A Message from Pastor Don

Matthew 22:37-39 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything  I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:19-20

God has given the Church a great purpose which is to share His unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness with a hurting world, so as to bring about healing and wholeness within our community. And we do this walking with people Monday through Sunday, by working beside people, eating with people, banking with people, having coffee in the shops, hanging out at the water cooler. Jesus is in their lives through us. He is incarnate through us. And because He can be seen and touched, He can be received or rejected. The incarnation was God coming to us; in a similar way, incarnational Christianity brings Jesus to people.

By bringing Jesus to people we then have the privilege of making disciples, through bringing men and women, boys and girls, into a committed and growing love relationship with God, through His Son Jesus. I have to confess I am excited about what God is going to do through us as we follow His lead in the years to come.

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Don Dunn

Aenon Baptist Church

A Brief History

To the church in Chester Basin belongs the name, Aenon. It was at Aenon in the Holy land that John the Baptist first bore testimony to the Messiahship of Christ. It was there he was baptizing.

From early in the days of settlement of Chester Basin, there was a building situated where the church now stands, from which David Crandall distributed rations. Subsequently, he gave the place for use as a church, School, and temperance hall. The building was renovated and became known as Aenon Chapel.

The Chapel was replaced by the first Baptist Church in 1821. That place of worship is described as having had a wide aisle extended through the centre of the building and the seats went to the walls on both sides. There was a high pulpit with the choir seated to the right of the minister.

Rev. M . B . Whitman became the first resident minister at Aenon. Mr. Whitman led in the building of a parsonage which was completed in 1902 and from which all indebtedness had been paid off by 1905. The fourth minister to serve the congregation was Rev. Samuel A. Macdougall during whose term of service the present place of worship was built on the same property as had been occupied by its predecessor, the old being razed on October 3rd 1910. The cost of the new church was in the vicinity of $9000. The new building was dedicated on November 17th, 1911.

The bell was installed two years after the dedication. Lockland Croft, chairman of the bell Committee, had gone to Halifax to order a bell. When the Company learned that the bell was for the new church in Chester Basin, the manager said, "The bell is paid for! I’m donating it!"