TO GOD BE THE GLORY 
     
    
   
   
    
     “a revival blaze of evangelism" in 1874, the church 
     
     was enlarged in 1877 to provide space for two hun— 
     
     dred additional adherents. The finances for the expan— 
     
     sion in 1877 were procured by having each family pay 
     
     for its pew. 
     
    

    
     The expansion of protestant churches was a na— 
     
     tional phenomenon. In 1875 the two Presbyterian 
     
     Churches in the Maritimes (Lower Provinces) were 
     
     united with the two Presbyterian Churches in the Up- 
     
     per Provinces to form the Presbyterian Church in 
     
     Canada. In actual fact, the move toward union of sev— 
     
     eral Protestant churches had begun during the last 
     
     quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1874 several 
     
     Methodist Churches had combined to form the Meth- 
     
     odist Church of Canada. Ten years later the Bible Chris- 
     
     tian Church and other affiliated congregations united 
     
     with the Methodist Church of Canada. The stage was 
     
     being set for the greater union to come in 1925. 
     
    

    
     The growth of Summerside was no less dramatic. 
     
     By 1875 the town had 2 000 residents, eight churches, 
     
     five schools, two weekly newspapers, and two banks. 
     
    

    
     An unfortunate incident occurred in 1881 when 
     
     the early Summerside Presbyterian Church records 
     
     were destroyed on the first P. E. I. icebreaker, North- 
     
     ern Light, which plied between Georgetown, P. E. I. 
     
     and Pictou, N. S. The steamship, caught in an ice jam, 
     
     was held up in Northumberland Strait for a month. 
     
     Heating fuel gradually became exhausted and it be— 
     
     came necessary to burn a portion of the cargo, includ— 
     
     ing all books and papers. Among the papers consumed 
     
     in the fire were the valuable church documents in pos- 
     
     session of Rev. Dr. MacKay who was returning from 
     
    
   
   
    
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