God's amazing kindness and faithfulness are highlighted in the story of Hilltop Baptist Church. He has been so good! The above photo, from July 1913, is of the Sunday school and young people's groups.
Some of us worship at Hilltop for a few weekends per year, some of us call it our summer church home, and some of us call it our year round church family. However long your stay is at Hilltop, you'll have the opportunity to witness and participate in what God has been up to for many generations.
Here at Hilltop, we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. When we gather to treasure the good news of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, we enjoy the fruit of Jesus' promise to build his church. And we find our place in a long line of local believers in Jesus Christ dating back over 120 years!
Hilltop Baptist Church was founded on July 17, 1896 by a small group of pioneering Swedish immigrants. It was the second church chartered under the Swedish Baptist Conference (now called the Baptist General Conference of Canada, BGCC). Hilltop Baptist Church was originally called the Scandinavian Baptist Church and all services were held in the Swedish language. Believers gathered for worship in homes since they did not yet have a church building in which to meet.
The original charter members were Mr. and Mrs. Peter Larson, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Booth, Mr. and Mrs. Olaf Walstrom, Mr. and Mrs. Ivar Ullberg, and Mr. Otto Peterson. A few weeks later they were joined by nine others: Eric Koping, Mr. and Mrs. Olaf Sundmark, Mr. and Mrs. John Sundmark, Mr. and Mrs. Wendelbo, Olga Carlson (Mrs. Carl Johnson) and Anna Walstrom (Mrs. Charles Walstrom).
In 1898 a church building was built from local logs, and in 1926 the second church building, our present structure, was built.
In the mid 1940s English became the language of choice for all meetings and worship services at Hilltop Baptist Church.
God has graciously provided people to help with the gospel work at Hilltop. He has consistently provided servant leaders to help shape disciples of Jesus Christ. Here's a shot from 1944 of Vacation Bible School Teachers from Grant Memorial Baptist Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba who came to help host VBS at Hilltop.
Most of Hilltop's earliest ministers did not live in their own residences. Pastors lived with members of the congregation for a few months at a time on a rotational basis. The first parsonage was a log cabin and was built in 1902. The second parsonage, our present structure, was built in the mid 1960s. Below is a photograph of the ground breaking ceremony for the parsonage, taken in 1966.
In 1954 ten Hilltop members planted the Minnedosa Baptist Church.
May 24, 1959, was the final Sunday in a Sunday school contest with Strathclair Baptist Church. Guess who won!