Keeping the faith for 175 years

Lana Talbot stands in front of Sandwich First Baptist Church, a national historic site.

By Felicia Patterson

Sandwich First Baptist Church was established to unite and offer aid to refugee blacks in the early 1800s and still provides assistance to the community today.

According to the church’s website, Sandwich First Baptist Church is the oldest active black church in Windsor. It was developed in the 1820s by refugee and freed slaves who gathered informally outdoors and in homes in Windsor’s Olde Sandwich Town. Shortly after, the Sandwich First Baptist group joined other black congregations in Amherstburg and Detroit to form the Amherstburg Regular Missionary Baptist Association. The association was in support of the Underground Railroad and abolition of slavery.

One member grew up hearing about the history of Sandwich First Baptist Church and is now very active in its operations.

“I used to hear my great-grandmother tell me about this church, how they’d hide people under the floor. That’s when the bounty hunters came in and they couldn’t find them,” said Lana Talbot, president of the church’s heritage committee. “I did not come to this church to be a member. I came here for Family Day or something. Next thing you know, I’m a member. But I haven’t stopped.”

In its early days, Sandwich First Baptist Church offered basic amenities to the community including shelter, food, clothing, security and spiritual guidance. Today, many of those services are still available.

Deacon Kim Elliott of  Sandwich First Baptist Church said the church reaches out to the community in many ways and the building can be rented for various events.

“We provide a lot of service gap initiatives, help out with food security, shelter, addiction and recovery. We are still in the business of helping people resettle, by way of refugee status,” said Elliott. “We provide space for birthday parties, wedding receptions. We conduct weddings. We conduct funerals. We provide space for Elections Canada. They use our facilities as a polling station.”

The church has few members but continues to hold regular Sunday services and Bible study on Wednesdays.  Despite the recent deaths of their pastor and assistant pastor, the congregation continues to gather. Members say they do what they can to keep the place in operation.

“We lost our pastor and our assistant pastor within a month and four days of each other. So now its up to us, the remaining, to keep the church alive,” said Talbot. “We do tithes and offerings. That’s how we have maintained.”

Faith is what seems to have kept Sandwich First Baptist Church alive for 175 years.

“In the case of slavery, they came north seeking freedom, really not knowing if they’d be captured or sent back to the States,” said Elliott. “It was their faith that got them here and it is the faith that has kept us here for 175 years. It’s still going strong today.

“I know that one day the church will be full,” said Sister Talbot.