Missouri history

Missouri

Caleb J. Baker had become a prosperous tent and awning maker following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. But before that, he had been saved and had developed a passion for the Gospel. In perhaps 1879, he met Donald Ross, who had set up a Gospel tent near Mr. Baker’s place of business in Chicago, and soon became associated with him. An assembly met to Remember the Lord in that tent, and Mr. Baker and several of his employees soon were in fellowship in that assembly.

1880’s: Kansas City, MO

1880’s: Troost Avenue Gospel Hall, KCMO

In the 1880s, Donald Ross started westward. After being in Kansas City for a time, he encouraged C.J. Baker to relocate there because he recognized it as a logical center for reaching out to the southwest and west. Deciding to separate from his business partner and move to Kansas City, Mr. Baker invited several of his Christian employees to move with him, chosen for their ability to help establish an assembly.

The first assembly in Kansas City, MO, began the day after the group arrived, and met in the main room of the new canvas factory for several months. After that, they met successively in a number of rented places, usually above a store, sometimes on the third floor. Mr. Baker did not approve of buying a place and thought the assembly should never stay in one place more than about two years. He envisioned the assembly as a roving Gospel outreach, moving among neighborhoods. During his lifetime, Mr. Baker supplied tents, not only to the evangelists who engaged in pioneer work, but to missionaries around the world.

Mr. Baker was indefatigable, and the assembly was active. Mrs. George Rendall, one of those brought from Chicago, was an excellent Sunday School teacher for the assembly. C.J. Baker instituted street meetings and started a Christmas Bible Conference, much like the Thanksgiving Conference initiated in Chicago by Donald Ross. C.J. Baker’s grandson, William Baker Sommerville, remembers it thus:

“...conferences always lasted three days and sometimes four. The preaching services lasted at least an hour and a half in the morning, two hours or more in the afternoon, and an hour and a half again in the evening. The people all ate together, at least for the noon and supper meals. And there was a great deal of ‘conferring’ in the conferences which had nothing to do with the preaching services. There was a great deal of discussion among the elders of the various assemblies regarding their problems, whether theological or practical.

It was a very great unifying exercise among the people in the assemblies in various parts of the country.... I don’t know that I ever heard about Santa Claus when I was very little. And since we were always at meetings on Christmas day… Christmas to me as a small boy meant Conference. And this meant meeting interesting people, hearing interesting things, seeing things. It was the big point of my life in those days...”

The Christians met for a time at 14th and Main Streets. Eventually they desired more comfortable accommodations and began renting church buildings; the first of these seems to have been an old building at 16th & Holmes. After that they rented a church building at 31st and Charlotte. In the first decade of the 1900s, the assembly had about 150 people in it. In 1906 or 1907, Mr. Baker and his associates invited C.W. Ross, Donald Ross’ son, to move to Kansas City, labor among them, and make it a center for his ministries.

Finally, in 1918, the Christians constructed their own building on Troost Avenue at 28th, which became well known as the Troost Avenue Gospel Hall. It was one of the leading assemblies in the area for many years. Assemblies in Spruce Hill, MO; Overland Park, KS; and Kansas City, KS are descendants of the Troost Avenue Gospel Hall. The Troost Avenue Christians opened the Servicemen’s Canteen during World War II. Troost Avenue Gospel Hall disbanded in the early 1980s.

1962: Spruce Hill Bible Chapel, KCMO

Spruce Hill Bible Chapel at 11501 E. Bannister Road began in 1962 as a hive-off from Troost Avenue Gospel Hall. Those responsible for its establishment were Lawrence and Betty Littlefield, John and Betty Littlefield, John and Barbara Schultheis, Robert Beulick, and Viva and Ewart Gunn. For the first year, the assembly met in the home of Lawrence and Betty Littlefield. Then John and Betty Littlefield donated a small acreage adjoining their home for the construction of Spruce Hill Bible Chapel.

George and Gloria Martin joined the fellowship at Spruce Hill about a year after the chapel was completed and have been pillars in the assembly. Those active in leadership over the years include George Martin, Ross Ragland, Lawrence Littlefield, Robert Cowan, and James Robertson. About 65 adults and young people are in Spruce Hill Bible Chapel. The assembly has commended workers to the Lord’s service.

St. Louis, MO

1873: South Side Assembly, St. Louis

The roots of the Bible Chapel in St. Louis, on the opposite side of the state from Kansas City, go back to 1873 when a 31-year-old James Campbell arrived in the city from Scotland and preached the Gospel. Several were saved in these meetings, including Mr. Donald O. Macleod. Mr. Campbell also instructed the believers in the principles of the New Testament church.

Mr. Campbell went from there to St. Charles, MN, but returned to St. Louis in 1879 with Donald Munroe for more Gospel effort. They found a group meeting for Bible study in various homes and encouraged them to begin Remembering the Lord, which they did in the home of John Kerr. Others from various denominations joined with them, and the believers continued to meet for some time in that home as the South Side Assembly. They later moved into an old rock building in the 3000 block of Pine Street.

