New Brunswick history

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is situated on the east coast of Canada. It is bordered on the west by Maine, on the south by Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy, on the east by the Northumberland Strait and on the north by Quebec. Approximately 40% of the population is French-speaking, and most of its young people are bilingual.

Brethren pioneers from Ireland and Scotland reached New Brunswick in the mid-1880s. John Knox McEwen was perhaps the first. John Grimason, in a report written from Baie Verte, New Brunswick in 1886 to the Barley Cake magazine stated: “A whole province here to myself, all strangers to me, but they are the kind God saves: the poor.”

Mr. and Mrs. John Martin (not John M. Martin from Ontario) came to New Brunswick from Kilmarnock, Scotland in the mid-1880s and settled on a farm near New Scotland, a community northeast of Moncton. Mr. Martin had previously preached in the Boston area, Maine, and California. He reported the following in the Barley Cake in 1887: “...Brother Mitchell and I left Nova Scotia on July 1st for Tidnish, New Brunswick where Brother Grimason had labored a year ago and a few souls got saved and gathered out according to Matthew 18:20. We had two weeks meetings in Timber River 8 miles north of Tidnish. Before we left, we had the pleasure of baptizing two brethren. Then we went to Buctouche, 62 miles north on the coast (quite a French settlement) with several Scotch settlements in that neighborhood... The people came out well, some from far distances. We had a schoolhouse at Mill Creek (6 miles from Buctouche) ...” Mr. Martin describes many other preaching experiences in the Maritimes in subsequent letters.

Ansley Goodwin, a native of Timber River, was saved in 1886 when Mr. Grimason and Mr. McEwen visited there. The Tidnish Bridge Assembly was started at that time and is the one referred to by Mr. Martin. This was apparently the first brethren assembly in New Brunswick. An assembly was also planted shortly at Bayside. Ada King wrote that she had been at the opening of the Bayside Gospel Hall in January 1889.

David Scott was born in Ireland in 1867, according to his grandson Gaius Goff. At the age of 18, he emigrated to the USA. While in fellowship in the Cliff Street Gospel Hall in Boston, he became interested in taking the Gospel to the Maritimes. He came in the summer of 1891 to New Brunswick on his vacation and preached in Coates Mills, Kent County, where several were saved. He was then commended by the Cliff Street Assembly, left his employment in Boston, and came to the Coates Mills area the next year, accompanied by John Blair. Many were saved in the Coates Mills/Dundas/New Scotland area while Mr. Scott was preaching there.

Many people from Scotland emigrated to Canada in the 1890s and obtained land grants in New Brunswick. One of these families were the Donald Macdonalds. Mr. and Mrs. J. Harris Bears and their family moved to New Brunswick in 1897 and joined with the assembly in New Scotland.

The New Scotland Assembly was formed around 1896. After the Donald Macdonalds arrived, the Christians met in their home for the morning meetings; other meetings were held in the local schoolhouse. Later, after the Macdonalds moved to Moncton, the assembly met in John Martin’s house. J. Harris Bears and Donald Macdonald were Sunday School teachers in the New Scotland Assembly and preached the Gospel along with John Martin.

Others in the New Scotland Assembly were Mrs. Gourley, Mr. and Mrs. Cary Brown, and Mr. and Mrs. Hugh MacLean of MacLean Settlement. As the older Christians died and the younger ones left the area, the meeting in New Scotland slowly diminished, and discontinued after the death of John Martin in 1924.

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When Ansley Goodwin of Timber River became exercised about the Lord’s work, he left his employment and joined David Scott in preaching the Gospel. He subsequently preached with Robert Milnes, William Brennan, and Isaac McMullen in Kent County and in Moncton.

Isaac McMullen came to Moncton in 1921, having been commended from the Central Gospel Hall in Toronto. When he was in Boston, he was told of the need for workers in New Brunswick to preach the Gospel, so he went there in 1921 and had Gospel meetings with Robert Milnes. In July 1922, he married Miss MacNeil in Moncton, and they established a home there.

