church hired a new Assistant Pastor in September. Reverend Stewert Dockendorff came to First Baptist for a 6 month term, providing members with a three man ministerial team, consisting of a Senior Pastor, Assistant Pastor and a Minister of Youth and Education. in the fall of 1990, a special committee was established to work with other Baptist churches in the province to plan for their triennial gathering. They would be holding a week long national conference in Charlottetown, on July 3-7, 1991. The theme of the big convention was ”Born To Proclaim”, and many hundreds were scheduled to attend. First Baptist’s input was important because they would be hosting an entire nation of Baptists. The conference was an outstanding success, with a registration of 2,074, most of whom were visiting Prince Edward Island for the first time. Over 200 volunteers assisted, and 75% of them were from First Baptist, in Charlottetown.

The fund raising to purchase a baby grand piano was successful when one private donor contributed $15,000 and another over $3,000, to make the purchase a reality. The beautiful new $22,363 instrument, which cost more than the completed big octagonal church did in 1879, would be a classic addition to the chancel of the church and add greatly to the quality of music

in the sanctuary. Chris Austin joined the staff of First Baptist as the new Minister of Youth

and Christian Education. Chris, Michele and their four daughters arrived in August of 1991 from Derry, New Hampshire, with the moving assistance of church members Bill Dalziel and Ross Affleck. Pastor Austin had a natural dedication to youth programs and made an immediate impact on the life of the church. One of his first efforts was to come up with a name for the ever growing youth ministry. Among other suggestions, one of his group, Dennis Arsenault, suggested ”Solid Rock Youth”. It was a natural and as Pastor Austin said, "...lt expresses the fact that Jesus is the Solid Rock on which we can all stand.” With a new pastor and a new name, the Solid Rock Youth ministry attracted new members and expanded rapidly throughout the winter.

In September 1991, plans were under way for Baptist involvement with other island Protestant churches, in a Billy Graham Crusade. ”Mission '92” was slated for the Charlottetown Civic Centre, August 23-30, 1992. The ”Mission” would bring evangelists Dr. John Wesley White, Billy Graham’s son Franklin Graham, and crusade pianist Ted Cornell to Prince Edward Island.

Every so often in the history of the Charlottetown Baptist Church a conflict developed that tested the very strength of its organization, but every time the church came through stronger than before. Another developed in 1992, that before it was settled cost First Baptist two of its spiritual leaders and a dozen lay leaders from within the . membership. What happened was thought Church Sanctuary1990 to be the result of personality conflict,

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Dr. Wallacelorden