the Charlotte Town Morning News and Semi Weekly Advertiser noted, ”the new Baptist Chapel, holding 400 to 500 persons, is a neat little edifice designed to be most appropriate as a religious object”. Based on the line drawing appearance of the building we would doubt this capacity estimate but as stated previously, the building may have appeared in the drawing much smaller than it actually was. The Charlotte Town Morning News and Semi Week/y Advertiser, on August 16, 1845, carried the following story:

The new Baptist Mission House will be opened for public worship on Sabbath the 24th inst. There will be services at 11 o’clock, 3 pm and again at half past 6 pm. The Rev. Dr. MacLay from New York, formerly from Scotland, and the Rev. Silas Rand will be present on the occasion. The Brethern and friends from the country are invited to attend. Collections will be taken at 75‘ BaptistChape/in Charlotte 70W”

each service in aid of the building. EMMS'm" "PM“

The first Baptist Church building in Charlotte Town opened on August 24, 1845, with three services that reportedly saw the sanctuary filled to capacity. The pews were not completed so the building was filled with borrowed chairs. A noted American Baptist preacher, Rev. Dr. MacLay preached at both the morning and evening services, while Elder John Knox, pastor of the Cross Roads, Lot 48 Baptist church, had the afternoon service. Collections for the three services were £12 /6 /6, or about $35 in today’s currency. it was great giving at that time, and was applied immediately to the debt. This was an era in time when people did not live on borrowed money, so the debt on their new church must have been a concern. Clerk’s notes, however, do not reflect this, except for the occasional reference to the fact that if they were doing God’s will, He would not let them down. Their faith, as always, was much greater than their concern. Another note of interest is that on the front page of the Morning News, reporting on the opening, the name ”Charlottetown” appears for the first time as one word. The cost of the morning paper is listed as 1 Penny.

With the new Baptist Chapel open, Rev. Benjamin Scott, the first and only pastor the Charlottetown Baptist Church had known, lost no time in making a personal decision to resign; to give more attention to some of the smaller churches in the rural areas of Prince Edward Island. He wanted to remain a circuit preacher but the weekly preaching demands in the growing Charlottetown church left the other pastorates he had established without adequate leadership. Scott had seen the new Mission House Rev. Benjamin Scott completed and felt it was time to move on. For a period of

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