In 1895, the surnames of some of those meeting as the South Side Assembly were Brown, Bothwell, Buss, Couser, Dyke, Hughes, Macleod, Morey, and White.

At about that time, Mr. Buss left the assembly to form another, which met in a building at the corner of Florissant and O’Bear. This meeting lasted only a short time. In November 1901, the South Side Assembly moved to Jefferson and Pestalozzi Streets in South St. Louis.

1902: McNair & Lynch Assembly, St. Louis, MO

In 1902, tent meetings were held by brethren Currens and Camp from Chicago, at which many were saved, including members of the Henrich, Masek, James, and Todd families. These Christians immediately formed an assembly which met in the rented Power House at 7th and Lami Streets, then shortly moved to the Shaving Shop on 2nd and Sidney Streets. This structure had wood shavings on the floor, wrapping paper over the rafters, and home-made wood benches.

This assembly later moved to a storefront at McNair and Lynch Streets, then met in various homes. Messrs. Edward Allan and I.R. Dean were in fellowship there, as was Mr. Buss.

1906: North Side Assembly, St. Louis, MO

Buss left again and formed an assembly meeting at Newhouse and Blair. In 1910, Mr. Buss built Bible Hall on Finney Avenue. Sometime after that, a group left Bible Hall to form the North Side Assembly.

1906: Southside Gospel Hall / Bible Chapel, St. Louis, MO

So in 1906 there were three groups, the South Side Assembly at Jefferson and Pestalozzi, the unnamed group at McNair and Lynch, and the group that followed Mr. Buss. Mr. Allan of the McNair group went to see Mr. Macleod of South Side to discuss a merger. This was agreed upon, and the merger took place at the end of 1906.

The merged group, still called South Side Assembly, met in a large number of places in St. Louis over the next two decades. In 1926, the assembly moved to 5021 Morganford Road, rented it for many years, then purchased and remodeled it in 1940. This was known as the South Side Gospel Hall. Other family names during these years are Thiel, Horst, Suess, Luethge, Judd, Newkum, Ostertag, Bonham, Richardson, Blackshaw, and Miller.

When Morganford Road was to be widened, the assembly built and moved into the South Side Bible Chapel on Leona Avenue at Bowen. The assembly now calls its building simply Bible Chapel. In 1973, the assembly started the Victory Christian School in this building for children from kindergarten through 1st grade. In 1982, the Christians purchased a school building on Musick Road, which is the present location for the assembly and the Victory Christian School, which now teaches kindergarten through 12th grade with around 200 students.

The assembly commended O. Morey as a medical doctor to Africa in the early 1900s; he worked with F.S. Arnot. Others have been commended for ministry in the U.S.

1921: Maplewood Gospel Hall / Bible Chapel, St. Louis, MO

Prior to the establishment of the present Maplewood Bible Chapel in St. Louis, a small group of exercised Christians from the Bible Hall and the South Side Assembly met for prayer and fellowship in various homes. The group first met in 1921 at the home of Mr. Reister, 2119 Alameda, with 30 present, but soon moved to a rented room at 7016 Manchester. In mid- 1922, a lot at 7138 Southwest Ave was purchased; within a few months, a basement was finished enough to hold meetings there; an above-ground auditorium was not completed until 1930.

During the 1920s, the Maplewood Gospel Hall, as it was then called, held evangelistic tent meetings on an adjacent lot, with many visiting preachers. In the 1930s and 1940s, street meetings were common and held in St. Louis, Maplewood, Webster, and East St. Louis, IL. A Young Men’s Prayer and Bible Study was started in collaboration with other assemblies. A yearly Young People’s area-wide Conference and a bi-yearly area-wide Sunday School Teachers Conference were begun.

In 1935, Maplewood Gospel Hall published the Exhorter and a Chorus book. Radio ministries have included a KSTL Family Bible Hour and a broadcast by the young people of the assembly. Bible studies for Jewish friends were held in homes. Messianic Forum on Pine Street in downtown St. Louis was held weekly in May 1948. Palabras Fieles (Spanish Faithful Words) was started by Carl Ostertag. The assembly has commended many people to the Lord’s work at home and to countries such as Ecuador, Peru, Korea, SouthEast Asia, and Ireland

In 1949, several assemblies: Maplewood, South Side, Kossouth, and Bible Hall, began the Masokobi Bible Camp for children. Now called Dayspring Bible Camp, the facility was purchased by the St. Louis assemblies in 1987.

1920’s: Richmond Heights Gospel Chapel, St. Louis, MO

The assembly meeting at the Richmond Heights Gospel Hall in the St. Louis area seems to have begun in the 1920s, assisted in its early days by Maplewood Gospel Hall. The Christians have changed the name of their meeting place twice while staying at the same location: 7902 Dale Avenue. In the mid-1980s, the name became Richmond Heights Gospel Chapel, and in 1994: The Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Leaders have included David Woods, Donovan Case, Marvin Curry, Joseph Crenshaw, Harold Spiller, and Untra Northern. Mr. Northern was commended by the assembly to the Lord’s work in 1982.

