Illinois history

Illinois

The establishment of the early assemblies in the Chicago area is intimately associated with tent meetings and conferences, the transplanted Scotsman Donald Ross being the driving force for these. In 1879, he was holding tent meetings in the west side Union Park neighborhood, and publishing his newsletter, The Barley Cake. In it, he suggested holding a Bible Conference and mentioned two assemblies as possible conference sites. One of these was at 517 West Madison in Union Park, and the other at 2912 South State Street on Chicago’s south side. These unnamed assemblies were apparently the first in Chicago and the entire Midwest, and would have been formed before 1879, perhaps by several years. The first Bible Conference in the Chicago area was held in 1880, the first in a long series there.

When K.J. Muir left Canada in March 1880 to seek employment in Chicago, he sought out like-minded Christians. Not long saved in a Gospel campaign conducted by the Scots preachers John Smith and Donald Munro, Mr. Muir helped in tent meetings held that summer by Donald Ross and the remarkable businessman and tent maker, C. J. Baker. When the tent campaign and subsequent Gospel meeting were finished, “the assembly” (not further identified) moved to a hall at the corner of May and Fulton Streets, where many of the early Chicago Conferences were held.

In March 1887, K.J. Muir established his home in Avondale, then a suburb of Chicago. In the fall of 1888, John Arnold, Cuthbert D. Potts, and K.J. Muir with their families formed the nucleus of the Avondale Assembly.

• * * * * * *

The fellowship currently known as Palos Hills Christian Assembly in Chicago has its roots in the South State Street Assembly. In the next decade, that assembly moved through several locations, all in the area of 30th and State Street, steadfastly observing the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and teaching. In 1891, the Christians met on East 43rd Street, and then further south near 69th and Carpenter. A year later they were at 59th and Wentworth Avenue, and in 1894, at the corner of West 69th and South Wentworth Avenue, where they called their meeting place Alberta Hall. This served as their home until 1918, when they moved into a larger nearby building. For a while, they were at 69th and Halstead Street. In 1923, the assembly divided, one group moving to a rented old church building at 66th and Normal, becoming known as the 66th and Normal Assembly, and another moving further west to start the Laflin Street Gospel Hall.

• * * * * * *

The Laflin Street Gospel Hall, at 6617 S. Laflin Street, had as its early leading brethren Jim Humphrey, Ken Widener, and Messrs. Miller, Arnot, and Parker. As the demographics of the neighborhood changed, most of the assembly moved to Oak Lawn in 1959. However, a few stayed, notably Jack and Charlotte Mostert. They invited the black people in the neighborhood to join with them, and a few did so. Steve Thompson, saved while in prison in Japan, came to work with the Mosterts. He and Jack Mostert are the leading men in the integrated assembly, which is the most integrated assembly in Chicago.

• * * * * * *

Perhaps in the early 1920s, some brethren, with the full accord of the brethren at 66th and Normal, commenced an assembly in Roseland on the far south side of Chicago, which became known as the Roseland Gospel Hall. The Roseland assembly was started by the Hoekstra brothers, of Dutch descent, along with Messrs. Faber, Boldt, and Slager. That assembly was active for many years, but eventually closed. The building sat idle for some time until a group of brethren asked permission to take over the building and start a new assembly, perhaps in 1926. Later they moved a few doors west on 111th Street. The assembly is now known as the Roseland Bible Church, with a good children’s work in the community.

• * * * * * *

The group at the 66th and Normal Assembly stayed at that location until 1929. By the mid-1920s, the growing assembly was seeing the need for permanent quarters. The Christians purchased a lot and constructed a hall at 86th and Bishop, and in the summer of 1929, the first meetings of the Roberts Memorial Gospel Hall or as most people called it, the 86th Street Assembly were underway, ending forty years of nearly constant moving.

The 86th Street Assembly frequently had tent meetings in the southwest suburbs, conducted by visiting and local brethren. Traveling preachers who visited at 86th Street and its forerunners include many of the well-known brethren of the day. Herbert Dobson and William Warke were full time gospel preachers who made 86th Street their home assembly.

The Christians remained at 86th Street for about 35 years, through the Great Depression and World War II, and into the changing scene of the 1960s. At that point, the elders felt a move further out was desirable, closer to where the majority of the members then lived. A plot of land in Palos Hills was purchased and a new chapel built in 1969 at 10600 South 88th Avenue, the new and present home of the Palos Hills Christian Assembly.

Among the leaders in the earliest years of the assembly were William Dunnett, Thomas Pollard, Alfred and John Stevenson, and Messrs. Barth, Bassett, Weston, and Shewan. Since 1950, elders include Andrew Cotton, John Pollard, Bill Gould, Phil McKendrick, Tom Sendzimer, and Tom Carrick.

Palos Hills Christian Assembly and its antecedents have commended many workers to the Lord’s service abroad and locally and have been substantial supporters of missionary efforts. About 140 adults and youngsters attend the assembly today.

