Difference between revisions of "Washington history"

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Washington

Hope Bible Fellowship in Seattle has its roots in an assembly that was in existence by 1921, and that met then at Taylor Avenue Gospel Hall. The families of Coy, Greenhill, and Hitchman are remembered from that time; they had earlier met to Remember the Lord in a store front in the Fremont area. The parents of Daniel Hayden were saved in 1924 and joined the fellowship at Taylor Avenue. Arthur and Winnie Knight and their family joined with Taylor Avenue in 1930, coming from the dwindling local Grant ‘exclusive’ meeting.

Harry Penman, a Scotsman who began a successful advertising business in Seattle, was a true leader and encourager at Taylor Avenue. He had a large vision and was instrumental in inviting well-known ministering brethren from the ‘old country’ to have week-long ministry and evangelistic meetings at the Gospel Hall. Initially the assembly consisted mostly of brethren of Scottish, Irish, and English extraction. A.L. Ritts, a well-known Bible teacher from the Midwest, moved to Seattle with his family and helped in the early days.

At that time the Taylor Avenue Gospel Hall was situated on the summit of Denny Hill, near the present Seattle center. When Denny Hill was sluiced into Puget Sound to make way for a level northward expansion of downtown Seattle in 1930, the assembly purchased and moved into an existing church building nearby at 40th and Whitman Avenue N; they called it Hope Gospel Hall.

The assembly was blessed with a vibrant young people’s group of about 40, out of whose number some were later commended to missionary service, including Ernie and Helen Crabb to Alaska; Dorothy Munce to India; Ken and Helena Fleming to South Africa; Peter Fleming to Ecuador; Paul and Helen Flint to Emmaus Bible School; Lloyd and Linda Rogers to Ecuador; and Mark and Carol Mattix to Bolivia. Also, in those decades missionary meetings were easily arranged, and scarcely a week would go by without a visiting missionary exposing the saints to the needs and triumphs of the Gospel in many parts of the world.

Frank Hitchman, Charles Joss, James Greenhill, Ray Knowles, Ray Anderson, and Doug Kazen are some of those who have been active in leadership through the years. Many of the Lord’s servants involved in itinerant ministry visited the assembly during the 1930s to the 1950s, holding week-long evangelistic and ministry meetings, and sometimes special children’s meetings. These men included A. N. O’Brien, George Landis, Alfred Mace, Inglis Fleming (who had moved to Seattle), E. K. Bailey, Walter Purcell, Leonard Sheldrake, Harold Harper, A.P. Gibbs, and Henry Petersen.

Because of the proximity of both Army and Navy bases to Seattle, Hope Gospel Hall enjoyed the fellowship and stimulation of many servicemen during World War II years. These visits were a source of enrichment and increasing awareness of world-wide needs. Annual inter-assembly Labor Day Bible Conferences, rotating among the Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland assemblies were also a source of growth and encouragement.

In the late 1940s, the name was changed to Whitman Avenue Gospel Chapel, reflecting its location. At that time, adult attendance was often up to 250, with a Sunday School close to 100 children and teen-agers.

In July 1987, Whitman Avenue Gospel Chapel and the Wedgewood Bible Fellowship in Seattle merged, and changed the name to Hope Bible Fellowship, but remaining at the Whitman Avenue address. Adult attendance in 1996 was a little over 50. In late 1996, Michael Vederoff was engaged as a full-time worker for the assembly. Current elders are Dex Sederstrom, Aaron Vederoff, Terry Dickerson, and Mike Lytle.

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During World War II, the Whitman Avenue Gospel Chapel planted a new assembly in Des Moines, some 15 miles south of Seattle. It was called at first the Highline Gospel Assembly, meeting at the Odd Fellows Hall. The assembly moved in 1955 into their own building in the center of Des Moines and named it the Des Moines Gospel Chapel. Growth in this young assembly occurred largely through a series of home Bible studies, using the Emmaus Correspondence Courses What the Bible Teaches and Lessons for Christian Living. Beatrice Kosin was commended from Des Moines Gospel Chapel to the work of the Lord in Laos, where she was killed by the Viet Cong.

As the Des Moines Gospel Chapel continued to grow, the building was enlarged in stages. Attendance at the Lord’s Supper was about 150 in 1997, with some 250 to 300 presents on Sunday morning for the Family Bible Hour. Sunday School classes for all ages are well attended. The assembly administrative staff consists of a full-time pastoral worker, two youth workers, and a secretary.

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In about 1970, the Des Moines assembly thought it would be wise to consider a hive-off, so they purchased property in the Federal Way area, about 10 miles south of Des Moines. In 1973, the new assembly was planted and began meeting in the Brigadoon School. Shortly thereafter construction was begun on Evergreen Bible Chapel in Federal Way at 21st Avenue SW. Robert Arthur, Tom Parks, Bill Erickson, Russell Howard and George Mathews were the original elders there. Others involved in establishing Evergreen Bible Chapel were William Mitton, William Erickson, and Homer Grob. Other leaders have been Marchant King, Jerry Schwartz, and Dean Mills.

