On May 24, 1992 the Cornwallis Baptist Church celebrated its 160th Anniversary. Located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this church was founded in 1832 by Richard Preston. Preston, an escaped African-American slave was trained by Baptists in Nova Scotia and London, England, after which he was ordained by the West London [England] Association of Baptist Ministers.

After his ordination, the Reverend Preston returned to Nova Scotia, with a mandate to establish African Baptist Churches through the province "where refugee slaves had settled." This led him to build the African Baptist Church in 1832 on Cornwallis Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia. At its nascent stage the African Baptist Association in Nova Scotia had as its standard bearer Richard Preston. He travelled on foot carrying his message of redemption from one Black Community to another, and by 1854 Preston had officially banded all of his churches into the African Baptist Association of Nova Scotia.