• * * * * * *

In 1894, Winsor Chase and James K. Fea of the Avondale Assembly explored the Austin area on the west side of Chicago, and that fall moved their families to Austin to pioneer a new testimony. Others followed, and early the next year a store was rented at Ontario (now Ohio) Street and Parkside Avenue for assembly meetings. Gospel campaigns were held with such preachers as Donald Ross, James Harcus, John Smith, Donald Munro, Alexander Marshall, John Monypenny, Charles W. Ross, and W. J. McClure.

In 1900 the Austin assembly moved into a small building at Laramie and Chicago Avenues. Because of losing two leading brethren, the believers temporarily closed their meeting in 1901. They met with the Colorado Avenue Assembly in Chicago but continued the Gospel and Sunday School efforts in Austin. In 1903 they returned as an assembly and rented a hall on Chicago Avenue about four blocks east of Laramie. In 1908 they moved to an upstairs hall at 419 N. 52nd Avenue (now N. Laramie). Through conversions and the addition of believers moving from other parts, the assembly grew to around 50 by 1913. In that year, the assembly incorporated, and property was secured at 746-48 N. 51st Court (now Leamington) for the construction of a hall. An opening conference was held in the new Austin Gospel Hall in August 1913.

Conversions and influxes from overseas swelled the assembly to about 200. The assembly continued for more than 40 years, until the building was sold in 1956, and the assembly moved temporarily to Emmaus Bible School in Oak Park. In 1959, the Christians built and moved into Woodside Bible Chapel at First and Chicago Avenues in Maywood on the western edge of Chicago.

Leaders after the Austin period were Henry Moffatt, Phil Clarkson, Donald Anderson, Harold Shaw, Clarence Welsher, John Duff, and Bob Wilson. Elders since then include Tom Bendelow, Chuck Christensen, Dan Smith, Bob Logan, Duncan Mathieson, Steve Wilson, Bob Ramey, Jack Barclay, and John Hurni.

Woodside has two other groups using its facilities: the India Assembly meeting in a separate room but at the same times as the English-speaking meetings; and a Spanish-speaking group of about 20 on Saturday nights for Bible studies. The English-speaking assembly now has about 70 adults and youngsters, while the India Assembly has about 40. The Austin/Woodside assembly has commended a large number of servants to the work of the Lord throughout the world.

• * * * * * *

The roots of Norwood Gospel Chapel in Chicago date back to 1916. A group of Christians, dissatisfied with their denominational church affiliations, began meeting together in homes. The interest grew and they sought help from the Moody Bible Institute for someone to minister to them. Among the first sent was Harold Harper, who was associated with the assemblies. In the summer of 1917, Mr. Harper and others conducted a gospel tent campaign in the neighborhood. The good results created a need for a regular meeting place. At the close of the tent meetings a nearby store was secured at Central Avenue and Irving Park. Here a progressive work continued for four years. In 1922, the Irving Park Gospel Hall, a modest building at 5614 Dakin Street, Chicago, was built. The group at that time numbered about 40.

Henry Petersen built up a large Sunday School and Friday night children’s meetings. Alfred and Edwin Gibbs were also instrumental in building up the assembly. In leadership at the Irving Park Gospel Hall were John Millard Doyle (1892-1960), George McAllen (b. 1901), Harvey John Langguth (1900-1980), Paul Erickson, John Mall, S. J. Nelson, Charles Howard, Harold Linquist, and Sor Sorensen. The assembly grew in attendance in the 1920s and 30s, but after World War II, felt they needed to move.

In 1951, after nearly 30 years on Dakin Street, about 125 members in fellowship in the Irving Park assembly moved into the newly constructed Norwood Gospel Chapel, located in a residential section on the northwest side of Chicago at Nagle and Foster Avenues. The Norwood Gospel Chapel has commended several to the Lord’s work.

• * * * * * *

About 10 people of the former Irving Park assembly purchased the Gospel Hall on Dakin Street in 1951 and continued to meet there, calling it Portage Park Gospel Hall. Now called Portage Park Gospel Chapel, the assembly still meets at the location on Dakin Street.

• * * * * * *

In 1977, two families immigrated from Korea to Chicago, having been in fellowship in the Korean Brethren Assembly in Seoul, Korea. They entered into fellowship at the Norwood assembly, but soon desired to establish a Korean-language assembly. Thus, in 1980, the Norwood Gospel Assembly of Korean came into being, the results of efforts of Young M. Lim, Bona Soo Rhee, and Joon H. Park. These and Sang Jin Park have been the elders. Korean is used as the language for the adults, and English is used in the Sunday School.

In 1985, the assembly divided in half, one becoming the Emmaus Gospel Assembly and the other San Jung Korean Assembly in Des Plaines. Emmaus Gospel Assembly rents space in the Park Manor Bible Chapel in Elgin and has about 60 adults and children in attendance. The San Jung Korean Assembly changed its name to Chicago Korean Bible Chapel. Both assemblies use Korean and English in their services, as before. Mr. Lim published a Korean hymnal in 1977 and is working on a second edition of it.

• * * * * * *

The Union Ridge Gospel Chapel in Chicago began as a Sunday School outreach led by Charles Clohsey and Stanley Modrzejeswki of Norwood Gospel Chapel. By 1957, it had been established as an assembly. Paul and Al Streder, John Everding, and Art Modrzejewski were active in leadership.

