Former Black church site a finalist in competition for renovation funding

Michael Gorman · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 1:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Chuck Smith's earliest memories of the Sharon Assembly Church successful Yarmouth, N.S., are sitting successful the beforehand pew arsenic a lad listening to his grandfather, Rev. Nathan Smith, preach to the congregation.

"He was a fire-and-brimstone benignant of preacher," Smith recalled with a laughter during a caller interview.

"He enactment the fearfulness of God successful you. If you weren't good, you knew wherever you were going. He was a precise almighty speaker, precise flamboyant, but besides a fantastic quality being, too."

The gathering connected East Street has fallen connected hard times since it closed successful 2012 owed to fiscal struggles and a declining congregation. But arsenic Smith and a radical of volunteers person travel unneurotic to effort to prevention it, they're hoping for immoderate added help.

The erstwhile religion is 1 of 12 sites crossed the state — and the lone Nova Scotia determination — to scope the finals of the Next Great Save, a contention enactment connected by the National Trust of Canada to assistance prevention historical sites. Voting runs until April 17, with the apical vote-getter receiving $50,000. The archetypal and 2nd runners-up person $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

"For me, it's preserving not lone a portion of Yarmouth's past and the Black history, but it's preserving a portion of, you know, Nova Scotia's past that's been determination since the 1800s," said Vanessa Fells, who, like Smith, is a subordinate of the unpaid committee with heavy household ties to the site.

Smith estimates they request astir $500,000, with a caller extortion being the astir pressing priority. The extremity is to instal a kitchen, depository and abstraction for gatherings. The committee hopes the gathering could besides service arsenic a warming centre successful times of need.

Fells said the committee is pursuing backing enactment from each 3 levels of government, on with provincial and national practice status. But winning the contention would springiness their efforts a much-needed jump-start.

Like everyone involved, it's a idiosyncratic substance for Fells. She has fond memories of attending weddings arsenic a child, abrogation Bible schools and knowing the generational connections her household and the broader section Black assemblage person to the site.

"It's our church. It's our household church. It has ever been a portion of who we are."

Smith's household owes its ties to Yarmouth to the church.

His great-grandfather, Rev. George William Smith, was an African Methodist curate who moved the household from Shelburne, N.S., to Yarmouth erstwhile helium took connected his last duty astatine the church.

'This spot has my heart'

Smith's begetter was a lad astatine the clip and, on with others, grew up singing successful the religion earlier going connected to beryllium a portion of the noted section gospel euphony radical the Mission-Aires.

After the religion closed and Smith would instrumentality walks past the site, helium ever hoped it could beryllium preserved. That privation got a existent boost erstwhile the unpaid committee came unneurotic and started moving past year. Smith is hoping the broader assemblage volition transportation successful present that the tract has reached the finals of the Next Great Save by voting to enactment the spot that is truthful beloved to him.

"This spot has my heart."

For much stories astir the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to occurrence stories wrong the Black assemblage — cheque retired Being Black successful Canada, a CBC task Black Canadians tin beryllium arrogant of. You tin work much stories here.