Following the path of the Acadians exiled to Louisiana, a two hundred year old Anglican church in Nova Scotia was disassembled, moved to Louisiana and rebuilt. All Saints Anglican, Granville Center is now Louisiana Church (Southern Baptist) in Abita Springs.
In it’s new location, a couple of modifications have been made to suit its new home (and denomination). First, a window in the rear of the church has been sacrificed to make way for air conditioning ducts (it’s a lot hotter and mugger in Louisiana). Another is that the congregants will no longer be able to see the stained glass windows which were behind the altar because the altar area has been replaced with a large baptismal font.
“Well, we’re southern Baptists — and we dunk,” [Pastor Rev. Jerel]Keene said.
“We believe that we’re supposed to be dunked, like Jesus was dunked, like John the Baptist baptized. And so we’re going to make that the centrepiece of the church in the nave.”
Many members of the church and community can trace their ancestry back to Nova Scotia before they were exiled by the British to Louisiana in the eighteenth century.
Fred Charlie is a Cajun entertainer whose son is part of the congregation and part of the volunteer force that’s working on the reconstruction.
“Whenever you look at the beams and the structure, the way it was designed, when you walk in, you can feel the connection of long ago in Nova Scotia and they’re recreating it here in south Louisiana,” Charlie said.
To read more about this story and to see a 360 degree view of the work in progress please check out this article on the CBC’s website
posted by Jon White