• * * * * * *

A group of brethren from the Laflin Street Gospel Hall, William McCartney, Doug Ibbotson, Art Miller, William Trotter, Fraser, Brown, decided to go further south in the early 1930s to begin a new work. They rented a store on 103rd Street and started the Washington Heights Gospel Hall. Doug Ibbotson was commended to the work of the Lord from Washington Heights. He was also involved in the work at the Navy Yard in South Carolina before returning to Chicago.

The Washington Heights assembly mushroomed, and other works hived off from it. The assembly purchased a building, then later built another in the same block. They took the name Beverly Bible Chapel in 1962.

After that, a group left to form a new assembly in the western suburbs; its chapel was completed in 1976 and called the Oak Forest Bible Chapel. Don Thomson was a leader at Oak Forest, which has about 80 adults and youngsters in attendance. Over the years, this chain of assemblies has commended many missionaries.

• * * * * * *

In 1958, about 15 couples from Laflin Street Gospel Hall built Oak Lawn Bible Chapel at 4259 W. 107th Street in the western suburbs. Some of the families at the Oak Lawn assembly were the Millers, Hamiltons, McCallums, Halyburtons, Norgards, Ganleys, McKendricks, Kennedys, Hinshelwoods, Schoerners, and Boyds. The assembly has commended workers to Cuba, Yugoslavia, South Africa, and to locchal ministries. T.B. Gilbert was commended from Oak Lawn. Jeff and Beth Tichelar are full-time workers in the assembly, which has about 100 adults and children in attendance.

• * * * * * *

Fernwood Gospel Chapel hived off from the Washington Heights Gospel Hall in about 1939. William McCartney, Ira Wagner, Roy Mills and William Brook were those who started the assembly. These and George Brucer, Robert Mattingly, John Slager, Robert Drechsel, Wesley Mills, Lawrence Hurley, and Charles VanderVeen shared leadership over the years. Active for many years, Fernwood Gospel Chapel commended missionaries to the foreign field before closing in 1967.

• * * * * * *

The assembly now known as Village Church in Oak Park has its roots in a work established before 1920. Known initially as Bible Truth Assembly and located on Austin Boulevard at Corcoran in Chicago, the assembly at some point moved to its own building at 1107 Ontario Street, calling it Bible Truth Chapel. Robert J. Little was associated with the assembly and was the ‘radio pastor’ at the Moody Bible Institute radio station in Chicago for many years, followed by Don Cole of the Lombard Gospel Chapel.

In 1952, the Christians built the River Forest Bible Chapel in River Forest at Harlem Avenue and Augusta Boulevard, where they remained until 1987. Those active in leadership at the River Forest Bible Chapel included Bob Constable, Jim Catron, Sam Brooks, Ernie Sandeen, Gordon Haresign, John Smart, Roy Horsey, and John Montgomery. At that time the assembly purchased a school building on East Avenue, between Roosevelt Road and the Eisenhower expressway in Oak Park and changed the name to Village Church. Most of the men in early leadership at River Forest were gone by then. Jim Callahan is a full-time worker in the Village Church assembly. Many have been commended from the Oak Park/River Forest/Village Church assembly.

• * * * * * *

A few miles south of Oak Park, at La Grange, an assembly was formed in about 1949 and met in temporary quarters, anticipating building their own chapel on a main road close to a large housing and shopping area. By 1959, the believers had completed their building, La Grange Gospel Chapel, which they occupied until the late 1980s, closing at that time. James Kennedy was an elder there for many years.

• * * * * * *

Believers Assembly Chicago in La Grange is an assembly composed of believers from India. It is a product of a Bible study started in La Grange in the early 1970s by K.M. Mathews and others with a brethren background. In 1996, the Lord enabled the group to buy a church building in the town. The assembly has had the joy of seeing a few Hindus come to the Lord. Abraham T. John and Sajan Mathews are the current elders. About 70 people are in Believers Assembly, which has also commended one worker to the Lord’s service.

• * * * * * *

In the spring of 1913, Henry Miller heard George M. Schmidt preaching the Gospel on the streets of Chicago and stopped to speak with him. Shortly, they and their wives began to meet to worship the Lord in the Miller’s home. They were soon joined by Mr. and Mrs. Lange, and then others, meeting to Remember the Lord in a variety of homes. When their homes could no longer accommodate the growing German-speaking assembly of believers, they met in a series of storefronts, first on North Avenue, then Armitage Avenue. Finally, the assembly settled at 1844 N. Larrabee Street, forming the Larrabee Gospel Hall. The Lord’s Supper was conducted in German, while the Sunday School, led by George Wagener, was conducted in English for the neighborhood children.

In 1928, a group of young ladies in the assembly, burdened for the spiritual welfare of the large number of children in the Jefferson Park community, did house-to-house visitation, then rented a large garage in which to begin a new Sunday School. That work eventually grew into the Grace Gospel Church with a succession of pastors.

During the early to mid-1930s, the gathering of Christians at Larrabee Street grew to encompass a group of Assyrian believers, among them Paul David, at first meeting separately. Then when two Mexican brothers, Otilio and Manuel Carrera, co-workers of George Schmidt, were converted, the German-speaking and Assyrian-speaking believers decided to merge and make the worship suitable also for the Carrera brothers.