About 110 adults and youngsters attended Evergreen Bible Chapel in 1996. The assembly has seen blessing in a good Awana Club ministry, as well as Vacation Bible Schools. Workers have been commended to radio station HCJB in Texas and to Papua New Guinea.

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In October 1949, some brethren who were affiliated with the testimony at Hope Gospel Hall, and living in the north end of Seattle, began meeting in homes for prayer and Bible studies, with E.K. Bailey and Alex Ainslie as teachers. In May 1950, they purchased a building in the Northgate area from a Lutheran group and immediately began building up a Sunday School as well as reaching adults in the neighborhood. Northgate Gospel Chapel in Seattle was established in mid-1950 with the full fellowship and cooperation of the Hope brethren. Besides Messrs. Bailey and Ainslie, the people involved in establishing Northgate Gospel Chapel include the families of Bob Flint, Les Reitz, Bill Hitchman, Frank Fulton, and Bernie Salins. Celoa Brown was one of the original groups, and Olive Liefeld (Ainslie) was the first Sunday School teacher. Ray Anderson and Delbert Slattery also helped with the fledgling assembly. Leading brethren from the earlier days include, besides those above, Lee Miller, Sumner Osborne Sr., Virgil Holterman, Edwin Wald, Henry Soderlund, Max Johnson, and Bob Hess.

By May 1951, the Sunday school had grown to more than 100 children, and 60 to 75 adults attended the morning preaching service. An addition providing more classroom space was built in late 1952; remodeling in the late 1950s added more space. Attendance in 1996 was about 150 adults and youngsters. Workers have been commended by the assembly to Chile, Bolivia, and Australia.

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North Lynnwood Bible Chapel, WA began with six families meeting together in 1978. At that time the name South County Bible Fellowship, WA was chosen, since the families expected to be in the south part of Snohomish Country, north of Seattle. The first meetings of the group were in a home for Wednesday evening Bible Studies and fellowship. By September 1978, they decided to meet as a church, on Sundays. During the first year, the group doubled in size and moved from one rented house to another and then to a YMCA. In 1981, they purchased property north of the town of Lynnwood, and changed their name to the present one. They met in rented space in a grade school until moving into their own completed chapel in 1986.

Gordon Strom, who has worked with several Seattle-area assemblies, was closely involved with the group during the early years. Among other leaders have been Dan Covert, who grew up in the assembly at Cosmopolis Gospel Chapel, and James Gray, a product of Emmaus Bible College and the Discipleship Intern Training Program. North Lynnwood Bible Chapel has commended workers to church planting and building in Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

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The Bainbridge Bible Chapel is an assembly which meets in the gymnasium of a school on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound. In 1997, there were approximately 35 adults who regularly came together for the Lord’s Supper, and approximately 120 adults and children for Sunday School and Family Bible Hour. A Monday evening adult Bible study is held in the Law Offices of a brother in the meeting, with about 30 to 35 attending. Other meetings are held in homes.

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Sunrise Fellowship in Edmonds, on the north edge of Seattle had its beginnings in the 1960s. Composed largely of young families and singles, it is a growing church fellowship in the 1990s.

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In the 1950s, the assemblies in the Seattle area purchased the site for a camp on a lake on Whidbey Island, 30 miles north of Seattle. Lakeside Bible Camp through the years has been a great blessing to young people and adults as well. Camps and retreats are held the year around.

A monthly Missionary Focus meeting for all the greater Seattle area assemblies is held in north and south Seattle assemblies on a rotating basis. This has been continuing for the past 40 years and has been an important factor in stimulating local missionary interest. Missionary speakers are usually drawn from those who may be on furlough.

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In 1901, a business man invited evangelist James Harcus, then living in Portand to come to Everett, then a small town north of Seattle, and hold meetings. With the help of W.C. Arnold, Mr. Harcus pitched a tent in Everett and held meetings for several months. A number found Christ during the meetings. Mr. Harcus later moved his family to Everett and continued to work in the region for many years; he is buried in Everett.

Some of the Christians there, who included Lawrence Kane and William Harcus, a son of James, built a small hall and started a Sunday School. The Everett Gospel Hall first met in Riverside, the eastern, older part of the town. Mr. Kane married William Harcus’ sister Mary, joined William in the printing business, and became one of the strong leaders of the assembly. In 1926, the assembly moved into Parkside Bible Chapel in Everett at 2427 Lombard, its present location. Parkside Bible Chapel has commended workers to Paraguay.

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The Arlington Gospel Hall had its beginning at about the same time. In the early 1900s, several families, all related or acquainted, moved from Illinois to the area near Arlington, north of Everett. These families were all accustomed to attending the Dutch Reformed Church, but because the distance of the nearest church was too far to go by horse and buggy, they met in one another’s homes.