Robert McCracken was commended to the work in the Maritimes by the Bloomfield Assembly in Belfast and arrived in Moncton in the spring of 1938. That fall, his brother John joined Robert in meetings in Scotch Settlement. When they couldn’t use the school, they held the Gospel meetings in the Gospel Hall, then on St. George Street in Moncton. Many were saved at these meetings.

Reginald Jordan from Ireland lived and preached in New Brunswick from 1948 to 1951; he was one of the full-time workers in Moncton and also preached with Isaac McMullen at Dorn Ridge, Dundas, and other places. Others among the many who preached the Gospel in New Brunswick were George Heidman, Wade LeBlanc, David Kember, Murray McCandless, Gerard Roy, Leslie Wells, and Jonathan Procoppio.

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Moncton is the second largest city in New Brunswick. In the early years it was known for ship building, and for many years was the home of the Canadian National Railway.

J. Harris Bears moved into Moncton from New Scotland in 1916 and was instrumental in seeing the Moncton assembly formed. It was through him that the preachers came to preach the Gospel in Moncton. The preachers often held meetings in the open air and in the shops of the Canadian National Railroad. In 1919 a tent was pitched in Moncton, and all summer William Brennan and Robert Milnes labored, going from door to door with tracts and preaching in the open air and in the tent. A number were saved. In November 1919, seven met to Remember the Lord, the beginning of the Moncton Assembly. These were Mr. and Mrs. J. Harris Bears, Mr. Norman MacNeil, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Nichols, Kate MacLeod, and Mrs. Carr.

The Christians met first in a little room above a grocery store on St. George Street in Moncton. They later moved across the street and again were upstairs over a grocery store located between Highfield and Weldon Streets. Some of the men who preached there called it a ‘sweat box’ as the room was so small and contained so many cooking odors. The assembly was using Moncton Gospel Hall as the name of their meeting place by that time.

In 1938 Robert McCracken moved to Moncton from Ireland to preach the Gospel. So many were saved when John and Robert McCracken preached in 1938 and 1939 that the assembly had to move to larger quarters, which was a room on the third floor of the Orange Hall at 124 Archibald Street. Mr. MacNeil had started an Assembly Roll Book in the 1920s and listed 21 adults as being in the assembly. He added 109 more names in the Roll Book for the 1930s and 1940s.

When the Christians moved into the Orange Hall on Archibald Street, they found it was possible to hold Bible Conferences. The first one was held on New Year’s Day, 1938. Usually, the men of the assembly were the teachers for this Conference, and they were held on New Year’s Day for many years.

As the number of people in the assembly in Moncton increased in the 1940s, a building fund was started, and land was purchased at the corner of Mountain Road and Lutz Street in 1946. Plans for a new hall were drawn up, and construction began in 1950. The new hall was made of tile and brick. Over 100 were in fellowship then.

Seating was purchased from a local theater and consisted of row seats with wooden seats and backs. These were anchored to the hardwood floors on iron legs in the main auditorium and in the balcony. Moveable chairs were used at the front of the hall on Sunday mornings for the Remembrance meeting. Some years later, the row seats in the auditorium were replaced by more comfortable chrome chairs, and the hardwood floors were all carpeted.

When the adjoining lot on Lutz Street was up for sale in 1955, the assembly bought it for an addition to the building and space for parking. In 1997, a new addition was constructed to the front of the building.

After the move to 195 Mountain Road, a Conference was held in October of 1950 to mark the opening of the building. The Gospel was preached each evening of the Conference; the balcony was filled as well as the auditorium necessitating that chairs be placed in the aisles on the main floor to accommodate all who came.

About 50 students were in the Sunday Schools in 1950. The attendance seemed to peak during the late 1960s and early 1970s when classes were held in every available space in the Moncton Gospel Hall. Fred Ward was a Sunday School Superintendent for many years and was dearly loved by all the children. When he died, money was given in his memory for the building of six Sunday School classrooms in the basement.

