Grace Memorial Baptist Church, Formerly George Street Baptist Church
Title
Church Name
Church Association
Province
County
Address
Status
Date
George St. Baptist Church built 1861, current building built
(Grace Memorial Baptist Church) 1965
Historical Information
In Fredericton, a handful of people had been meeting at one another’s homes for worship and study. Known as “Free Christian Baptists,” they were determined to establish a church—and they did just that, meeting on August 15, 1845, to organize the Fredericton Free Baptist Church.
They worked hard and by February of the next year, they had erected a small meeting house on the site which is currently 229 Brunswick Street. Unfortunately, their determination was short-lived. The first pastor had a circuit of churches and did not reside in the city, so Sunday worship services were not held regularly. When several members moved from the city, those who remained became discouraged, and for a time the church lost its visibility.
When the Rev. Ezekiel McLeod became the first full-time pastor in 1858, the church came into its own and began to experience steady growth. Soon there was a pressing need for a new house of worship.
Under Rev. McLeod’s leadership, in 1861 the congregation erected a much more spacious worship centre at the corner of George and York streets. For more than 100 years, generations of people worshipped at George Street Baptist Church, and the church became known in the city as the “friendly church on the corner.” This church was constructed in the Gothic Revival Style with some unique features, such as the crown situated on the top of the tower, and the long and slender windows on all sides of the structure. This church had a three-bay façade with a centrally placed steeple and doorway on the gable end. It had character defining and architecturally significant woodwork around the whole structure, such as corner pilaster boards replicating corner pillars.
By the 1960′s the George Street building had become inadequate to meet the needs of the congregation. Several options were explored to expand the property, but eventually plans turned to the construction of a new building. The current building was erected on the corner of Connaught and Northumberland Streets and was dedicated on February 14, 1965. Along with a new building, the church was given a new name: Grace Memorial Baptist Church, honouring the memory of Grace Matheson, a member of the church who served as a missionary in India for more than 44 years.
This church is typical for its time in terms of style. It is built in the mid-century-modern style, with a steeply pitched roof and the front entrance centrally placed on the gable end. On the gable end there is a large wall of windows that stretched up towards the peak of the roof. On the peak of the roof, there is a small saddle-back steeple positioned sideways in relation to the structure it sits on. The main body of the structure is covered in a lightly colored stone, and the roof in covered in black asphalt shingles. Both building materials are believed to be original to the structure.
Information provided by the church.
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