The Church

The Church

Built in 1868, the building originally was a Penny Reading House (an establishment for wholesome entertainment) for the Good Templars Group (a group dedicated to sobriety). Since then, it has served as a meeting hall, twice as a Baptist Church (1873-1881; 1963-1969) and an antique shop before being donated and moved to the museum in 1979.

Gaelic Bible

This is a Scottish-Gaelic translation of the bible, published in 1825 by the British And Foreign Bible Society (BFBS), Edinburgh branch. Interestingly, the following year, the Edinburgh branch would split from the BFBS due to controversies surrounding the inclusion of the Metrical Psalms in foreign translations of the bible. 

Scottish Gaelic was the native tongue of many early residents of McNab Township since the arrival of Scottsman in 1825. Gaelic sermons may have been held in the White Lake Presbyterian Church from the 1840’s and until as late as 1878.