Special Sunday School programs have been held in December or January for many years. Children’s Meetings were held on Friday nights from September to April, attracting about 50 children. Meetings for the children of the Lewis Street area on Victoria Street were also conducted under the leadership of Eric Adsett and Harold Horseman. Forty to fifty children attended these meetings each night.

The Tract Band in Moncton had its start in the early days of the assembly, when some of the younger sisters met in homes to address envelopes. They obtained lists from the Post Office and mailed the envelopes with tracts. Later, they met in the Orange Hall for this work, and then in the basement of the Gospel Hall on Mountain Road. They now send out the Seed Sower’s package, which contains a bilingual text as well as tracts and offers of a New Testament to anyone who writes in to request one.

In the early 1950s, some of the sisters were exercised to help assembly missionaries. This effort began in homes but soon moved into the Hall where they could store their supplies. They made quilts, bandages, children’s clothing, and stuffed animals. Calendars were made and sent out Spanish-speaking countries. At Christmas time, many boxes were made up for needy families of Sunday School children.

Street meetings were held in Moncton for many years. On Saturday nights, Christians would preach on the corner of Oak and Main Streets. On Sunday evenings, the open-air meetings were held in the Lewis Street area and in Bore Park and Victoria Park.

In 1962, the elders of the Moncton assembly applied to the Government of Canada for Incorporation, as ‘Christians gathered in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ The name given by the government was ‘Christian Brethren.’

Elders in the Moncton assembly over the years include Donald Macdonald, Ernest Morton, Fred Ward, Eric Adsett, Lawrence Adsett, Fred Nichols, and Norman MacNeil. The latter was one of the founders of the Moncton assembly. His spiritual influence was not limited to just his home assembly but was felt throughout the assemblies of the Maritimes. A bilingualist who spoke fluent French, he worked almost singlehandedly in bringing the Gospel to the French community.

Another stalwart in the assembly later was Raj Manuel, a Christian who had immigrated with his family to the area. When he learned of Gospel meetings at the Moncton Gospel Hall, he went and was so impressed with the Gospel message being preached so plainly that he and his wife Patrima joined the fellowship. Mr. Manuel was a great personal worker.

Rick Pardy was saved through Mr. Manuel’s testimony. He and his wife Pauline joined the fellowship at the Gospel Hall, and through them, others were saved and joined with the assembly. Rick Pardy, with the help of Mark MacPherson, held home Bible readings. Later the Bible studies moved to another home, with Bill Swan and Bob Budd as the leaders. Among those who accepted Christ at these studies were Frank LeBlanc, Alton Stevenson, Jim Harper, and David McQuinn.

In 1988, the general offices and repair shops of the Canadian National Railway were closed, and 1300 jobs were lost, the work being transferred to Montreal and Winnipeg. Two of the leading families in the Moncton assembly had to leave because of the closure, those of Raj and Patrima Manuel, and Rick and Pauline Pardy. By the early 1990s, the hall was renamed to Mountain Road Gospel Hall. The Moncton assembly is the largest in New Brunswick, with about 95 in fellowship in the 1990’s.

Of the travelling preachers who have come to Moncton, J. Boyd Nicholson and Douglas Howard have had the longest continuing association with the Moncton assembly, continuing more than 50 years in both cases.

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In 1914, Miss Margaret Betts from Kent County was nursing in Boston and was concerned that no Gospel preachers had come to the area of her home. She made her concern known to the Christians in Boston. They contacted W. N. Brennan and Robert Milnes, then working in Nova Scotia, and a short time later these preachers came to Main River. The preachers traveled the dusty country roads on their bicycles inquiring if any Christians lived nearby. They were told to go and see Mrs. Charity MacPherson in Smiths Corner, which they did and invited the family to Gospel meetings in the tent in Main River. During 1914 and 1915, several were saved, including four of the MacPherson family. At intervals from 1917 to 1921, Messrs. Brennan, Milnes, and Goodwin preached in the Main River area.

