One Hundred Years with the Baptists of Amherst, N. S. 1810 TO 1910 A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE CENTENARY PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, AMHERST, N. S. HISTORICAL SKETCH BY REV. D. A. STEELE, D. D. AND MRS. GRACE McLEOD ROGERS. THIS SHORT HISTORY of the AMHERST BAPTIST CHURCH is dedicated to those who shall continue the work begun by their fathers. Foreword To History of The Amherst Baptist Church, Amherst, N. S. The twin ordinances—The only ones left in His church by Her Lord— will shew what a Baptist church stands for, and our method of regarding them will explain our existence. I. Baptism is a symbol of grace, not an infallible passport to the kingdom of God. It is the answer of a good conscience toward God; it signifies the cleansing from sin, which can only be accomplished by the blood of Jesus Christ This ordinance is further described as a type of the resurrection from sin to a life of holiness, “that as Christ was raised from the dead, we also might walk in newness of life.” It is therefore an ordinance for the person believing in the Christ. He thus expresses faith in Him. It is not held by us as necessary to salvation; consequently we do not baptize the dying, or those who by reason of sickness or of age, cannot comply with the command. II. The Lord’s Supper we also consider as a clear symbol of Christ’s giving Himself up to the death of a cross for us, and the necessity of appropriating Him to ourselves by faith. We do not regard this ordinance as one that places a person in a safe position, regardless of a living faith in Jesus Christ. Eternal life is granted because a man partakes of Him, as He declares: “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life.” It is not the symbol that saves, but the Christ Himself. We do not believe therefore that it is necessary to give the symbol as a sacrament to the dying. We regard the last supper as a memorial of our dying Lord to be observed, as at the institution of the ordinance, by the church when met together. D. A. S. INTRODUCTION. One Hundred Years of History! how much it means! what changes have taken place in all departments of life, Political, Commercial, Social, and Religious! How much it includes! How much it reveals! To treat of these changes many books would have be written. The Committee in charge of this brief History will not attempt it. Readers will have to allow their imaginations to have sway as they read, and many events in the life of the Church and town will be recalled to their memory. For the History of the First Baptist Church has been one that has meant self sacrifice on the part of noble men and women. There have been trying times—times when those at the helm hardly dared look backward at the little accomplished, or forward to its future labors for fear of becoming utterly discouraged at the magnitude of the work revealed.