Enly $15,800 in damage protection. A concentrated effort of church projects, community donations and a number of estate contributions raised over $1,000, and by the next annual meeting in 1916, Alfred Sterns reported the debt had been reduced to $2,900.

There had been some preliminarydiscussion, initiated bythe Charlottetown Central Christian Church, of the possibility of church union with the Baptists, but it was not taken seriously. A few Baptists thought it might be an opportunity to expand, and a committee of the three deacons agreed to meet with a similar committee from Central Christian to at least look at possibilities.The Baptist deacons reported a month later that although there was no consensus that it would be a practical move, there was an agreement that a common ”Efficiency Committee" be appointed to ”...Seek improvement along all lines”. Baptist member J. Artemas Clark agreed to chair the new committee. After a few meetings with the ”common" committee, all possibilities had been discussed. When a vote was taken by the trustees and deacons of the Baptist Church, whether or not they should proceed further, there was no one in favor and the idea was dropped.

In May of 1916, the long search for a new pastor ended when Rev. Charles R. Freeman agreed to leave his pastorate in Canso, Nova Scotia, and take over the pulpit ofthe Charlottetown United Baptist Church, which he did on July 1st. Charles Freeman was also the Vice-President of the United Maritime Baptist Convention, and would assume the presidency the following year. He would hold the position for two years, complimenting his service to the Charlottetown church. When Charlottetown Baptist began selecting delegates to attend the 1916 Maritime Convention, we doubt if they would be enthused by the church offer to give each of them $5 to help defray expenses.

Apart from obtaining a new pastor and the discussion ofunion with Central Christian, 1916 is remembered as the year the church gained 39 new members. The total itself is not unique, but mainly due to the membership efforts of Pastor Freeman, 25 were introduced in the month of December alone. It is impossible to include the names of all new members who Joined Charlottetown Baptist over the years, through baptism or by letter, but considering this number joined in a one month period, their names will be noted:

BY Baptism - Harry Waugh, Leola Stewart,

V'lginia Bovyer, Winnifred Burns, Amy DIamond, Lena McLure, Bernice Norman, Cecil Jenkins, Mabel Callbeck, Edith Jenkins, Pearl Jones, Hilda Jones, Leigh Dingwell, Loma Johnson, M. Burns, Winnifred Smith, Hazel Lewis, Lena Acorn, Lillian Harris, Pearl StEWart, Ewen Jenkins and Annie Newson.

BY Letter - Edith Stems, D.J. Henderson and M’S- JOhn MacLeod

Pastor Freeman proved to be a hard W°rking and extremely organized leader, and early in 1917 he introduced an energetic new 5-Year Program, designed to improve

Rev. Charles R. Freeman

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