Sometimes known as the Eight Corners Church, The Scarborough Free Baptist Church has a new pastor.

Pastor Michael Dalton joined the staff of the church in October and will compliment Pastor Ron Robinson as co-pastors.

Scarborough Free Baptist Church began as a church in 1831 in Cape Elizabeth, and 10 years later moved to Eight Corners in Scarborough. The land was transferred from John Burghy and therefore became known as the Buggy Meeting House as a “corruption of the Burghy name.” In some photos of the old church, a building housed many horse and buggies while the faithful attended services, another possibility of the origin of the moniker of “The Buggy Meetinghouse.” The official name was given in the 1840s as the Freewill Baptist Church of Scarborough. Committees begun in the 1920s can still be found in the church.

The music committee continues with a choir under the direction of April Masse, soon to get her master’s degree from the University of Southern Maine and a teacher at the Portland Conservatory. Rich hymns of the faith are still the staple of the music program. The social committee begun in 1920 continues the legacy with widely renowned bean suppers on the first Saturday of each month from which the proceeds help sponsor missions’ efforts with local and global outreaches. A visiting committee was formed and today pastors Robinson and Dalton bring the Good News to area nursing homes, retirement communities, individual homes and the Maine Veterans Homes-Scarboroughh on Route 1.

The church became incorporated in 1938, sometime before 1943 became the Scarborough Free Baptist Church and separated from the Gorham Free Baptist Church when the Scarborough congregation got their own pastor in 1961. In 1965 the church purchased 2 ½ acres from Ellen Pooler and in 1971 was moved to its present location at 55 Mussey Road. The church bell, dedicated in 1932, can be heard pealing at 9:30 a.m. as services begin. Last names of members of many years gone by can still be found among the faithful attenders. The Libbys, Nielsens, and Poolers can still be counted among congregants.

Pastor Dalton recently retired from teaching public school at Massabesic High School in Waterboro. Prior to teaching, Dalton worked in Christian radio including WDCS from 1983 to 1988. The radio station originally located in Oak Hill moved to the Dunstan section of Scarborough. The new pastor received his theology degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The church has a new email address (scarboroughfreebaptist@gmail.com) and webpage (https://scarboroughfreebap.wixsite.com/church), and can be found on facebook.

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