Early in the spring of 1921, Isaac McMullen arrived in Bryants Corner near Moncton and got permission to preach the Gospel in the schoolhouse even though there was some opposition. He labored alone for weeks with the schoolhouse filled to capacity each night, and still no one got saved. He wondered at times if God had really called him to this work as there seemed no strength to bring forth new birth. He went to the meeting on Easter Sunday and had the thought in his mind that if no one got saved that night, he would go back to Toronto to the shoemaking business. But that night, a number were saved, and at the close of the series of meetings, 26 souls had been saved.

During the summer of 1921, others preached the Gospel in the area and more souls were saved. Through their preaching, the Bryants Corner Assembly was planted that summer, with 22 being gathered to His name. The new Christians started a Sunday School and a prayer meeting. Later that year, Mr. McMullen and co-workers baptized twenty at one time in the river, with 500 people observing.

The Christians were exercised about buying land on which a building was to be erected for the preaching of the Gospel and for a burying ground. The land was purchased but a building was not erected. The Christians met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ward for their Remembrance Meetings. The deed for the land was registered in August 1921. The trustees were Joseph Ward, Sylvanus Chapman, Wilkinson Ward, and Robert Lynds.

Several of the younger Christians saved during the early years left the area around Bryants Corner to work in Moncton and joined the fellowship in the Moncton assembly. Mr. Fred Ward, Mrs. Angus MacPherson and Robert and Ella Lynds all moved to Moncton and were in the assembly there for many years.

In 1935, only seven persons were left. The assembly in Bryants Corner continued until shortly before Joseph Ward died in November 1937.

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Mr. and Mrs. Norman Kion of Ontario were missionaries in the West Indies before they moved to Campbellton on the northern edge of New Brunswick in the 1940s. An assembly in Campbellton was going on in the 1940s and 1950s, which was in fellowship with the English assemblies on the Gaspe coast of Quebec, the nearest assemblies to them.

In 1949, Mr. Kion started a radio program called ‘Echoes of Grace’ that reached out 300 miles around Campbellton. Over a period of time the program was broadcast on many other stations, starting with Quito, Equador and then to many other countries.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Chard lived in Campbellton at that time and helped in the Gospel work. Alice (Johnson) Harvie was a schoolteacher there and helped Mr. Kion prepare the radio messages. A small assembly occupies the Campbellton Gospel Hall today.

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Fredericton is the capital city of New Brunswick, situated on the Saint John River. The University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University are both located in Fredericton.

In 1938, Isaac McMullen moved his family to Fredericton. For several years, he preached on street corners in the city. William Glasgow from New Jersey came to Fredericton to work with Mr. McMullen. He and others also worked in nearby Williamsburg, Lincoln, and Dorne Ridge. Although some were saved at that time, no assemblies were formed at that time. In 1944, the McMullens moved back to Moncton.

In 1948, at the invitation of the Fredericton Christians, Mr. and Mrs. A. Christie moved to the Fredericton area from the U.S. Eight Fredericton believers commenced that year to Break Bread on Sunday mornings, the beginning of the Fredericton Gospel Hall. Their first meeting was held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Christie.

That same year, the Christians bought a property that had been a garage and gas station and renovated it for their Gospel Hall. The assembly occupied that building on Gibson Street until 1963, when they purchased land on McAdam Avenue and sold their old building. While they were building the new Gospel Hall, they met in a room in the County Municipal Home.

George Heidman moved his family to Fredericton in 1963 and ministered at the assembly. Hiel and Margaret Patterson of Oxford then moved to Fredericton. They helped at the small assembly and also kept a Christian bookstore called Seaside Scripture Supplies. This business was carried on later by Gordon Swan when the Pattersons moved back to Oxford in 1965. Others in the assembly are Annie Haines, Mr. and Mrs. Reg Brewer, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Stairs, and Mr. and Mrs. Irving Brooks.