The assembly grew and in the 1940s the believers purchased property at 3525 N. Damen Avenue. After remodeling the building, they moved into it in 1949 and took the name Lakeview Bible Truth Assembly. During this period, members of the Grace Gospel Church moved into new quarters and used their original building as a youth center, with a gym. In 1990, the Lakeview meeting purchased the properties of Grace Gospel Church. The Lakeview assembly moved into the building at 5555 N. Lotus Avenue and changed its name to Northwest Gospel Chapel. Families from the two groups merged into this assembly and retained the youth center. Elders have included Armando, Bill, George, and Manual Carrera, and George Bowman.

• * * * * * *

In the 1920s, the Methodist Church Council ruled that “the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, as a future event” was not to be preached by its pastors. This ruling caused an immediate uproar in the Lombard Methodist Episcopal Church. The pastor told five objecting families to leave, and about thirty did leave in early 1927. Among those were the families of Frank Erickson, William Routson, Dave Weber, William Kerr, Mae Patterson, and Noah Roeshley.

The people that left the Methodist Church engaged A.H. Fardon, an evangelist and Bible teacher from Kansas City, to join with them to conduct tent meetings in Lombard. So many people attended these meetings that a board was formed to consider the beginning of a new church. The Board asked Mr. Fardon to consider moving to Lombard and be their full-time worker, and he agreed.

At that time there was no brethren assembly in Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, or Lombard. At the end of 1926 and in early 1927, some individuals from the Austin Gospel Hall moved to the Lombard area, including the families of Will H. Durant, William S. Kellar, and Charles M. Allen. There was no apparent connection between the group from the Methodist Church and those from the Austin assembly prior to the tent meetings in August 1927, but the Durants became involved in that new work. They and Frank Erickson were instrumental in purchasing two lots in Lombard and the construction of a new building, the Lombard Gospel Chapel at 40 W. Ash St. The group had its first meeting in March 1928 and celebrated the Lord’s Supper each week from the beginning. Tent meetings were a regular Gospel outreach of the Chapel.

The Lombard Chapel continued to grow at a rapid pace into 1930. By March 1930, the Sunday School had increased to 150. Soon, plans were being made to begin a new work in Villa Park. A hall was secured and a group of 35 to 40 from Lombard began a similar work there. Starting as a simple hive-off in January 1931, this group continued to grow, but eventually joined with the Evangelical Free Church of America.

Even with the new work in Villa Park, the Lombard Gospel Chapel continued to grow rapidly. Many accounts are given of people coming to salvation through Jesus Christ. Tent meetings and special meetings at the Chapel were common. Noted speakers were James McKendrick from Scotland; T. Ernest Wilson, then a missionary in Portuguese West Africa; A. G. Bently of Toronto; William R. Newell of Deland, Florida; Harold St. John; and Alfred P. Gibbs. In May 1931, H.A. Ironside, then pastor of the Moody Memorial church in Chicago preached at Lombard Chapel.

Though Lombard Gospel Chapel had a strong brethren orientation by this time, many of its members from other backgrounds were not comfortable, and 1934 was a year of change. Many in the assembly wanted to name Mr. Fardon as the pastor of the Chapel, and this caused a deep division. Rather than be the source of problems, Mr. Fardon, who had led many in the church to Christ, resigned and left Lombard Chapel. About 25 left with him, but others who had left earlier during the conflict returned.

The assembly continued to invite well known speakers and was involved with the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. During World War II, many servicemen passed through the Service Men’s Center at 646 South State Street, and Lombard Chapel had an ongoing part in this ministry.

In the early 1940s, the numbers were down to about 50 people in regular attendance. These included the families of Will Kellar, Charles Allen, Earl Elliot, and Evelyn Varder. Miss Varder in 1948 went to Immanuel Mission in Arizona where she started a school for Navajo children. Lombard Gospel Chapel was the home church of Stacy Woods, later president of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.

During and after the war, families who joined with Lombard Chapel included those of Frank Wilson, Willard Rodgers, Robert Hanson, and Charles Howard. Wheaton College students who attended included Jim Elliot, Ronald Harris, Jim Yorgey, and Priscilla Hoy (Kaliodjoglou).

In the 1950s, the younger people in the assembly agitated for a new building in a different part of the town. This was done and the Sunday School grew so rapidly that an addition was built that was larger than the original building. Eventually over 400 children were in the Sunday School. Other families moved into the area and became part of the assembly. Among these were the families of John Harper, John Phillips, C. Donald Cole, Charles Fizer, Jack Fish, and David Glock. naomi Cole began a Bible class with help from the other ladies in the assembly; over a hundred women attended the class and many of them eventually came into the assembly along with their families.

Lombard Gospel Chapel continues as a thriving assembly today at 369 N. Stewart.

• * * * * * *

In 1930, T. B. and B. M. Nottage established the first black assembly, Grace Gospel Hall, in Chicago. Among its original members was W. F. Mullins. Edgar Burgess was associated with early Gospel efforts there. For six years T. B. Nottage commuted from New York, coming four to six weeks at a time, to help in the work in Chicago.

