Latest revision as of 22:06, 21 November 2023

Bryn Mawr Gospel Hall is an open brethren assembly located across three townships (Radnor & Haverford in Delaware County, and Lower Merion in Montgomery County) of Pennsylvania. Open assemblies in Philadelphia started technically in 1881 as a result of a young lady who had gotten saved in Northern Ireland, relocated there (Phil.) and wished others to hear the Gospel. In May of 1884, evangelists James Campbell & William Matthews traveled there from N.I., and had nightly Gospel meetings under a tent, and an assembly was started partly by N.I. immigrants who had previously been in fellowship there, as well as those who made professions as a result of the tent work.

The believers initially rented a room over a blacksmith's shop at 1113 S. Broad St., and held their first conference on Christmas day of 1887. That assembly moved from there to four different locations, finally settling at 20th & Dickinson streets in 1904, where they met until 1945.

Some were commuting from western suburbs known as the Main Line, and as that number grew, a separate work started in Ardmore with the rental of the Merion Title Building in 1906, then rented an area at the center of Bryn Mawr in 1912, then they met 1913-1923 at a reading room at the public library, then their present location of 8 N. Summit Grove Avenue was acquired in 1923.

USCoRB indicated that in 1926 there were 116 in fellowship (50 men, 66 women) including 6 S.S. teachers presiding over 55 children (for a total of 171). The Hall was valued at $14,000 with $3,200 owed (and with $2,403 in annual expenses), and $708 was additionally spent towards the Lord's work that year.

Peterson/Rodgers history

Pennsylvania history: "In 1906, a group of Christians who had been commuting in to town from the suburbs began meeting as the Ardmore Assembly in the Merion Title Building. A year or so later they moved to Bryn Mawr and became known as the Bryn Mawr Assembly. The believers met for years in the reading room over the public library. Mr. Cesare Patrizio was commended from the assembly in about 1918, and Oswald MacLeod in 1928. Others have been commended to the Lord’s work at home and abroad since that time. The preacher James Marshall made the Bryn Mawr assembly his home assembly for many years.

A new building was erected in 1923, the Bryn Mawr Gospel Hall, which is still used today. Some of the names from that time are Samuel Martin, Hugh Clark, Harry Iolitt, Robert Irvine, King Irvine, William Goldsmith, William Oliver, and Charles Dautle. Two expansions to the building have been made since the original, the first in 1975, and the most recent in 1994.

One of the interesting things about the Bryn Mawr assembly was the large number of men and women who worked in the private estates in various capacities. The weekly prayer meeting was on Friday evening to accommodate these folks. Another feature of those days was that the prayer meeting at Bryn Mawr was almost as large as the morning meeting. The Bryn Mawr assembly sponsored an annual Thanksgiving Conference for many years."

Locations

• Merion Title Bldg., Ardmore 1906-1912
• rented area at center of Bryn Mawr 1912+
• Public Library Reading Room 1913-1923
• 8 N. Summit Grove Ave. 1923-present

Early Correspondents

• Hector Campbell @ Ardmore +1922+
• William George Ilott (1875-1945) +1926-1933+
• Samuel Martin 1940+

Also See

1906-present

• Visiting Ministry at Bryn Mawr Gospel Hall, PA
• Who's Who at Bryn Mawr Gospel Hall, PA early alumni

Sources

• OB AB's
• Ancestry.com
• BMGH's website