Wolfville Baptist Church, formerly The Baptist Church of Christ in Horton

In 1763, the Rev. Ebenezer Moulton gathered the Congregationalists and Baptists together in one church body. When there was a disagreement between him and the Congregationalists, he left the area. The church had been organized and covenanted in 1765 by Ebenezer Moulton and was re-covenanted on Oct. 29, 1778, years later. It is arguably the oldest continuing Baptist church in Canada.

The church has been known by different names at different times in its history: the Baptist Church of Christ in Horton, the Baptist Church of Horton, and the First Baptist Church atHorton. (Stephen DeBlois stated the real name was the First Horton Baptist Church), the Wolfville Baptist Church, and was commonly called the Wolfville United Baptist Church due to the formation of the United Baptist Convention of the Maritime (subsequently Atlantic) Provinces in 1905/06. However, in 2011 the church decided to revert to the use of its duly registered name, Wolfville Baptist Church.

The first meeting house exclusively owned by the Baptists was built c.1820 on the southwest corner of the Old Cemetery. The church replacing it, a large white frame church, was built on the south side of Main St, just east of Highland in 1859. Tom Shepherd, in his book, Historic Wolfville: Grand Pre and Countryside, recorded that the cornerstone for the present church was laid on August 31, 1911, by Miss Margaret Barss. The phrases ‘This house erected 1911’ and ‘Baptist Church organized 1778’ are wearing away by wind blowing branches of a bush across the face of the cornerstone.

This building is typical in terms of style for its time; it is a prime example of the Akron design, an architectural plan that congregations were making use of in the first part of the twentieth century featurnga symmetrical design with the steeple centrally placed on the gable end, in a style that was usually Gothic or Greek Revival, but this church was more Classical in design with an asymmetrical design. The church marks a transitional phase in Baptist church architecture around the turn of the twentieth century from a symmetrical design, usually in the Gothic Revival style, with a centrally placed steeple on the gable end, to an asymmetrical design with the steeple place usually on the side of the structure. Many of these churches with an asymmetrical design are also based on a modified “Akron Plan,” so named because it was first used in Akron, Ohio in 1867. This design abandoned the traditional long, straight, and narrow sanctuary with a central aisle in favor of a shallower and wider sanctuary with a sloping floor and pews which sweep in a half-circle and are broken into three sections. The purpose of these features was to enable everyone to see and hear clearly in a time when sound and projection systems were nonexistent. Also typical of the Akron style are sliding walls which allow the gallery to be closed off when not needed, and doors on the Sunday School rooms which completely open the front wall of the classroom. In a true Akron style Sunday School, the classes would open these doors completely so that the superintendent would be in full view to address the whole Sunday school. Doors were then closed for the class time. The sliding door could also be opened to enlarge the seating capacity of the sanctuary.

One of the most eye-catching features of this church is that it is made from brick. Very few Baptist churches from this time in Nova Scotia are made of brick or stone; the vast majority are made from locally sourced wood. The steeple of this church is situated on the corner of the front and right façade, with a large gothic shaped stain glass window on both facades. This church although built in an unsymmetrical design, resembles those built in the English Gothic style. One of the key features of this building, not found on any other in Nova Scotia, is the carved stone that mimics gargoyle drain spouts on each side of the steeple, often found on early English stone churches. The church is longer than it is wide, and sits on the corner of the road, in view of Acadia University. Another eye-catching feature of the church is the use of what appears to be sandstone blocks to add an architectural embellishment to the red brick.

Information provided by Churches of Kings County Nova Scotia and the church.