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In 1982, a group from the Fredericton Gospel Hall on McAdam Avenue started to meet in Keswick Ridge where they gathered together as the Fredericton Assembly of Christians. After meeting for three years, they bought land on the MacLeod Hill Road and constructed a hall for the assembly. During this time of building, several brethren from the Moncton assembly helped them in their work. The Fredericton Assembly of Christians have a good testimony in the neighborhood and have seen some saved and added to the assembly. They have good outreach to the children in the neighborhood with their children’s programs. Ernest Adsett is an elder in this assembly.

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In the 1950s, Tom Wilkie and James Blackwood held meetings in the city of Sussex, which lies about midway between Moncton and Saint Johns. Later, Sam Cairns and Bill Swan of Moncton preached the Gospel at Sussex. These also held Gospel meetings in a building in nearby Waterford, going there on Sunday afternoons to make a fire in an old oil barrel which served as a stove to warm the building before the evening meetings.

In the 1960s, Grace Craig, later Mrs. Allison Morton, Jr. led a classmate to the Lord. This led to the Lord working in her family’s lives and some were saved. As a consequence of this, Murray McCandless came from Ontario to preach the Gospel in the St. Martins and Sussex areas of New Brunswick. Murray and Shirley McCandless then made their home in Sussex.

David Kember of Ontario moved to Sussex for about two years to assist in the work there. When he returned to Ontario, he left his trailer, so Sam Cairns and Bill Swan carried on Bible readings in the trailer one night a week for some who had professed salvation. Ken and Doris Taylor also lived in Sussex and helped in this new work.

At that time, these Sussex-area Christians were driving to Moncton to Remember the Lord on Sundays. An assembly was started near the town of St. Martins in a rented hall in April 1978. The Christians later moved to the Fire Hall in St. Martins. Then a new Sussex Gospel Hall was built near Sussex and opened in July 1980, with 15 in fellowship.

Christians from the Atlantic Provinces, Ontario, and the United States helped in the building of the new hall. Gaius Goff and Albert Ramsay held Gospel meetings there soon after its opening.

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In 1979, George Hicks was holding Bible studies in the home of John and Grace Vanderlaans in Mercer Settlement, three miles east of Avonmore, about 50 miles west of Moncton. Several local people attended these meetings, among whom were Eric Huggard and David and Connie Cripps.

In June 1980, John M. Martin of Tavistock, Ontario, came to this community and held Gospel meetings in the Community Church in Mercer Settlement. That fall, the Bible studies continued on Sunday evenings at the Vanderlaans’ home. In October, George Hicks held more Bible studies in the home of Doug and Sandy Hall.

When the Hicks and Cripps heard of meetings in Riverview with J. B. Nicholson, Jr., they attended several meetings in the series. During this week, Eric Huggard, the Hicks, and the Cripps met with Mr. Nicholson regarding establishing a New Testament Church in Avonmore. After that, they studied the Emmaus Course Christ Loved the Church by William MacDonald.

John Martin and his wife came to the area again in the spring. The Christians then commenced a regular Remembrance Meeting on Sunday mornings. Those attending the first meeting of the Avonmore Christian Fellowship were John and Melissa Martin, Gerald and Lois MacLellan, Eric Huggard, Connie and David Cripps and George and Amy Hicks. Evening Bible studies were held at the Cripps’ home. The new assembly acquired a portable building and placed it on land made available by David Cripps.

After much prayer and discussion, it was decided that the time was right for a new building. Construction started in the fall of 1993 with the men of the assembly helping out with their individual expertise. Faithful servants of God proclaiming the Gospel and building the saints up have been John Martin, Harold Smith, George Heidman, Wade LeBlanc, Alex Stevenson, Joe Sherlock, J. B. Nicholson, Jr., and Bruce Toye. About 20 adults and children regularly attend the meetings of the assembly.

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Dundas is a small rural community 15 miles north of Moncton. Many preachers have visited this area and many meetings have been held in tents and schoolhouses dating back to the late 1800s.