While this work was going on, meeting with discouragement and opposition, and some success, Theodore Williams Sr., a former Baptist pastor of Detroit, came in contact with B. M. Nottage and through him learned about the New Testament church. In February 1945, Mr. Williams moved to Chicago to give a hand to the assembly work there. In 1946 he was joined by Mr. O. F. Gall, commended from Grace Gospel Chapel in New York City. Mr. Gall had been exercising his evangelistic gift in and around New York for about 22 years while secularly employed. Louis Hoy of Arlington, WA also joined the efforts at about that time.

Grace Gospel Hall first occupied a store front at 4646 Langley Avenue. At the urging of Mr. Williams and Mr. Hoy, the assembly at 4646 Langley Avenue moved to a funeral parlor at 18 East Fifty-fifth Street, and then to another funeral parlor at 4842 South State Street. The testimony grew slowly, with 37 in fellowship in 1949. With financial assistance from the assembly at 86th and Bishop, the Christians purchased a lot at 9140 South State Street in the middle of Chicago’s South Side. Grace Gospel Hall was incorporated in 1947; the original trustees were Louis Hoy, Frank Mullin, and Theodore Williams, Sr. Construction of the Hall began soon, but several years elapsed before the roof and doors were in place, due to lack of funds. Saints at Arlington, WA and Vancouver, British Columbia provided financial assistance for this; some Chicago-area assemblies provided the heating plant, and an assembly in New York City paid for the plumbing and electrical work. In the 1950s, the highway department decided to build a highway through the property. With proceeds from the highway department, the assembly built a new Hall at 96th and King Drive. Close to a grade school with 1200 pupils, Grace Gospel Hall has emphasized children’s work.

• * * * * * *

Grace and Glory Gospel Chapel branched out from Grace Gospel Hall under the eldership of Messrs. Gall, Mullin, and McCray. The Learning Center Gospel Chapel in Harvey, IL was a branch-out from Grace and Glory Gospel Chapel, under the original leadership of James Fair and Mr. Henry.

• * * * * * *

For four or five years preceding World War II, Joe Nieboer spent considerable time laboring among the black population on Chicago’s South Side. Among those he contacted was Burleigh Edwards, a business man. Mr. Nieboer taught him the security of the believer and other Scriptural truths. In about 1944, Mr. Edwards started, from his apartment house at 41st Street and Michigan, a Gospel and visitation work under the name of South Side Gospel Testimony. In September 1949 an assembly with that name was formed, with assistance from the Nottage brothers, with ten in fellowship. A room in the apartment house was converted into a chapel. The Gospel was broadcast by loud speaker from the building and given out by tracts, visitation, and other means.

In 1949, the little assembly had opportunity to buy a substantial church building. This property with an adjoining corner lot at 64th and Drexel Streets was acquired, and the assembly was incorporated as South Side Gospel Assembly. The assembly numbered twenty seven at the time of the move. Visitors, preachers, and teachers from other assemblies were given a hearty welcome. Groups from Bethany Chapel at Wheaton and Emmaus Bible School helped in the ministry.

• * * * * * *

The South Side Gospel Assembly carried on outpost work that developed into Westlawn Gospel Chapel, on South St. Louis Street near 21st, under the leadership of LeRoy Yates, Melvin Banks, and Harvey Rollerson. The Lighthouse Gospel Chapel was another branch-out from the South Side Gospel Assembly. From the Westlawn Gospel Chapel came Roseland Bible Church, the Christ Community Church in Chicago, and the Family Gospel Chapel of Bangor, Michigan.

• * * * * * *

In the early 1940s, the only assembly in the town of Wheaton met in the home of Wheaton College professor Mortimer Lane, and only for the Lord’s Supper. Billy Graham, while attending Wheaton College, frequently attended those meetings at the Lane’s home. Many assembly young people attended Wheaton in those days, but because the closest assembly was in Lombard, seven miles away, most attended other churches. Knowing this, William McCartney, who had been active for years in helping to establish assemblies on the south side of Chicago, took steps to initiate an assembly in Wheaton.

In 1945, he was instrumental in having a large house purchased close to Wheaton College on President Street. A wing was added and the house, called Bethany House, was used for assembly meetings and was made available to students for relaxation and recreation. Mr. McCartney persuaded Harold Harper of Pennsylvania to move his family to Wheaton and minister to the students. Almost immediately, students, faculty, and staff of Wheaton College began attending the assembly. A few families from Lombard Chapel joined the Wheaton assembly.

In the early 1950s, Bethany Chapel in Wheaton was built next to Bethany House and became the home of the assembly. The chapel accommodates about 200 persons. Now it numbers approximately 150 during the regular Wheaton College semesters.

• * * * * * *

Warrenville Bible Chapel in Warrenville, near Wheaton, was opened for regular services in November 1959. Branching out from the assembly at Bethany Chapel, this work resulted chiefly from the efforts of one family in Warrenville bringing large numbers of boys and girls to youth meetings in Bethany. Interest in starting a new assembly testimony in Warrenville developed, and seven families, those of Robert Mojonnier, Herman Heise, John Sweemer, Charles Shelburn, Sophus Bolt, Del Dennis, and Maurice Martin, started to pray together about this. With encouragement from the elders at Bethany, a fund was started in early 1958. Money came from many sources, and construction of a building on a one-acre lot was carried out in the late summer of 1959. The building has been added to twice, seating 200. An adjacent lot was purchased in the early 1970s.

