Built: 1872
“On this 23 day of August of 1872 we the undersigned petition The Canadian Christian Conference that we have at present a chapel in course erection which according to contract is to be completed by the 15th day of October next.”
This was the quote from the petition that community members around the northern areas of Whitchurch-Stouffville to East Gwillimbury sent forward to the Canadian Christian Conference to erect a new church because of hardship to attend the nearest Christian Church more than three miles away in the Hamlet of Bloomington.
November of that same year the Churchill Christian Church opened its doors for the first time to prayer. This was truly an accomplishment of exemplary community efforts. Land, materials and time were all donated by residents from the area
This community involvement and spirit has never changed since that petition was signed in 1872. Community members have seen the ups and downs of small rural churches that have put pressure on the survival of the Churchill Church. Those same residents have helped to continue the strong sense of community spirit which has protected the Church from being sold or moved from its original site. The building is a monument to dedication and commitment to faith and church.
Visitors to the Church will be able to witness some of this community effort still prevalent within the walls and around the grounds surrounding the church. The Churchill Church, now a Baptist Church, provides an excellent example of a rural church built in a much vernacularized Gothic revival style. Originally rectangular in plan, the Churchill Baptist Church was a hall church, directed in a liturgical siting with an attached narthex on the front. Later an addition on the northwest corner, resulting in an irregular plan, is providing what is now the main entrance.
The windows are semicircular with rectangular, double hung sashes and blind semi-circle transoms. The Board and Batten Siding of the original building show a rounded in profile batten and join an arcaded frieze. The joint between the battens and arcaded frieze is accented by the insertion of a plain block entablature. These are just a few of the historical architectural features that have endured the test of time.
The Baptist Church at Churchill (formerly Churchill Christian Church) is an example of products of faith, community and isolation. A congregation that came together to build the church in 1872 has endured the many pressures of the 20th Century and is still strong and thriving in the small rural Hamlet of Churchill
WELCOME TO CHURCHILL BAPTIST CHURCH
