in the future. The record of these approved By—Laws, if noted or published, are assumed to have been lost in the 1888 fire. One interesting item on the ’Receipts’ side of the ledger is ”Amt. realized by card sales- $410”. If this item refers to the small cards that Pastor McDonald had printed and sold for 10 cents each, it would mean that he was able to sell 4,102 of them. No wonder, based on his undeniable faith, that he could persuade a congregation, with less than $100 in the bank, to build a $20,000 church!
D.G. McDonald appeared to have a stern demeanor and was much more a leader than a follower. He said exactly what he thought and some members, from time to time, appeared to challenge him on issues. This is very evident in November of 1881, when Pastor McDonald received a letter from Brother Johnathan Metcalf, the Charlottetown merchant who had been a church member for many years. He had chaired the committee initiating the first envelope use for collections and was also a past church clerk. Pastor McDonald had preached a sermon a few weeks before, talking openly about some wayward members who should, as he expressed it, be ”cut off”. Johnathan Metcalf, perhaps fiery himself or with a guilty conscience, had taken great exception to the reference. He demanded that Pastor McDonald identify the parties who he would ”cut off”. He also charged the pastor with widening a breach in the church, hurting the Baptist denomination and using powers that the Charlottetown Church at no time delegated to its minister. He demanded a general meeting to resolve this situation, stating again to Pastor McDonald, ”...This is the only way we can make known to you the distorted facts which some of the brethren are meditating. We seldom see you as you have become almost un-get-able.” Rev. McDonald passed the letter on to the deacons, who called Johnathan Metcalf into a meeting and asked him to identify the ”others” he referred to, and to apologize. He refused both and a general meeting was called. As expected, there was a full house, and when Brother Metcalf was given an opportunity to speak he orated for some time and ended by saying, ”...it is the Pastor who should be ”cut off”. The minutes reported he ”..utterly failed to substantiate anything”, and he would not identify the ”good number” of members who agreed with him. After two more private, fiery meetings, the officers of the Charlottetown Baptist Church unanimously supported their pastor. Since Johnathan Metcalf would not apologize, they withdrew his fellowship from the church, ”until he manifests a more Christ like spirit."A few days later, an article by a Mr. J.R. Calhoun appeared In the Summerside Journal Pioneer, suggesting that the Charlottetown Baptist Church was divided and a large number of members had become alienated from their pastor. The Church placed a letter in the Charlottetown papers suggesting that they had addressed the situation and, ”...It was found that there was no action in fact.” The media coverage did attract a lot of Island interest, and the Whole matter appears to have been an unnecessary incident. There is a possibility 0f some irony here, as Johnathan Metcalf had earlier purchased a brick fronted home at 174 Sydney Street, just around the corner from the church. There are Indications that this may have been the home purchased by Pastor McDonald while in Charlottetown, which was later left to the Church, but this has not been Confirmed. . ‘ ' The new church brought new enthusiasm, new members and some new Initiatives. Up to this point in time, all of the maintenance in church buildings had
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