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them, where they remained “in harmony” until the church union vote of 1925.58

CHURCH UNION

nion between the Presbyterian Church and Methodist

Church in Lot 16 actually happened on June 6, 1921. Both church congregations were experiencing declining mem- bership and realized their best hope for a vibrant church was to join together. Since the later years of the nineteenth cen- tury, the Methodists in Lot 16 always had a good relationship with the Presbyterians and simply “threw in” their lot with them. The Lot 16 Methodists were a people of faith. Their stock was in the word, not the building. When their small numbers made it difficult to maintain the church, they estab- lished a clear course of direction. In joining the Presbyterians, they were confident in every way of their contribution to this community of faith and the eventual actuality of Church Union.

The difficulty in maintaining and administering the east— ern part of the Bideford Circuit no doubt contributed to the decision. The Presbyterian Church was selected as the build- ing of worship and the Methodist clergy quietly withdrew. The union vote of 1925 saw the Lot 16 Presbyterian Church join the United Church of Canada with no real debate around the issue. While they made no protest, some Presbyterians in Lot 16 attended the United Church without ever joining, and died calling themselves devout Presbyterians.

For the congregation of Lot 14, the union vote brought sor- row and division to the community. The vote of 1925 was to remain Presbyterian. The minister, Rev. J. C. Martin, who supported union, called for another vote. The elders deemed this illegal and two years later the Supreme Court ruled the Lot 14 church building belonged to the Presbyterian Church and the remaining congregation joined with the Tyne Valley Presbyterian Church.59 Those families who left in favour of the United Church erected a new building on the other side of the road.

Gone was the long association between the Presbyterian

Lor16 UNITED CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE