History of Our Church The following history of Paisley Baptist Church has been taken from a memorial book produced in 1977 by Aileen MacDermid.
The early settlers brought with them their own form of religion and often conducted worship services in their own homes. One of these groups, later to become known as the
Paisley Baptist Church, had its origin in 1857, when a group of believers, just north of Paisley, on the Elora Road, met for worship.
A missionary from the United States held a meeting in the Elora Road school when he advised the people gathered to commence holding prayer meetings in their homes. He agreed to give them assistance in getting started. The first meeting was held in the home of Mrs. Malcolm Galbraith. They continued to be held in the homes of the settlers for nearly a year.
They were visited quite frequently by a pioneer preacher of the Baptist faith - Rev. Neil Sinclair. He lived on a farm on the Elora Road near Burgoyne and conducted services at five different stations. He was known as one of the early pioneer missionaries of the Baptist Church. One day when he was preaching at one of his charges, he was visited by Mr. John MacPhee and several others from this little group from the Elora Road. They were anxious to have a church built and wished to be interviewed regarding baptism. As a result, Mr. MacPhee and seven others were baptized. Mr. MacPhee was chosen as the first deacon.
At this time, a little log church was built in the country on an acre of land donated by Mrs. Malcolm Galbraith from the corner of her farm. Rev. Neil Sinclair came regularly to conduct services and administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. A great revival took place. In the first fifteen months seventy-six believers were baptized, among them was Mrs. Galbraith, who was nearly seventy years of age. Along with her were her four sons and six daughters and three sons-in-law. In later years twenty to thirty of her grandchildren followed her example!
One of the members of this church was a young man - Mr. Donald MacNeill, who helped Rev. Sinclair in getting things started. He felt the call to go into the ministry. As a result, he went to Woodstock, the training centre for Baptist pastors at the time. The pioneers were faithful in their attendance, travelling by foot, or with teams of horses hitched to wagons in summer and sleighs in winter.
The little log church only served for a few short years when it was felt more people would be benefited by having a church in the village itself. When a permanent location was procured, the log church remained in its location with its windows boarded up until it was dismantled. Today no traces of this little pioneer church can be seen.
A meeting place in the village came in a very strange way. At this time a man by the name of Mr. Sergison kept a wayside inn, located on the site of the old creamery. On a cold wintry day he called at the home of Deacon MacPhee, begging him to spare him some hay for his starving horse - "Old Charlie". Mr. MacPhee had no hay to spare, but did not wish to refuse the "Tavern Keeper", as he called him, for the feed for his poorly nourished horse. He also refused payment for the feed. So Mr. Sergison, knowing this group was looking for a place in the village to hold their services, offered him the use of a hall over the inn to hold their meetings. He also agreed to furnish the tallow candles for lights - all free of charge. The Baptists accepted his offer, and for a short time, they held their services at this location. Later, they held services in the drill shed, located west of where the United Church stands today. All this time, Rev. Sinclair walked the nine miles, many times over bad roads, to keep Paisley open for the Baptists.
In 1869, they considered themselves strong enough to build a new church. The site where the church stands today was chosen - the land purchased from Mr. Peter Sinclair. In those days funds for building were scarce, but willing hands and stout hearts supplied the wants. The men who had helped the faith in Paisley now were engaged in drawing out logs from the bush, these being taken to Fisher's mill to be planed. When the timber was prepared, the men set to work. How cheerily must they have wielded axe and hammer in rearing the frame structure which formed the nucleus of the present building. On October 29th, 1869, the new church was opened. The first pastor was Rev. Donald MacNeill, who had just completed his course at Woodstock College. He was ordained by Dr. Fife.
This congregation started with forty-eight members, but in the space of six years had grown to three hundred and ten! Rev. MacNeill baptized twenty-two converts in one day and gave the right hand of fellowship to fifty-two communicants. He is reported to have baptized ninety-six candidates in one autumn. He remained as pastor from 1868-1878. In the building's early days it boasted of a gallery. However, in the course of time as the congregation diminished in number, it was no longer required, so it was torn down.
As the coffers began to fill, the building was bricked and made to look quite pretentious. The vestibule was built at the time the gallery was removed. To Mrs. Neil Munn of Elderslie goes the honour of supplying the pews. (These still remain in the church today). The church was first heated with large box stoves which burned wood, of which there was no scarcity at this time. The lights were coal-oil lamps mounted on brackets fastened to the window frames. In the summer months baptisms took place in the river adjoining the church. A small house beside the church was used as a dressing room. However, in winter months, the baptistry built under the platform was used, with water heated in the parsonage and carried to the church.
Our Pastors The following men have served as pastor of Paisley Baptist Church throughout its history.
Rev. Neil Sinclair (1857-1868)
Rev. Donald MacNeill (1868-1878)
Rev. Campbell (1878-1882)
Rev. J. C. MacDonald (1883-1888)
Rev. P. H. McEwan (1888-1892)
Rev. N. C. Vansickle (1892-1895)
Rev. W. H. Stevens (1895-1898)
Rev. J. J. Reeves (1898-1902)
Rev. J. O. O'Neill (1902-1907)
Rev. L. I. Steadman (1907-1910)
Rev. E. J. MacEwan (1910-1915)
Rev. M. Neilson (1915-1919)
Rev. H. C. Packman (1919-1923)
Rev. J. A. MacLuckie (1924-1927)
Rev. A. S. Parnell (1927-1929)
Rev. R. F. Sneyd (1929-1930)
Rev. L. E. Mason (1930-1935)
Rev. H. J. Baldson (1935-1936)
Rev. A. P. Wilson (1937-1941)
Rev. H. Chambers (1941-1949)
Rev. H. Holley (6 months, 1949)
Rev. J. N. Norton (1950-1960)
Rev. M. Dolan (1960-1963)
Rev. D. Ropp (1964-1967)
Rev. J. Ward (1967-1968)
Rev. E. Young (1968-1972)
Rev. I. Walker (1973-1977)
Mr. B. Porter (1977-1979)
Rev. B. Donst (1980-1984)
Mr. John Bell (1984-1991)
Mr. J. Dawson (1991-1994)
Rev. Richard McTavish (1994-1999)
Mr. B. Flett (10 months, 2000)
Mr. Jack Cook (2000-2008)
Mr. David T. E. S. Cooke (2008-2009)
Some Reminiscences The following sidebars in the history of our church were recorded in a bulletin celebrating our 100th anniversary.
On a nasty, blustery winter's day, with the weather the chief topic of conversation, one of the members met at the door a deacon, whose wife was far from well. So, naturally, he asked: "And how is Mrs. X this morning?" He was rather startled to hear the deacon say, with true Scottish idiom, "O aye, she's verra windy and disagreeable."
It was Sunday morning - a very special Sunday morning - the thirty-seventh anniversary of the church. Mr. Van Sickle was preaching the sermon and had chosen for his text "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." He asked the soul-searching question: "How many ministers and missionaries has this church sent out in thirty-seven years?" Good old Deacon MacPhee wasn't going to have aspersions cast upon his "idol", the Baptist Church, so he said right out: "But He said beginning at Jerusalem." Mr. Van Sickle came back with: "But He didn't say to stay at Jerusalem for thirty-seven years." The deacon was squelched.
The following story of Mr. and Mrs. Munn was written by Mrs. Russell Adolph and is recorded in Aileen MacDermid's 1977 memorial book.
Mr. and Mrs. Neil Munn emigrated from the island of Colonsay, Argylshire, Scotland. They came to Canada in 1853 settling first near Guelph before coming to Elderslie Township, near Gillies Hill, in 1855. It was in the early spring that Neil, his wife and young son Alex, and Neil's brother Donald set out on the journey to this area. The journey took several days and while fording the Saugeen River north of Paisley, one of the horses broke its leg. The horse had to be killed. This unfortunate accident caused the party to carry their luggage. Mrs. Munn carried her young son Alex in her arms the remainder of the journey on foot through unbroken forest to Lot 11, Concession 6, Elderslie Township. A camp was hurriedly erected with poles and hemlock boughs, and this was their dwelling for about two weeks until a log shanty was built. The only tools Mr. Munn used in its construction and in making the bedsteads, tables, and chairs for himself and the other settlers were an axe, auger, and adze. They cleared some ground to plant a few potatoes.
Things seemed to go quite well for the Munn family until very early in the morning of June 27, 1862, when Mr. Munn was making a brush fence around some crop that he had on another farm. After chopping a large tree, when he ran, as he thought, out of the way, he stumbled and fell. The large tree fell on him, crushing him to the ground. As he regained consciousness he heard the sound of his faithful dog "Watch" barking and frantically trying to pull the tree off. The dog then came and looked pitifully in his master's face. Mr. Munn was able to murmur, "Faithful dog, if only you could bring help." As if he understood, away Watch ran to the nearest house. He scratched and barked until the owner, Mr. Campbell, opened the door. He recognized Mr. Munn's dog, which pulled frantically at his trouser legs. Realizing something was wrong, he followed Watch, which led him to his master. Once again the dog tried to pull the tree off his master, but finding his effort fruitless, he ran away again - this time to arouse Mrs. Munn. He barked furiously, jumped and scratched at the door. On opening the door, she realized from the actions of the dog that something was wrong. She followed the dog, leaving her three week old infant in the care of the older children. Her foreboding became a reality when it was ascertained her husband had broken his back in three places. He was carried home and for the next fourteen years he remained an invalid, lovingly cared for by his wife and family of nine children. Mrs. Munn and her oldest son Alex had all the work to do, and it was a real struggle. However, with the blessings of God, her friends and kind neighbours, they managed until the children grew.
Mrs. Munn was a member of the Baptist Church in Paisley. When the new building was being built, contributions were being solicited from the members. Needless to say, the Munns had little cash to spare, so she and her son Alex went to their bush and cut sufficient trees to have pews made for the church. They are still being used today.
Mr. Munn died on April 1, 1876, and his wife on May 19, 1901. Both are buried in Rusk's Cemetery in Elderslie Township.