In the late 1940s, some Christians purchased a lot from Mary (Bears) Graves for the construction of the Dundas Gospel Hall. Those on the deed as trustees in 1949, the date of the construction, were Russell Morton, Harry Hannah, Arthur Bears and Wilfred Budd.

A Conference was held at the opening of the Hall in October 1949 and Douglas Howard, Isaac McMullen and Reg Jordan all spoke at that time. After the opening of the Dundas Hall, Reg Jordan and Isaac McMullen held Gospel meetings.

A Sunday School was started in about 1950; Ralph and Austin Morton taught on Sunday afternoons until Ralph left for British Columbia. Austin Morton carried on with Cecil Budd until he too left for British Columbia. This work continued in the Dundas Gospel Hall for many years by Cecil Budd with help from the brethren from Moncton. More land was obtained later from Mrs. Graves when the hall was enlarged. The assembly seems to have discontinued in the 1980s.

Some in the Dundas area were going to the Moncton assembly meetings and decided to reform the assembly in Dundas. The first meeting to Remember the Lord was held at Robert and Linda Budd’s house in February 1983. Eighteen were present, plus children. These were Cecil Budd, Bob and Linda Budd, Wendell and Suzanne Budd, Wallace and Anita Coates, Clarence and Eleanor Budd, Jim and Dora Melanson, Mary Graves, Ida Budd, Don and Sharon Cormier, Daryll Budd, and Brian and Debbie Budd.

The old Gospel Hall, which was over 30 years old, was raised and a basement put under it; an addition was constructed at the front of the building, and other improvements were made.

Many series of Gospel meetings were held through the years mostly with Harold Smith and Wade LeBlanc who visited faithfully in the area surrounding the Hall. In 1969, Albert Ramsay and David Oliver had Gospel meetings at the Dundas Gospel Hall. David Hunt, Floyd Stewart, and Alec Stephenson were others involved in Gospel work in Dundas.

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In November 1968, several young couples from the Mountain Road Gospel Hall in Moncton left and commenced to meet in the Riverview High School. In February 1970, the building formerly occupied by the Gunningsville Baptist Church, situated on Coverdale Road in Gunningsville/Riverview, was purchased by these believers for their meetings. Repairs were made and the main auditorium redecorated in preparation for the official opening of Faith Bible Chapel in March 1970. The trustees at the time of the purchase of the building were Jack Briggins, Reginald Burge, Allison Morton and David Tipper.

The believers carried on an active Sunday School, and many children had the opportunity of hearing the Gospel as did their parents when they attended special programs of the Sunday School. However, after about a dozen years of meeting, many of the couples originating this work moved from the metropolitan area of Moncton to different parts of Canada and the United States. Some of the Christians returned once again into fellowship at the Mountain Road Gospel Hall in Moncton, and the meeting disbanded in the mid-1980s.

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Saint John is the largest of the four cities in New Brunswick. It is situated at the mouth of the Saint John River.

George Heidman was commended from Dominion Gospel Hall in Orillia, Ontario in August 1950 and moved to New Brunswick in 1952. In May 1953, he felt led to preach the Gospel in Saint John. He and his wife Frances moved there, renting an apartment from Mrs. Murray, the sister of Mrs. Russell Morton of Moncton.

Mr. Heidman immediately began preaching in King Square. Soon he was leading a well-attended Bible study in the home of James O’Neil, the brother of Mrs. Murray. Later, Don Murray, son of Mrs. Murray, offered the use of their home two nights a week for meetings. Mr. Heidman borrowed chairs from the YMCA and took them to the Murray’s home each week and then carted them back again. A good number of people attended these meetings each week.

On Sunday mornings, the Heidmans would travel to Moncton or Fredericton for the Remembrance Meeting. After a time, they felt they should stay in Saint John and start a Sunday School and a Bible class on Sunday mornings. Frances taught Sunday School in the kitchen while George had Bible studies in the living room. Gospel meetings began on Sunday nights in the large living room of the McCavours. Tract distribution was done regularly at both the City Hospital and sanatorium.

