In the spring of 1858, Rev. William Haviland, the pastor of nearby Burgessville Baptist Church, came to Otterville and held gospel meetings. As a result, a church was established and became part of the Regular Baptist Missionary Society of Canada. In 1865 the present-day property was purchased and a one story building was built on it. From the beginning until 1928, Christians from Otterville and Springford joined together when finances were lean and separated when each could support their own pastor. In 1904 the original building was raised to allow a basement to be dug and the wooden exterior was replaced with brick.
In 1927, Baptist congregations across Ontario and Quebec were faced with a controversy about liberal teaching at their Clergy training college. The issues involved the trustworthiness of Scripture and the reality of Christ’s miracles. Otterville was among the many churches who consequently joined a new Union of Regular Baptists with a new Seminary.
Despite the uncertainty associated with the beginning of World War II, the Otterville believers planted a new church in Tillsonburg, sharing their pastor for Sunday afternoon services. It was in this same period that they also began to support foreign missions to Africa. Otterville Baptist Church and the new congregation, North Broadway Baptist Church, continued to share a pastor until 1956. When two Baptist denominations joined together in 1953, in part to provide a stronger support base for missions, Otterville Baptist Church became part of the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches of Canada.
In 2018, our congregation celebrated the 160th anniversary of the founding of the church and God’s faithfulness to past and present generations in the communities of Norwich Township.