1956: Emmaus Bible Chapel, St. Louis, MO

Emmaus Bible Chapel in St. Louis began in 1956 and has been at the same location in the Ferguson area since that time. George Nelson, Donald Walter, Frederick St. Clair, and Harvey Decker were those involved in its formation. George Nelson, E.T. Mauger, and Lester Collins have been among the leaders. The assembly has commended workers to the Lord’s vineyard in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Dayspring Bible Camp in Ironton, Missouri.

Their current schedule, as of March 2019, is:

Sunday
9:00 Breaking of Bread
10:00 Sunday School for all ages, including an adult class
10:35 Fellowship
11:00 Family Bible Hour

Wednesday
7:00 Prayer Meeting

For more information, please visit their website at: www.emmausbiblechapel.org

1979: Moriah Assembly, St. Louis, MO

The Moriah Assembly in St. Louis was started by John and Sue Callan, and Lee and Shirley Holtgrewe, none of whom were present at the time of the merger with Believers in 1986.

1986: Believers Church, St. Louis, MO

Believers Church in St. Louis was begun in 1984 by Jim and Karen Frankel, Randy and Donna Gruber, and Joe and Mary Vogl.

1986: Grace Bible Church, St. Louis, MO

Grace Bible Chapel in St. Louis was formed in 1986 by the merger of two home assemblies meeting in the southwest part of metropolitan St. Louis: the Moriah Assembly and Believers Church.

The primary leaders at Grace Bible Chapel have been Jim Frankel, Randy Gruber, Mark Keller, Dave Kozeny, Steve Leary, Brian Railey, Jim Robertson, Cordell Schulten, and Joe Vogl.

Grace Bible Church has rented and met in several facilities since its inception. Since 1990, the Christians have met at Parkway Northeast Middle School at the intersection of Ladue Road and Interstate 270. The assembly now has about 100 adults and youngsters associated with it.

Grace Bible Chapel has commended Cordell Schulten as a resident worker in the assembly. Other commendations have been to Set Free Ministries of Missouri and to Japan.

Springfield, MO

1933: Southeast Gospel Hall / Chapel, Springfield, MO

A store front on St. Louis Street in Springfield, in the southwest part of the state, was the first home in 1933 of the Southeast Gospel Hall. John Elliot and Tom Cullaghough were the principal people involved in the start-up. The assembly moved to its present location at 1051 South Crutcher in Springfield in about 1936, and later became the Southeast Gospel Chapel. Those in leadership over the years include John Elliot, Carl Carey, Charles Brooks, Mark Newberry, Lewis Bigbee, Robert McWade, Don Thompson, Walter Cary, Ross Ragland, and Wendell Kerr. The assembly has commended workers to itinerant ministry in the U.S. About 45 adults and young people attend Southeast Gospel Chapel.

1978: Jefferson City, MO

Jefferson City Bible Chapel began in 1978 on Industrial Drive in Jefferson City, in the middle of the state, and moved to its present location at 2804 Sue Drive in 1996. James Allan, Stephen J. Allan, Stephen R. Allan, Alan Braun, Curtis Cox, Tim Rockhold, and Tim Adkerson were the principals involved in the start-up, and have served as the leaders of the assembly. Stephen R. Allan has been commended by the assembly to full-time work at Turkey Hill Ranch Bible Camp near Vienna.

1974: Brookfield, MO

Brookfield is a small town in the northern part of Missouri. A Bible study that started in 1974 in the home of Bill and Georgeanna Howell in nearby St. Catharine developed into the Brookfield Christian Fellowship, which was officially incorporated in 1977. The men of the assembly built a chapel in Brookfield in 1984 at 409 S. State Street, which the assembly still occupies.

Besides the Howells, those involved in the start-up of the assembly were Jack and Sharon Anderson, and Mary Brammen and her daughter Ann. Leadership has been vested in B.D. Howell, Herb Huck, Rod Libby, Jon Mendenhall, and Bruce Haley. William R. Howell was commended to the Lord’s work as Camp Director of Story Book Lodge as well as other ministries. Tom Brammer has been commended to work in the assembly. Brookfield Christian Fellowship also commended others to the Lord’s service in Russia. It now has about 130 adults and youngsters in attendance.

1998: Hazelwood, MO

Hazelwood Christian Fellowship Assembly Church started in April 1998, meeting at 126 Flora in Hazelwood, having split off from an independent Bible church in which women held positions of authority. Clarence E. Jackson, Ron Smith, and Jimmy Russell are those who began the new assembly and are the leaders. About 35 adults and children comprise the assembly.

Sources

• Questionnaire Responses
• Reminiscences about Our Family, by William Baker Sommerville, 1978.
• Letters of Interest, January 1982, p.18