Baptist Church in Canada

Canada Canada Church Records

The Baptist denomination has its roots in the Anabaptist movement which placed emphasis on a personal profession of faith by adults or persons at an age of discretion. Infant baptism was not practiced. The movement had a strong following in the United States and moved to Canada at an early period (before the War of 1812).

Baptist conventions in Atlantic Canada, and Ontario and Québec acted as umbrella organizations, but each congregation had power over its own affairs. Record keeping was never a strong point, except perhaps for minutes and other business records.

There were a great many kinds of Baptists and theological differences throughout the nineteenth century, often drifting across the border from the United States. However, it is unlikely that there was more than one Baptist church in most towns; congregations might change their organizational affiliation and individuals might leave a church over doctrinal differences but they may not have had an alternative place to worship. The large schism in Canadian Baptist history occurred in 1929 when many churches left the Convention of Ontario and Québec and formed the Fellowship Baptist organization.

The largest collection of Baptist archival materials is at:


 * Canadian Baptist Archives McMaster Divinity College (at McMaster University) 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1 Telephone: (905) 525-9140 ext. 23511

This site gives a good introduction to their collections, including material for Ontario, Québec and western Canada, assorted subsidiary organizations and the Plymouth Brethren.

Material for Atlantic Canada is located at:


 * Esther Clark Wright Archives or Baptist Historical Collection Vaughan Memorial Library Acadia University P.O. Box 4 Wolfville, Nova Scotia B4P 2R6 Telephone: (902) 585-1001 Email: archives@acadiau.ca