As a representative of the Maidstone Museum, I had the privilege to attend an inspirational church service at the historical Shiloh Church just north of Maidstone Sept. 3.
A 55-passenger bus arrived at the church on a sunny, but windy, Saturday afternoon. The approximately 35 passengers were from Edmonton and a number were descendants of the original Shiloh people who are buried near the church.
Doug Mayes, son of John Mayes who is buried at Shiloh, organized the trip.
They were accompanied by two pastors who conducted the service at the church. The younger of the two was Pastor Thomas Henry, who originally came from the Dominican Republic about 40 some years ago and ministers at the One Accord Bapist Church in Edmonton. When they came to Canada his wife could speak English and had a job as a nanny. She later became a registered nurse by taking correspondence courses.
The older gentleman was Pastor Hampston, who was originally from Jamaica. Most of the Shiloh pioneers’ ancestors came from Africa.
A number of local people attended the service, which was held inside the church. The singing and praying was truly inspirational. The attendees sang and prayed from their hearts.
Keith Schwartz, who went to Eldon School with the Shiloh children, gave an account of his memories of going to school with them. Claire Paton also spoke of the time when she attended school at Eldon and nobody ever noticed the different skin color of her classmates. They were all part of the school together.
Following the service the visitors invited all to stay for a cold plate supper they had brought with them. It was a wonderful time for remembering and renewing old and new friendships. It was truly an experience I will long remember.
There is a visitor register to sign and when checked Saturday, there had been 258 names of visitors in 2016. With those registered Saturday there would be more than 300 signatures. Visitors had come from nearly every province in Canada and many other countries such as Latvia, France, Brazil, Denmark and England.
We are fortunate to have a historical site such as this church in our area. When visiting, please be respectful. A neighbour, Justin Johner, keeps the grounds in excellent condition making it a pleasant place to visit.
