Milton United Baptist Church

Milton United Baptist Church

Milton United Baptist Church

Lunenburg - Queens Association

Nova Scotia

Queens County

292 Highway 8, Milton, NS

Active

Built 1957

A Baptist congregation at Milton can trace its roots back to 1821 when Rev. David Nutter, an itinerant missionary under appointment of the Baptist Association of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, visited Liverpool. He found considerable interest there and a congregation was soon organized. After Nutter left the area, however, the work declined until the little body became almost extinct. In April 1829, another pioneer Baptist preacher, Reverend Thomas Ansley, arrived on the scene and resurrected the ailing work. Ansley re-organized the congregation, added several new members, and led the group into fellowship with the association once more. It needs to be understood that the early references to Baptist efforts in Liverpool are, in fact, to Milton. The congregation organized as the Liverpool Baptist church and was centred in Milton. It was not until 1851 that a Baptist congregation in the town of Liverpool was established. Its charter members transfered their membership from Milton. Thereafter, for a number of years, Milton was known as the First Liverpool Baptist Church and the town body was the Second Liverpool Baptist Church. In 1834, the church was able to report to the association that the congregation was thriving. The congregation of the Milton United Baptist Church, as it became known, was tested in 1955 when their church building was reduced to ashes. Insurance was far from adequate to replace the building, but the determination to build a new church was very real for the members and Reverend Byron Cobham, who was the minister at the time. The first task was to find a suitable design that the congregation liked. The newly built Mulgrave Park Baptist Church in Halifax appealed to the Milton people very much. During the first year after the fire the basement was completed and covered, providing a meeting place during the winter of 1956 into 1957. Until the basement was ready for use, services were held in the Masonic Hall and in the hall of the Milton canoe and camera club. One interesting feature of the new church is the bell which was purchased from the United Church at Upper LaHave when the steeple there was destroyed by a hurricane. The old Milton church had a 1000-pound bell which had been cast in Boston and was brought to Milton by the ladies of the congregation in 1859. It had been cracked during the fire and the best of efforts failed to repair it. The new church was dedicated on May 5, 1957, in a service led by Cobham’s successor, Reverend Roy Gibbs. This church has a unique style with its octagonal spire on the steeple and classical embellishments on the front façade. One unique feature of this church is the large piece that looks like an addition to the front façade, supported by four classical columns.

Information is from M. Allen Gibson, “Churches by the Sea," Chronicle Herald, March 17, 1990.