Robert Mojonnier, Herman Heise, John Sweemer, and Sophus Bolt were the first elders. Since then, Don Pope, A.G. Sutton, Maurice Martin, David Neal, William MacPherson, and Erwin Kittner have become elders. Several workers have been commended by Warrenville Bible Chapel to the Lord’s service abroad. About 200 adults and youngsters are in the assembly.

• * * * * * *

Glen Ellyn is between Lombard and Wheaton. The Glen Ellyn Gospel Chapel began in 1986, having derived from the Lombard Gospel Chapel. Ron Walker, Chuck Formby, Richard Neal, Chris Barton, Ken Blysma, and Tim, Jim, and Bill Hertz were the principals involved in the beginning of the assembly. Gerry Wright, Ed Auer, and Bob Marshall have also shared in leadership. The assembly has commended two workers. About 30 are in Glen Ellyn Gospel Chapel today.

• * * * * * *

One of the largest assemblies in the outlying areas of Chicago is the Arlington Countryside Church in Arlington Heights. This assembly began in 1966 through the cooperative vision of men and women from various assemblies closer to Chicago and the staff of International Teams, formerly called Literature Crusades. As the northwest suburbs exploded with people, the new outreach grew rapidly. Elders there have included Walter Liefeld, Neil Glass, Cy Fors, John Elliot, John Stadt, and Evan Davis. Although the community and congregation have been transient, Abner Bauman has been involved full-time in pastoral and evangelistic ministry since 1971.

• * * * * * *

The leadership of 13 families from Arlington Countryside Church resulted in the formation in 1982 of Alpine Chapel in Lake Zurich, which is northwest of Arlington Heights. Art Volkmann, Rick Knox, Jim Harshaw, and Dick Loizeaux were the principal people starting the assembly. Meeting initially in Seth Paine elementary school, the Christians in 1985 moved to their present location on 17 acres at the corner of Miller and Echo Lake Roads in Lake Zurich.

Dick Loizeaux assumed full-time ministry responsibilities that year. In 1990, additional staff members were added. Alpine Chapel has grown to about 700 people through an aggressive outreach in the expanding community, and the facility has been expanded several times to accommodate the growth. Leadership has included Jim Harshaw, Dick Loizeaux, Rick Knox, Fred Heick, Charles Christiansen, Juan Angolo, Rich Borst, and John Cross. About 70 people professed salvation in 1997 through the outreach of the assembly, and 60 new families were added.

• * * * * * *

In the 1880s, James Harcus married Margaret Ross, daughter of Donald Ross, and moved northwest from Chicago to Elgin, where he obtained employment. He remained in that town for ten years and helped build up the little Elgin Assembly. L.C. Burbury was a leading elder in the assembly at one time, and more recently Art Modrzejewski.

• * * * * * *

A mission group, the Gospel Expansion Fellowship, from Park Manor Bible Chapel in Elgin, Bethany Chapel in Wheaton, and Norwood Gospel Chapel in Chicago started the Meadowdale Gospel Chapel Carpentersville, north of Elgin, in 1956. The principals in the beginning were Louis Cook, Walter Albright, Robert Harper, and Emil Jordi. Sharing in leadership since then have been Charles Frame, Donald Mullins, Jim Hoeflich, Ralph Whitlock, and Dan and Dave Niequist. Meadowdale Gospel Chapel has commended workers to the Lord’s service. About 85 persons are in the assembly today.

• * * * * * *

In the early 1940s, a Mr. Ransome started a meeting in his home in Rockford, in the northern part of the state. In 1943, these Christians formed Miriam Gospel Hall in Rockford. In 1957, they sold this building and built Ridgeview Chapel in Rockford. While in temporary quarters in the Community Hall, awaiting the completion of Ridgeview Chapel, a significant growth in the Sunday school occurred, with real blessing in the Gospel, and souls saved.

Ridgeview Chapel continued until 1978. However, an outgrowth of the assembly was the formation of the Beloit Gospel Hall in Beloit, WI, started by Mr. Ruff and his two sons.

• * * * * * *

Believers Bible Chapel in Rockford began in 1995 in the home of Warren and Brenda Henderson. Ralph and Estelle Borchardt worked with the Hendersons in establishing this assembly. From eight people at the beginning, it grew to about 50 in 1998, and had moved to rented quarters in the Wannebago County Farm Bureau building. Elmer and Jean Wacker, and Rick and Ramona Kuntzelman were also early members.

• * * * * * *

In the Evanston area on the north side of Chicago, believers were meeting before 1916, and in that year erected Grace Chapel there. The assembly had an active outreach and attracted many of the well-known speakers who frequented the Chicago assemblies. By the late 1920s, some changes had apparently occurred because a small group was then meeting in a small room in downtown Evanston. As this group grew, they began meeting in a storefront. In 1941, the present building at the corner of Cleveland and Asbury was erected and called the Evanston Gospel Chapel.

