A LEGACY 0F FAITH

Chapter 20

Alpha, Pastor Kathy and Y2K

in 1995, to allow the seven church administrative boards more time to function properly, regular monthly meetings ofthecongregation were discontinued in favor offour quarterly meetings. Pastor Richard Coffin was a very organized, efficient leader who made things happen. This tested some board chairmen who out of habit tended to wait for things to happen. The long established First Baptist Sunday School continued to be a real blessing, and all departments were set up in age categories, as they had always been. The only difference was that the Sunday youth program was now called Church School and reported to a Board of Christian Education committee, under the leadership of the youth pastor. Gone was the Sunday School Superintendent, who in years past was always considered one of the most important offices in the church. This was another change with the intention of improving the overall Baptist Christian Education youth program, the largest teaching ministry in the church. An important but shorter term part of the Church School program was the annual Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS). Because of its exciting programs, it was attracting more registrations each year. In 1995, there were 90 children registered for the week long event.

Grace Billingsly was a long time member of First Baptist who lived behind the church on Euston Street, where the Inn on the Hill is located today. Grace was a pleasant and humorous lady who never married and worked all of her life at the Canadian Bank of Commerce. When Grace passed away a number of years ago, she left a large $262,000 bequest to First Baptist, which became known as the Grace Billingsly Trust. The stipulation in her will was that the annual interest earned was to be designated equally to the Canadian Baptist Federation, the Charlottetown Baptist minister’s salary and the Church Sunday School.

The passing of time and the many new community and school youth programs eroded the Boy Scout, Cub and Beaver troops in the city, to the point of disbanding. The only group still going at First Baptist was the 4th Charlottetown Venturers troop, and their existence was fueled by boys who had finished the scout

151

Dr. Richard Coffin