In 1954, the first Remembrance Meeting of the Saint John assembly was held in the Heidman’s living room, with Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, Mr. McCavour, Fred Comley and the Heidmans meeting together to Remember the Lord.

In June 1954, Joe Donovan gave the assembly two lots of land next to his home on Courtenay Avenue on which to construct a building for meetings. The men of the Moncton assembly were very faithful; Burton McMullen and Fred Ward would bring a carload down on Saturdays and they would work all day on the building. Others from Moncton and other assemblies came to work on the hall. The Brock Avenue Gospel Hall in Toronto donated light fixtures. Another assembly donated all the chairs that were needed and shipped them to Saint John. Thus, the Saint John Gospel Hall was finished.

The Gospel Hall was opened in February 1955. George Heidman’s father, August Heidman, preached the first message. Mr. Henry Fletcher of Toronto was at the opening and held Gospel meetings afterwards; a number professed to be saved. Mr. McNeil came often from Moncton and was a valuable mentor for George Heidman. Eric Adsett and Fred Ward as well as Burton McMullen and Lawrence Adsett came many times for the weekend to support the work and offer their assistance in the preaching. Clark McClelland often came to conduct series of meetings at the hall.

People from the Mispec area made up a great part of the Saint John meeting. Men in the assembly would drive to Mispec to pick up children for Sunday School. Members of the large Harold Eastwood family were always eager to come. The assembly grew as Christians from assemblies in Scotland came over to work in the Drydock. They were a help in the assembly both preaching the Gospel and ministering the word of God. Two of these men were Ian Adair and Duncan Maxwell.

In 1980, Wade LeBlanc heard the Gospel and trusted the Lord as his Saviour. He soon began preaching at Kings Square and became exercised about going out full-time preaching the Word of God. The Saint John assembly was happy to give him a commendation.

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In the early part of 1979, the first French-speaking assembly in New Brunswick was planted in the small village of Green River, near Edmundston, the Green River chretienne reunis.

Larry Buote, who had been commended to the Lord’s work in Quebec, attended the Moncton Conference in 1978 and visited some new converts on the Acadian Peninsula on the northeast tip of New Brunswick. A man from Tracadie, Leon Comeau, had been saved through reading a New Testament received in the mail, and his wife soon followed. Larry Buote found out about him and soon Leon came in contact with others who shared the same salvation he had found.

The work progressed and meetings were held in Leon’s basement. Several more professed. These new converts met regularly for Bible study. Then the tent went up for public declaration of the Gospel. Much opposition developed, and the town council, who had given them permission to erect the tent, advised them to take it down. Another tentative effort to erect the tent somewhere else also failed, so the meetings were held in different homes in Tracadie. God was working and five souls more were saved. Soon sixteen believers were gathered for the first time in local capacity to Remember their Lord and called their assembly Tracadie chretienne reunis.

Mr. Vincent Davey who spent most of his life in the work of God in Quebec, made many trips to the area. Leslie Wells, a French language professor from Northern Ireland, came to New Brunswick for a short visit in 1981 and returned to help in the Gospel in the summer of 1983. He was later commended to the French work in New Brunswick in 1985. He settled in Tracadie and has endeavored to help in the Gospel and in the teaching of God’s Word. He proved to be a great help in translating hymns from the Believer’s Hymn Book to add to the new hymn book for the French speaking assemblies. He has been a source of encouragement in writing different articles in La Banni re de la V rit, published four times a year.

A few souls have been saved in the village of Neguac and received in the assembly in Tracadie. A weekly Gospel meeting has been held in the home of one of the believers. ‘Kember texts’ are assembled there. This great work has been used of God to spread the message through many parts of the world, and the brethren in Neguac had the privilege to be part of that work which began with Walter Kember from Sarnia, Ontario.

