Our Story

A brief history of the Miners’ Bay Church:

The Miners' Bay Church is located on Lot 17 Concession VII of Lutterworth Township, which was named for the market town in Leicestershife, England, home of reformer John Wycliffe.

By the latter decades of the 19th century, settlers were moving into Lutterworth despite its inhospitable terrain. The Minden Echo stated that, "We have begun to think of the Township of Lutterworth as the banner township, not because it is better settled or more productive, but because of the class of settlers that till its stubborn soil.”

One of the earliest settlers was David J. Galloway, who moved to Miners' Bay in the 1870's and established a store and saw mill. He became Miners' Bay's first postmaster in 1908 when the old farm house, now known as #5, served as residence, post office, and store.

The community of Miners' Bay grew. By 1881 Lutterworth School #6 had been constructed about one mile north of Miners' Bay where it still stands' on the old highway.

In 1906 a decision was made to establish a Baptist church. Galloway sold a lot, along the Cameron Road, comprising about one eighth acre. The deed, registered August 31, 1906, in consideration of $25.00 payment, listed William Williams, Joseph Valentine, and Joseph W. Valentine as Trustees of the "Miners' Bay Regular Baptist Church". The structure was constructed by local craftsman, Joseph Valentine and Duncan Prentice. Valentine also constructed the Lutterworth "Moore's Falls" School which is located on Green Gables Road.

Throughout the next two decades, Baptists, and other visiting clergy conducted services. During the Great War, fund-raisers were held in the church yard to assist the troops. After WW I the local population decreased as logging declined and many moved away from the poor farmland to seek jobs elsewhere. By the mid 1920's the Miners' Bay Church was in decline.

In 1926, J. Enos Windsor came to Miners' Bay under the direction of the Shantymen's Christian Association which ministered to lumberman and their families. As a summer missionary, he reopened the church for seasonal services. On October 13, 1928, Joseph Valentine, being "the only surviving trustee" conveyed the church and lot to the Home Mission Board of the Baptist Convention.

Reverend Windsor vacationed  at Miners' Bay for the next four decades. In 1935, the Wunker family began to attend Columbia Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio where he was minister. In 1938'the Wunkers moved to Canada, took over the Bay View Hotel and renamed it Miners' Bay Lodge. They secured formal permission to organize and conduct services at the Miners' Bay Church and did so for six decades.

The Wunker family, as owners of Miners’ Bay Lodge maintained the property, and made repairs as required. Since 2000, major improvements and upgrades have been undertaken, primarily by interested supporters of the Church.

Following the sale of Miners’ Bay Lodge in 2018, the Church came into private ownership, to enable the long-term viability of the property and ministry. A volunteer Board of interested individuals has been established to ensure that this historic structure remains an anchor of the Miners’ Bay Community.