian Legion (Habitant Branch). Shirley Ells welcomes all.

West Hall’s Harbour Baptist, 885 West Hall’s Harbour Road is 163 years old and holds monthly Gospel Sings. The sanctuary is mainly original including a 160-year-old kerosene chandelier and restored pump organ used weekly. The associated 118-year-old East Hall’s Harbour Church (Christian Adventist to 1984) is toured by request. David Cumby welcomes all.

First Cornwallis Baptist, Middle Dyke and Route 341, Upper Canard -- founded in 1807, but dates back to 1795 with Rev. Edward Manning -- was the First Cornwallis built in 1910, the mother of eight congregations. Fire destroyed the original in 1873, but the 1867 Warren pipe organ is used regularly. Historical artifacts and documents and the recent 200th anniversary book can be viewed. Pastor Dr. Peter Lohnes welcomes everyone.

Photographers’ favourite

Canard United, 1315 Highway 341, Upper Canard has a multi-spired steeple, a favourite amongst photographers and is one of the oldest church buildings in the area, celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. The installation of an organ was approved in 1876. Betty Rockwell and guides in period costumes, and refreshments, await visitors.

Scott’s Bay Union Church, Highway 358, built in 1856 was free to all ministers, as it is today. The church has the original stone/rock foundation, carrying timbers and pews and wooden floorboards. Additional cemetery land was purchased in 1919 and extensive renovations were completed in 1958. Gwen Huntley welcomes all with historical information and refreshments.

“I would like to thank the society and council for organizing the upcoming church tour,” Huntley said. “I am pleased to be involved in the tour of the Union Church of Scott’s Bay. I grew up in our church and have always taken an active part in it.”

St. Thomas Anglican, 10778 Pier Road, Route 221, Kingsport, was consecrated in 1906 and was a former carpenter’s shop rebuilt and converted on donated land by the rector.

A shed to stable the rector’s horse was located where the altar now stands. Stained glass windows and icons enhance the church and since 2000, yearly “mass on the grass” is held with a picnic on the manicured lawns and gardens. Golda Kelly welcomes all.

Pereau Baptist, 841 Pereau Road, the third daughter of the Cornwallis (Canard) United Baptist, established in 1862 was renewed in 1844, 1862, and in 1898. View the stained glass windows, Cherry Hall, the digital Rogers Organ, and pictures from the past. Emerson Thorpe welcomes everyone.

Established in 1918

Centreville Baptist, 870 Murray Drive, established in 1918, is the first Baptist Church in Centreville and is a branch of the First Cornwallis Church meeting originally in an old school house until the church was built in 1920 on donated land. A new building was completed in 1997 on additionally donated land. Jeff Newbery welcomes all.

Valley Cornerstone Assembly, Route 358, just north of Canard Street is an affiliate congregation of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada with roots dating back to the Great Depression. Meeting in individual homes until a building in Pereau was erected on donated land in 1930. David Elliott welcomes all.

Saint Michael and All Angels Anglican, 9741 Main Street, Canning, is one of three comprising the Parish of Cornwallis established in 1760 by New England Planters. The church, initially located on Sir Frederick Borden’s property, was moved across the street to its present site in1900. Unusual features include a bell from a steam locomotive donated by the Cornwallis Valley Railway and a St. Michael statue brought back from France by Coun. Jim Taylor and his wife Peggy. Dr. Eric Jackson welcomes everyone with music and refreshments.

Emmanuel United, 28 Main Street, Kingsport, is one of two churches in the Kingsport area by the sea. The congregation first met in homes in1760, and then moved to Kingsport from Habitant in 1889 on donated land by shipbuilder Ebenezer Cox. Linda Kelly welcomes all.

The Borden Wharf Lighthouse, Main Street, Canning will also open during the tour so visitors can watch an amateur radio station in operation. Helen (CFHS director) and Fred Archibald welcome all.

Brochures are available at the Wolfville and Kentville tourist bureaus, Randall House and the Kings County museums, Canning Heritage Centre, and at each participating church.

“Churches are expressions of human beings, past and present,” Gibson added. “Many of us were baptized, confirmed, and married in these churches and will likely be buried from them. They are a part of our collective memories.”

Contact fieldwood@ns.sympatico.ca or visit the website fieldwoodhs.ednet.ns.ca