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Pigeon Hill is a small coastal village situated on Ile Lameque, northeast of Tracadie. The Gospel came to this area through a young man, Serge, who was studying at the university in Moncton in 1981. He heard the way of salvation through other students who were having meetings on the campus connected with the French Baptists. Serge was eager to bring this message to his parents. They, his sister, and other relatives came to know Christ as Savior. In the spring of 1984, Serge came in contact with the assembly in Tracadie. He was received in the assembly in December of that year.

There were several other villages to reach in those parts of the Acadian peninsula. With the encouragement of the brethren, weekly meetings were held. In June 1992 a new testimony was planted in the area with 15 in fellowship. More than 30 now meet in their new Pigeon Hill Gospel Hall which was built in 1996.

The assembly in Tracadie holds a monthly meeting for the ministry of God’s Word through the winter months in conjunction with Pigeon Hill, alternating between assemblies from November through March.

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Shediac is on the coast of Northumberland Strait, 15 miles northeast of Moncton. The assembly in Shediac, “Shediac chretienne reunis”” has its roots at the Canadian National Railway shops in Moncton in May 1982 when Luc Bergeron heard the Gospel and was saved through Raj Manuel, a fellow worker. Another young man, Denis Bourgeois, was saved in September of that year, followed by others. A group started meeting in Luc Bergeron’s home in Robichaud, near Shediac for Bible studies.

Raj Manuel invited them to attend a series of Gospel meetings with Albert Hull and Doug Howard. Luc Bergeron had already seen the way of gathering according to the Scriptures and the truth of the Lord’s supper and wanted to know more because those things were not practiced where he was going since the time he had been saved.

That summer of 1982, Clarence and Robert Budd had a few Bible studies with these new Christians but seeing that their interest was to have something in French, Clarence Budd contacted Larry Buote who was laboring in Quebec. With his teaching, they were soon in fellowship with the believers in Moncton.

In the fall of 1982, Larry Buote came to the community of Robichaud, near Shediac, for Gospel meetings in the basement of Maurice Gaudet’s home. Bible readings were held on Saturday evenings because the men were working at the shops on weeknights. Gerard Roy and Larry Buote had several meetings on a weekend on assembly truths. Mr. Berney from Quebec was also invited by the Moncton brethren to come for ministry. Mr. Davey made several trips to Shediac and the other French assemblies to encourage the young assemblies. In January 1983, Gospel meetings were held to reach others in these parts.

The new believers developed a desire to meet as an assembly in Robichaud. In April 1983, the brethren sought the fellowship of their brethren from Moncton. Soon, 16 believers met for the first time as Shediac chretienne reunis to Remember the Lord.

A year later, the hall was built, and the first series of Gospel meetings were held that summer. Gerard Roy, who had just been commended to the work, joined Mr. Grainger from Ontario for these meetings. Fourteen people professed salvation in those meetings.

The assembly has sought to continue to spread the Gospel in other areas. There are now 50 believers in fellowship. An annual Conference is held in the fall in the Shediac High School; the monthly ministry meetings throughout the winter months have been a blessing for the assembly.

Visitation is done on a regular basis to surrounding communities near Shediac. An outreach through the province is also made regularly with the help of the other assemblies who help distribute Seed Sowers texts to villages beyond. A weekly Gospel meeting is held in a portable hall in the village of St-Louis, an hour’s drive north. Two families from St-Louis drive to Shediac for the regular assembly meetings.

Brethren from the Shediac assembly have labored faithfully to spread the Gospel to students at the University of Moncton. They visit weekly and distribute over 100 texts each Monday night, inviting students to come and hear the truth about eternal matters. Each Saturday night, the Gospel message is proclaimed.

There are now four French speaking assemblies in New Brunswick and two commended workers, Mr. Leslie Wells from Northern Ireland and Gerard Roy of Green River. Larry Buote continues to labor there and in Quebec.

Sources

• Remember the Days of Old, by Betty McMullen, Gospel Folio Press, 2000
• Letters of Interest, February 1944, p. 24; March 1944, p. 38; December 1955, p. 15