Difference between revisions of "Rhode Island history"

Latest revision as of 21:35, 30 August 2019

Rhode Island

The Pawtucket Gospel Hall has its roots in a Gospel series held in Central Falls, near Pawtucket, in the late 1800s. The assembly was formed soon after that. The Pawtucket Gospel Hall was opened April 9, 1916. It served for nearly three-quarters of a century, ultimately turning its property over to a Portuguese group of Christians in mid-1981.

Knowing that one out of every seven people living in south eastern Rhode Island and Massachusetts are Portuguese, T. Ernest Wilson contacted the Christians at Buttonwoods (see below) about Carlos Cerqueira, forced out of Angola and seeking the Lord’s will for place of service. John Farrell was able to arrange for his entrance into the country, a job among Portuguese-speaking people, and housing. The Pawtucket assembly offered their building for times when they were not using it. So, the Cerqueira family began their work of ministering to the Portuguese and establishing a Portuguese-speaking assembly. (See Ethnic section. Other assemblies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts that conduct meetings in Portuguese are also discussed in the Ethnic section.)

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The Providence assembly started soon after the Pawtucket work began. It was called the Providence Assembly of Christian Brethren and met in various rented facilities, primarily in upper rooms. It was eventually termed the Providence Gospel Hall. Hugh Thorpe, an itinerant worker, helped in the start of the Providence work. The assembly was composed of Scottish and Irish brethren who did not always see eye to eye, and in 1924 or 1925, the assembly divided.

The Irish group moved to the northern part of the city and subsequently built their own building on Rochambeau Avenue, calling it the Rochambeau Avenue Gospel Chapel. The leading brother in the Rochambeau work was George Megaughin.

There was no fellowship between the two assemblies, and most New England assemblies chose to interact with the Rochambeau group.

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The Scottish group continued in rented rooms in the center of Providence and kept the old name, Providence Gospel Hall. The leading brothers there were Robert Brodie, an excellent Gospel preacher who would often preach on street corners, and Archibald Murdoch, who was a Bible teacher often consulted by teachers at the Providence Bible Institute to explain difficult passages. Hugh Thorpe, T. Ernest Wilson, Herbert Webber, and John and Betty McGehee were among the many who ministered at the Providence assembly when in the area.

In 1941, Mr. Brodie died, and Mr. Murdoch took the major responsibility at the Providence Gospel Hall for many years. In 1943, the assembly moved into a small former drug store on Route 1, the major highway through the state. It had seating for 50 and had four Sunday School rooms and a kitchen. This was during World War II, and the Providence Gospel Hall along with other evangelical groups established a Victory Servicemen’s Center and helped staff it. The assembly maintained a high profile in the weekly Youth for Christ rallies. These contacts brought in many young Christians and on Sunday afternoons the Gospel Hall was filled.

When Mr. Murdoch became disabled after the war, Stuart Garver, Registrar of the Providence Bible Institute, provided much of the teaching and pastoral care. John Farrell took an active role in the assembly until he married and moved to New Jersey in 1951, fellowshipping at Woodside Chapel in Fanwood, NJ. Robert Campbell and Dorsey Merrills became leaders in the assembly then, until they both moved from the area. John Farrell and his wife then returned to leadership in the assembly.

Joy Campbell, Robert Campbell’s sister, was invited to conduct a series of five 5-day Bible clubs in the Buttonwoods district of Warwick, south of Providence. Interest and attendance were great. Thus encouraged, about 10 people committed to establishing an assembly in the area and had their first Remembrance meeting at a community club house in September 1957. Samuel Thorpe, Sr. and family joined at that time and were a great help.

Area assemblies renewed their fellowship with the new Buttonwoods Assembly and began a coordinated effort in conducting Vacation Bible Schools, with Jim Harshaw doing the teaching. Many children were saved in these outreaches, and the Buttonwoods assembly had to rent space in a school to accommodate all the children. This school was subsequently used for Sunday Schools. Mel Wistner headed the VBS work for a couple of years, with attendance well over 100.

Soon, Frank Stebbings and Jack Fish came into fellowship and added much to the leadership. By the third year, the assembly realized the need for their own chapel, and in May 1961 Buttonwoods Bible Chapel was completed. Work with children and teens grew rapidly and in 1968, a 5000 square foot addition was built. Dick Polcyn and his family were invited to assist in the work in the 1970s. They reached out to young people in the drug culture, and many were saved and have gone on well. In 1980, a preschool program was established at the chapel, and more recently a day care program has been initiated. A Narcotics Anonymous group meets in the chapel every week, headed by a brother in the assembly.

About 100 people attend Buttonwoods Bible Chapel regularly. Douglas Brush, John Farrell, and Wesley Gardner are the current elders.

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Many of the young people reached by the Polcyns at Buttonwoods lived a couple of towns away from the chapel and began having their own Bible studies there. They soon started their own assembly as a house-church, and later rented a school auditorium in Warwick for Sunday mornings. As Warwick Believers Fellowship, they continue as an assembly. Buttonwoods suggested that they unite with them, but Believers Fellowship has a ministry they feel can be served best as a house-type church. Fellowship is good between the two assemblies. Warwick Believers Fellowship continues to meet at Harold Scott Elementary School.

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Hope Bible Chapel in Bristol was started by Wesley Gardner, perhaps in the late 1960s, and closed in 1990. The Gardner family then joined the fellowship at Buttonwoods.

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The Christian Brethren of Coventry, a town near West Warwick, was started by Paul Shaw in the mid-1970s. By the late 1970s, the assembly had adopted the name Pawtuxet Valley Bible Chapel. Allen Moores was an elder there. It closed in about 1991. Mr. Shaw fellowships at Buttonwoods and conducts the Sunday afternoon chapel service at the Federal Detention Center.

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When the Westerly Gospel Hall closed its doors, Groton Bible Chapel inherited the old building. The elders at Groton had a vision for many years of reviving a work there, and several attempts were made. In 1984 they approached several men who were involved in ministry at Groton Bible Chapel and asked them to consider hiving off to form a new work in the Westerly area.

A small group of believers thus began meeting on alternate Wednesday evenings in a home to study the word. Among them were Gregory Benoit, Andrew Bonner, Paul Edgerley, Sal Galtieri, and Joe Higgins, and their families. Andy Bonner and Greg Benoit were already ministering to teenagers in the Westerly/Ashaway area. This Bible study grew into a Breaking of Bread service comprising about 30 adults.

In 1985 the new assembly began renting the Ashaway Seventh Day Baptist Church building. This was one of the oldest church buildings in the area, a building that had been moved by oxen a hundred years earlier from the nearby town of Westerly. The Seventh Day Baptist believers met on Saturday and Ashaway Bible Chapel met on Sunday.

The youth ministry continued to grow after the chapel began to meet, and it provided a key source of growth as the young people began to start families of their own. In 1997 Ashaway Bible Chapel moved from the old Seventh Day building into a store-front in downtown Westerly, where it is still meeting at this time, and consists of about 100 people.

Sources

• Questionnaire responses and other correspondence
• Historical Remembrances of Buttonwoods Bible Chapel, by John Farrell, 1999