Newport Baptist Church

Baptist work in Newport Township, Hants County, dates from the early 1760s when the Dimock Family of Mansfield, Connecticut, emigrated to the Pisiquid (Avon) River region.  Soon the Dimock family was known to have held religious meetings in their home near present-day Scotch Village on lands previously occupied by Acadians. Congregations sprang forth at Newport and Falmouth from a mixture of Baptists and Congregationalists, influenced in the 1770s by the evangelist Henry Alline. In 1771 it was recorded that Shubael the elder, who was recently baptized, had a substantial congregation in his care at Newport. Daniel Dimock was ordained to the gospel ministry at Newport in October 1776. For several years the father and son shared preaching responsibilities for Newport and Falmouth.

A little over twenty years later, a group of Baptist stalwarts who lived in the Newport area but were members of the Baptist church in Chester on the South Shore under the care of Joseph Dimock (son of Daniel), were dismissed by that congregation to form a separate body. The date was July, 1799 and the prime mover of the organizing council was Joseph Crandall of New Brunswick. The Baptist church in Chester is thus considered the parent church of Newport Baptist Church, Scotch Village.

The early pastors who served intermittently at Newport were from Horton, Cornwallis, Chester, and Falmouth. They included Shubael Dimock, Daniel Dimock, William Delaney, William Smith, Edward Manning, and Theodore S. Harding.  The Association records for 1818 indicate that the churches of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island met at Newport, “coming by trail, bridle path, boat, and canoe.” The little band of believers at Newport prospered and erected a meetinghouse on the crest of Baker’s Hill overlooking the Kennetcook River, perhaps as early as 1777. A subsequent meetinghouse was built on the same site in 1852 and it burned in 1870. After an act of reunion with the Newport, West Baptist Church in the 1860s, in the Spring of 1875 the combined members resolved to build a new church building. It was erected on the present site adjacent to the Scotch Village School (now a community center) where it stands today (2022), with its adjacent gazebo and parsonage.

The central location in Scotch Village became an epicentre for the widespread congregation. Because members lived at distances up to 15 miles from the village, it was often difficult to come together regularly. This resulted in a creative plan to hold services at several preaching places during a month. These included from time to time, Rawdon, Ashdale, Summerville, Walton, Poplar Grove, Avondale, Kennetcook, North River Road, Belmont, Woodville, Mosherville, Brooklyn, and Ellershouse. Some of these efforts produced sustained meetings that became mission congregations: Rawdon, Kempt Shore, Cogmagun, and Upper Burlington. A cordial relationship existed for many years with the Campbellites (Christian Church) at West Gore, with whom a pastor was shared from 1947-1982. Typically, pastors were students, drawn from the School of Theology at Acadia University, who did an internship at Newport and then moved on after 2-3 years. Pastors lived in church parsonages, the oldest of which stood on the banks of the Kennetcook River and later next to the church.

The design of this church features sets of three, such as the three-bay façade on the gable end, and the three sets of Gothic windows on each side of the church. Some of the most eye-catching features of this church that remain today are the three Gothic/Victorian hand carved architectural embellishments located on the peak and eaves of the front façade. Along with this is the very small open cage belltower, which is classical in design, with its four pilasters, and contains a small bell. The tracery mouldings located along the roof brow are unique to this building. The front one-story entranceway appears to be original to this building’s construction. The architectural detailings around the centrally placed entranceway on the gable end are also a feature found only on this building.  Once inside the vestibule, one must choose to enter the front of the sanctuary through a door to the right or to the left.  An addition to the back of the sanctuary provided space for a washroom, a meeting room, a rear entrance, a minister’s office, and access to the basement meeting room and kitchen below the new addition and the sanctuary.  The basement is also accessible via a narrow stairway to the left of the main doorway.

Information provided by the church and Ron Baxter.