REV. J. D. FREEMAN’S PASTORATE.
A call was extended to Rev. J. D. Freeman March 1rst, 1901. Brother Freeman accepted the call, and preached here for the first time on Sunday, April 21st. On the 18th of April a recognition service was held to welcome our new pastor to the Church and City. Deacon Simms on behalf of the Church extend a hearty welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Freeman. Rev. Ira Smith cordially welcomed him to the city on behalf of the Baptist Churches, and Rev. Dr. Read on behalf of the Evangelical Alliance. In responding, Mr. Freeman expressed his fraternal feelings towards the other denominations, which as he increased in experience he thought more and more highly of; while at the same time his attachment to his own grew stronger. It was his desire to give himself fully to the service of Christ, in the Church and in the community. At the close of his first Sunday service, the pastor baptized two young members.
In 1902 extensive repairs costing $2,700, were made to the walls of the Church, which put the building in first-class condition. This year the Roll of membership was revised with the following result: Resident Members 351, Non-Resident 102, Total 453.
In May, 1902, Mr. Freeman resigned and left in July, after a short pastorate of fifteen months.
A farewell social was held in the vestry July 3rd and an address presented from which we quote: “Especially were we impressed with the importance of your ministry in respect to preaching of the Gospel. Your interpretations of the truth has been marked by deep spiritual insight and fine powers of analysis, and the expression of it has been rich, full and strong—a constant inspiration and incentive to spiritual meditation and Christian living.” On the following Sunday the farewell sermon was preached from Phil. 3:14. After delivering an able and thoughtful discourse, Mr. Freeman said: “A farewell word. Let it be brief as befits the brevity of my ministry with you. Yet I cannot forget that I am saying ‘Good Bye’ tonight to the goodly fellowship of Baptists in these Maritime Provinces. They have been good to me and I love them. They have given me a large place to work among them, and I have been proud to occupy it to the best of my ability. I could have been happy in the thought of further years of service in the ranks of the ministry of these Provinces by the Sea.
“Eight of the best years of my life I have been permitted to work within a day’s journey of the place where I was born. No people can ever be quite so dear to me as these. And now, dear people of this Church, let me publicly thank you for all your co-operation and loving appreciation from the first day even until now.”
Rev John D. Freeman was born in Queens County, N. S. He took his B. A. at McMaster University and his M. A. at Acadia. He has been pastor at Guelph and Whitby, Ont.; at Fredericton, and Germain Street. N. B., at Bloor Street, Toronto; and is now pastor of a very old church at Leicester, England, being only the third pastor the church has had during the past one hundred years.
Since leaving the city Mr. Freeman has published two devotional works—“Life on the Uplands” and “Concerning the Christ.” These have had a large circulation and have been greatly prized for their purity of diction, elevated style, and spiritual insight.