• * * * * * *

Farther north, almost at the Wisconsin state line, is the town of Zion, founded many years ago as a Christian community. A week-night Bible study in the home of Bill and Polly Allen, former assembly missionaries to the Belgian Congo, led to the start of the North Shore Assembly in Zion. Early members of the Bible study group were Clarence and Marge Wright and Ed and Helen Hanni. Soon Heinz and Lore Habel and their parents from Kenosha joined, and then a messianic Jewish couple, Martin and Fania Suess. James and Helen Kay and their son John and his wife Nadine, moving to Zion, encouraged the group to begin Breaking Bread together in the fall of 1965.

The numbers grew, and the North Shore Assembly moved to the home of the younger Kays a year later. When others continued to come, including Howard and Grace Armerding, the assembly moved to the basement of the administration building of Mt. Olivet Cemetery, of which the Armerdings were part owners. In 1969, they purchased and remodeled a home on 33rd Street and Gilead Avenue, changing the name then to North Shore Bible Chapel.

In spite of a hive-off of several members to start the Lakeland Fellowship in nearby Gurnee, the Christians felt the need for larger quarters, and in 1996 purchased and remodeled a funeral chapel at 2800 W. 29th Street in Zion, their present quarters. Leadership has been shared by David Herman, William Allen, Heinz Habel, and Al Leach. About 70 adults and children attend North Shore Bible Chapel.

• * * * * * *

Four families in leadership at the Fernwood Gospel Chapel in Chicago were desirous of starting a testimony in the city of Lansing in the Chicago metropolitan area but near the Indiana state line. The Gilbert, Hurley, Leathem, and Murray families started holding prayer meetings in their homes. With the assistance of Stewards Foundation, the Lansing Gospel Chapel was erected on Bernice and Roy Streets and occupied in 1957. Though small, the assembly has seen souls saved and built up, and continues today.

• * * * * * *

The assembly now meeting at Grace Bible Chapel in Springfield had its start in 1954 in the home of Robert Isringhausen on Milton Avenue. Robert and Camille Isringhausen, Lamont and Norma Haynes, Floyd and Helen Pierce, Lorraine Cantrall, and Barbara Lynard were among the founders. The assembly was known as the Springfield Gospel Chapel at that time. The brethren from Prospect Avenue Bible Chapel in Champaign gave assistance in the early days, and William MacDonald and Paul Flint from Emmaus Bible School, then in Oak Park, visited periodically. Nick and Alberta Guikema moved to Springfield in about 1958 and joined the assembly.

From the Isringhausen home, the assembly moved to the Knights of Pythias Lodge Hall on South Spring Street for a time, then to the Pleasant Hill School. In 1958, property was purchased, and a building was constructed at the corner of Milton Avenue and Carpenter Street. The assembly was known then as the Milton Avenue Chapel. In 1977, property at 700 S. Livington Street was purchased. The congregation relocated there and chose the name Grace Bible Chapel. Another move took place in February 1995 to 3335 Woodhaven Drive.

The Gene Haas family were the first fruits of the work begun in 1954 and the tent meetings held in 1957. Larry Haas was for many years in leadership and led the singing at Grace. Leaders over the years in addition to those mentioned include James McFarland, Nick Guikema, Philip Dossett, Tom Duncan, John Gantz, Mike Williams, Mike Rodier, William Ilch, Robert Wenneborg, Morton Morris, Richard Cooley, Rick Petrone, Mark Pribble, and James Fitzgerald. The assembly has commended workers to Brazil and Zambia. About 125 adults and children attend Grace Bible Chapel today.

• * * * * * *

The assembly now meeting at Oak Ridge Bible Chapel in Milan in the Quad-cities area was formed in November 1978, a hive-off from Harrison Gospel Chapel in Davenport, Iowa. It was at that time called Valley Christian Fellowship and met at a day care center on Blackhawk Road in in Rock Island. The principal people in establishing the assembly were Craig Rolinger and Ray Routley. The families who lived in Illinois came with the new meeting, principally the Ferguson, Stevens, Stonehouse, Trent, Rolinger, and Routley families.

The assembly met in the day care center until October 1981, when they moved into a building they had purchased in Milan, at 2716 W. First Street. That building had been a restaurant, which the Christians renovated and enlarged. At that time, they changed the name to Oak Ridge Bible Chapel. The elders have been Craig Rolinger and Ray Routley. Craig and Nancy Rolinger have been commended for work at the assembly. About 50 people attend Oak Ridge Bible Chapel.

• * * * * * *

In Champaign, 100 miles south of Chicago, the assembly now known as Stratford Park Bible Chapel was established in 1917 by Paul Rader, a pastor from Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. Subsequent pastors were Charles Porter in 1920 and James Emblem in 1923. In 1930 the church began moving toward a New Testament structure when Harold Harper came and taught Scriptural principles of gathering. In 1935, E. G. Dillon helped to further establish the company as an assembly. It was called The Gospel Tabernacle in Champaign, IL until 1938.

