Great Village, NS | Do Spirits still remain at the St. James United Church?
Formally recognized as one of Canada’s Historic places, the St. James United Church is located on the corner of Economy and Old Cumberland Roads, in Great Village, Nova Scotia. At 112 feet, it is also one of the tallest buildings in the Village.
The church opened on July 30, 1845. On December 11, 1882, this church burned. Although there was no insurance, the congregation decided to rebuild immediately. The roof was built by local ship builders, and when you look up at the ceiling, it looks like an upside down keel of a ship.
The new church opened for services on the first Sabbath in January 1884, and for over 160 years, the church continued to serve as a place of worship to generations of local families. In September of 2014, the church was decommissioned and was eventually sold to the community.
With the church being such a cornerstone of the community, great efforts have been taken by volunteers to help raise money to help maintain the building, from running a cafe to renting out space to the local antique dealers during the summer months. There are also some museum displays erected during the summer, which reflect on the marine history of the village, as well as a display honoring a famous poet and writer, Elizabeth Bishop. There is a guest book by the door, which many people from all over the world have signed, that have visited the church over the last few years.
The Investigation
During our initial walkthrough, we learned about the churches past, and its people. We took our baseline readings throughout the church, and then proceeded to set up our equipment and begin our investigation.
We began in the basement, which is full of antique items, and as we went through looking at the various items, we checked for EMF fluctuations and asked various questions as we went. Some of the items gave us some interesting readings, but not enough to believe that there might be any type of spirit attachments.
As we worked our way upstairs, Charlene could sense a change in the energy, and as we reached the entrance to the second floor congregation area, our equipment confirmed what she was feeling. Our Mel-Rem showed higher EMF as well as temperature spikes. After going through the door way, our readings returned to normal. We repeated this experiment later in the investigation which yielded similar results.
When standing at the pulpit, reading from the communion prayer book, I (Bruce) seen a shadow figure move across the back of the church, near the entry way, and later, while standing by the pipe organ, Charlene seen a white mist moving in the same area as the shadow. She would see this mist again later in the investigation, closer this time, but still near back of the church.
We then went to the area where Charlene last seen the mist, we noticed a spike in the temperature. It was actually warmer by few degrees! After reviewing our recorder, we also captured the voice of a female spirit say wow. I guess she was amazed by it as well.
Prior to ending our investigation, we decide to do a ghost box session. Charlene sat at a table near the rear of the church, with the ghost box going and headphones on, while I went to the front of the church and sat in the front row. If you’re not familiar on how this works, Charlene was to repeat every word she heard that came through on the ghost box and also tell me if it was a male or a female speaking.
After checking to make sure that Charlene wasn’t able to hear what I was saying, we sat for a few minutes in silence. That silence was broken when a male said “Hello.” I then asked who was here with us and after a moment, she said “Michael and Ida” After a few minutes of silence I asked if they liked us being in the church, and an older female said “come” and then she would say “Peter” Moments later, a younger female voice would also say “Peter”.
After this, Charlene wasn’t getting anything more through the ghost box, so as she was considering ending the session, she closed her eyes and put her head down. As soon as she did this, the same male voice came through and said “wake up!” she started laughing and broke for a moment to tell me what happened. That was hilarious!
Before ending our session, I mentioned the story of an elegant lady who would sit in the front row every Sunday, and asked if anyone knew her, the same male voice said “yeah” and then he said “good-bye”.
What a great way to end our investigation!
If you are looking for something to do this summer, drop by and take a walk through this historic church. Don’t forget to sign their guest book, and show your support by leaving a donation.
We are located in Truro NS and offer our services Free of charge throughout Colchester and surrounding areas. Have a location you know we would be interested in? Feel free to contact us anytime!
