McKeesport Gospel Hall, PA
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McKeesport: First assembly in Pittsburgh 1876/1908-1913
The first assembly in the Pittsburgh area was in McKeesport, a southern suburb of Pittsburgh, in 1876. No other details are available for this time period, but it is known that from 1908 to 1913, an assembly was meeting in an upper room in downtown McKeesport, to which William Pinches came to preach.
Homestead Assembly 1913-1933
When several of the saints had moved away or passed away, the remaining believers in 1913 joined with the Homestead Assembly some few miles away. Those in fellowship at the Homestead Assembly at that time included Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Clark and Mr. and Mrs. William McAra. From 1913 to 1933, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Clark held a Sunday School in their home and carried on Bible studies in various homes. Gospel tent meetings were held. Many were saved in these years.
McKeesport Gospel Hall
1933-1937
After Alexander Wilson started a Sunday School in his home in McKeesport in 1933, the believers involved in that work decided for form an assembly in the area, in fellowship with the Homestead Assembly. An empty storeroom was located and rented at 1301 Soles Street. The saints, twenty in all, met for the first time there in March 11, 1934 to Remember the Lord. The Joseph Clark, William Moore, and Alexander Wilson families were among those.
This first McKeesport Gospel Hall was heated with a pot bellied stove in the middle of its only room. There were no other amenities. But the assembly was vibrant, with 100 children in its Sunday School. Sam Rea and Tom Ferguson were among the early preachers coming to the Hall.
1938
In 1938, the building was purchased, then enlarged. The addition was opened with a prayer meeting in February of that year, with about 130 in attendance. The assemblies represented at the prayer meeting were:
- Homestead Assembly
- Friendship Avenue Assembly
- East Pittsburgh Assembly
- North Side Assembly
- Pittsburgh
- Indiana Gospel Hall
- Mansfield Assembly
1974-2000's
The McKeesport Gospel Hall assembly purchased a lot at Prescott and Broadway Street in White Oak Borough in 1974. The brethren designed and built the new Hall, and the first service there was in March 1975. The assembly has held Conferences each year since 1949, usually with a few hundred people attending. About 60 were in the assembly in the early 2000's.
Commendations
In 1965, the assembly at McKeesport commended Ernest Moore and his wife Katherine Pinches Moore to ministry in Chile including Gospel preaching, literature distribution and Bible teaching. The Moores also had commendation from an assembly in Manchester, CT and Oakwood Gospel Hall, Niagara Falls, ON. Katherine is a descendant of the forementioned pioneer worker, William Pinches. They labored for a few years in Curico, Chile, then moving in 1975 to Osorno in Southern Chile where they planted an assembly in 1979.
The Moores also held meetings in Rio Negro where another hall was constructed, and meetings in Puerto Montt, etc. In the mid-1980's, the assembly at Osorno had roughly 20 in fellowship, with three Sunday Schools with over a hundred children. Ernest also crossed the Andes mountains several times for ministry and Gospel meetings in far southern regions in Argentina including Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
When on furlough in Statesville, North Carolina, the Moores have done active itinerant North American work, as well as writing books in Spanish, including a commentary on Ezra & Nehemiah. Ernest has also written a book, "Bible Chronology and Genealogies" which was first available in Spanish, then translated to English. In the late 2000's they were continuing ministry in Argentina and Chile, with special attention towards Gospel outreach in Rio Negro and Purranque. They continue, as of 2019, to be active in this ministry.
Also See
Websites
General
Audio
- 40 Messages from McKeesport Ministry
- "Everything Is A Rush" (1 Message from McKeesport Ministry on VFC)
Sources
- "History of Assemblies in the United States and Canada" by Robert L. Peterson & David Rodgers; revised by Doug Engle
- Know Your Missionaries, 1986 September & 1989 June, Everyday Publications, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