The Christians met in a small rented hall from 1940 to 1948. They constructed their own building on the corner of Washington and Prospect Avenue in Champaign in 1948 and remained there as the Prospect Avenue Bible Chapel from 1948 to 1967. The new and current building was built in 1967 on the corner of Kirby and Stratford. Commended workers have been Tim and Shirley Dever, Robert and Debbie Whattoff, and William and Sue Tell. Leaders have included Frank and Robert Faulkner, Jim Kay, Ed Hilderbrand, Aldon Jensen, Morel and James Dixon, Robert Jordan, Herb Atwood, John Garrett, Robert Whattoff, Ken Raymond, and Richard Schmall. Nearly 200 adults and children are in the assembly.

• * * * * * *

Neighborhood Bible Fellowship in Carbondale in the southern part of the state, began in 1978 in the home of Glendall and Janet Toney at 801 W. Sycamore, and has moved through several locations, now being in its own building at 2605 Striegel Road. The originators came from Cape Bible Chapel in Cape Girardeau, Missouri were the Toneys, Stan Tucker, Kent Carrell, Laurel Faust, Curt and Cathy Caldwell, Mike Yockey, Glen Berry, Scott Adams, Janice Crumbacher, Peter and Dianna Chandler, and Debbie Cooper. Leadership has been shared by Glendall Toney, Stan Tucker, Kent Carrell, and Dennis Smith. About 130 adults and youngsters attend the assembly.

• * * * * * *

Servants Church in Batavia began meeting in January 1994, with Paul Regan one of the people starting the assembly. However, in 1998 the assembly removed itself from the fellowship of brethren assemblies.

• * * * * * *

Several assemblies were begun in the period between the two World Wars, through the efforts of various pioneers. Henry Petersen was instrumental in starting the Melvina Gospel Hall in the western part of the state through visiting families around Melvina and Montrose. A store was purchased for meetings in the early 1930s. The assembly lasted seven or eight years. Sam McGill was a leading elder. The Peoria Assembly in the middle of the state, had ceased to function by 1949. The Joliet Assembly, near Chicago, met for many years. E. G. Matthews of Waterloo, IA and Joe Nieboer of Chicago are remembered to have ministered there.

• * * * * * *

We also mention several inter-assembly activities, most of which are still continuing, and which served as connecting points among the assemblies. The fellowship among the Chicago assemblies was somewhat divided between north and south in the early days because of distances and transportation. The annual Thanksgiving Conference was a four-day conference usually held on the north side in the Logan Square Masonic Lodge. People from throughout the Midwest came to it. For that Conference the north side assemblies would often invite Northcote Deck as principal speaker.

In about 1938 the teenagers on the south side organized a committee with representatives from every assembly and started a monthly young people’s meeting. Their monthly Sunday evening Singspiration would pack out the building, and young people from the north side would drive all that way after their Sunday evening service to join. Some of the young men who were involved in those gatherings became the leading men in the Chicago assemblies, including Jim Kennedy, John Boyd, Neil Glass, and Wilson McCracken.

An assembly broadcast over radio station WAIT during World War II was a success. Some assembly young men who were in the armed forces would give their testimonies, and a male chorus from the 86th Street Assembly sang quite frequently on that program and became quite popular in the Chicago area. A mixed chorus from several assemblies also sang for the broadcasts. Peter Pell, Charles Howard, and Bob Arthur were among the speakers, and Dick Boldt, Phil Clarkson, and Jim Kennedy were announcers.

The Chicago Missionary Study Class was (and is) the joy of many young and older men. Started at the time of the First World War, classes are hosted by different assemblies throughout the city on the second Saturday of each month. A typical session consists of an afternoon devoted to reading of letters; then supper, followed by a two-hour evening meeting. Typically, a young brother was assigned a topic several months in advance a particular missionary or mission field, or a review of a missionary book. Usually a missionary was available to minister in the latter part of the meeting, or else one of the local brethren would speak. Roy Rapsch had much to do with the Class for many years.

The Chicago Missionary Study Class has for years maintained the Chicago Missionary Guest Apartments. In 1998, the location was in Glen Ellyn, with Harry and Jean Williams as host managers. Earlier managers have been Sally Weidner, Kirk and Paula Lithander, and Steve and Diane Richards. The building contains six apartments, five for furloughed or visiting missionaries, and one for the manager. The six apartments are ‘adopted’ by assemblies who are responsible for decorating and supplies.

The Lake Geneva Youth Camp has been another rallying point of the Chicago area assemblies.

Sources

• Questionnaire Responses
• A History of Lombard Gospel Chapel (1927-1940), November 1994, by Ken Bylsma
• Great is Thy Faithfulness, Palos Hills Christian Assembly, 1890-1990
• Random & Reminiscence, by Theodore Williams, Sr., undated but probably printed in mid 1990s.
• The Christian Brethren Movement, by Inez A. Clayton, undated
• Letters of Interest, June 1945, p. 13; November 1945, p. 29; March 1949, inside front cover and p. 21; November 1953, p. 3; July 1950, p. 20; September 1951, p. 3; February 1957, p. 5; June 1959, p. 11; July 1961, p. 8
• Letters and Reports from Charley Ross, 1997; George Bowman, 1997; Tom Carrick, 1997; William Warke, 1998