Temple United Baptist Church

Temple United Baptist Church

Temple United Baptist Church

Yarmouth Association

Nova Scotia

Yarmouth County

5 Bond St, Yarmouth

former building Alternative Use, current building Active

Originally built 1870, current building built between 1955 & 1975

On the corner of Argyle and Williams St. a new church was erected in 1870, to meet the growing needs of the Baptist population. Within a year, the structure was sufficiently completed to permit meetings in the vestry and there, on February 27, 1871, 36 charter members covenanted together in a “church of the Baptist faith and order.” The first pastor, Reverend William H. Porter, a native of Port Medway. was a graduate of Acadia in 1861 and arenowned preacher and writer. He began his two-year ministry at Temple with services on June 26, 1871. James B Kinney and Samuel Brown were appointed deacons of the new congregation with the former serving also as clerk and organist. William Haley was the treasurer. One of the earliest enterprises of the body was the formation of a Sunday school which, with 108 persons in 13 classes, began its work on March 19, 1871. About the same time, James Sykes, the choir leader, organized a singing school. Singers paid two dollars each year in quarterly installments for the privilege of attending singing school. Construction of the church cost $15,412 of which, by the end of May 1872, $6,351 was still unpaid. Whereupon the finance committee resolved that “the church should not be formally opened for the worship of God until significant pledges were procured to fully cover the remaining debt.” The church was dedicated free of debt less than two months later on July 14, 1872. Originally, the building had a high steeple. The spire was removed during the ministry of Reverend W. B. Bezanson. Serving from 1915 to 1919, Mr. Bezanson was a war time pastor, and to save coal, it was often necessary during his tenure to worship in the vestry. The Second World War also affected the Temple church where Reverend A. H. Whitman was then the incumbent. Army and Air Force personnel from local stations found fellowship with the congregation and “gave good Christian service while our own boys were elsewhere.” The church congregation has added on to their facilities a lot over the years. In 1889 a parsonage for the pastor was built. In 1873, a pipe organ was installed and was replaced in 1946 by an electronic organ. The window above the door was given in 1904 in memory of his mother by Senator John Lovitt.

This original building, built in 1870 was sold by the congregation and is now privately owned and being made into apartments (2021). The building that the congregation currently uses was built between 1955 and 1975. This building formerly housed the Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church congregation. The building was sold to the Temple Baptist Church congregation in 2005/2006. Some of the original treasured items from their church were brought over to the present building (2021), such as the old communion plates, metal collection box and hymn holders. Outside of their new building there is a large bell that came from the Zion Baptist Church in Yarmouth County, NS.

The building built in the mid to late part of the twentieth century is atypical for its time, in terms of style and architectural detailing. This Temple Baptist Church is a large brick structure with large glass panes on the front façade. The front of the building is broken into three bays, large brick walls on either side, with an indented entranceway in the centre with glass above it and ornamental steel near the peak. On either side of the building there are two pillar like dormers that have supports jutting out from the ground level. The architectural style and the use of a steeple pitched roof with the front entrance on the gable end is typical for its time.

Information from the church and M. Allen Gibson, “Churches by the Sea,” Chronicle Herald, March 16, 1966.