Three Klein brothers, John, Richard, and Otto, and their families, were among these early settlers. The Otto Klein family settled in Everett in 1900. One day Otto saw James Harcus’ tent pitched near his home, so he stood near it to listen and liked what he heard. When Mrs. Klein passed away at about that time, Otto asked Mr. Harcus to share the funeral service. His daughter Mary (later Mrs. Peter Kazen) began attending the Sunday School in the Everett Gospel Hall, and they both attended Gospel meetings there, but did not join the fellowship.

In the fall of 1905, an evangelist held Gospel meetings in the Arlington Baptist Church. Several of the Illinois settlers attended the meetings, with the result that some trusted the Lord. Learning of the interest in the Word of God among these believers, Mr. Harcus began having Bible studies in the home of Otto Klein, who had moved to Arlington, teaching them about believer’s baptism and about New Testament assemblies.

In 1907, Mr. Harcus and W.C. (Ben) Arnold put up a tent on Olympic Avenue and held gospel meetings for six weeks. Souls were saved, but there was also some fierce opposition to the gospel. When the tent was taken down and readied for shipment to another area for meetings, the Northern Pacific Railway agent refused to receive it. Since the only way to send items then was by rail, Ed Eylander and John Klein loaded the tent on a hay wagon and took it to the agent at the Edgecomb Station.

Early in 1908, John Klein found it necessary to go to a medical clinic in Kansas City for surgery. Mr. Harcus, being well acquainted with the Kansas City brethren, gave him a letter of introduction to Caleb Baker and his associate Mr. Lockwood. John Klein and his wife Carrie were entertained by the Christians there and attended the assembly meetings. They became thoroughly convinced concerning the doctrines of believer’s baptism and gathering to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. After their return home later in the spring, sixteen believers were baptized in the river near the Lincoln bridge. In the fall of 1908, these believers met for the first time in assembly capacity in the home of John and Carrie Klein in Arlington. The assembly was composed mainly of the Klein, Kazen, and Kroeze families.

In 1909, Louis and Rose Hoy moved with their family to Arlington. They had been in assembly fellowship in Minnesota and Seattle prior to coming to Arlington and were most helpful to the saints in the newly formed Arlington assembly. Mr. Hoy was a faithful teacher and shepherd in Arlington for many years. The assembly meetings were held in the Hoy home until the Christians rented a tire store near the north end of Olympic Avenue. David Scott and Albert Payne held a six week series of meetings in that tire store. Mr. Scott was the initiator of the first Conference, held for two days at Thanksgiving time in 1912. The speakers, in addition to David Scott, included Albert Payne, Harry Fletcher, James Rae, and William Rae.

In 1913, the assembly moved to a building at 324 North Olympic, the first Arlington Gospel Hall. The number of Christians in fellowship continued to grow, and after about seven years they needed a larger building. When the Baptists ceased holding services in Arlington in 1920, the assembly rented their building at Third and McLeod. Three years later, Harry Fletcher of Vancouver purchased it and the assembly rented it from him. Mr. Fletcher employed Hector Alves to oversee much-needed renovation. The assembly was able to purchase the building from Mr. Fletcher in 1946.

Others of the Lord’s servants who ministered to the saints and held Gospel meetings during the early years include Alexander Matthews, Ed Stack, J.J. Rouse, George Duncan, C. Willowby, and David Oliver.

In 1931, Albert Joyce and Herb Harris held a series of Gospel meetings which resulted in many souls being saved, baptized, and received into fellowship. One of these new believers was Mrs. Maude Cumbow, who soon developed an outreach to the neighborhood children. For many years, youth services were held on Friday evenings in the Arlington Gospel Hall.

During the late 1940s, a burden developed among some of the Christians regarding the unsaved people living in the neighboring areas. In 1950, a portable hall was built under the direction of Hector Alves. This building was first used in Mount Vernon for a series of Gospel meetings conducted by Hector Alves and William Warke.

In the late 1950s, the Arlington Gospel Hall on Third Street could no longer accommodate the crowd attending the annual Labor Day weekend conference. The high school auditorium was rented for the services, and the meals were served at the Gospel Hall. The Hall became increasingly inadequate for regular meetings and Sunday school activities, and the believers began looking for a suitable lot. Vern and Helen Pickett then sold about two acres on South Stillaguamish to the assembly. The hall had a total seating capacity of 700 and 10 Sunday School classrooms.

In 1974, the assembly purchased a 60 x 40 foot tent for Gospel services, which has been used almost every summer in the Arlington, Marysville, and Mount Vernon areas, or has been loaned to other assemblies for gospel work. Beginning in 1978, a booth was set up each year at the Skagit Valley Fair in Mount Vernon where contacts are made with people in the Burlington and Mount Vernon areas. Many pieces of literature are handed out each year in this Gospel outreach. Gospel meetings were held in the tent at Mount Vernon for two summers, and a Youth Bible Hour was held there each Monday evening.

Two other evangelistic outreaches began in 1976. Several Christians started a Youth Bible Hour on the Swinomish Indian Reserve in LaConner. Many Indian children attended and after a few years an adult class was also held. The second evangelistic effort was a radio program on KWYZ in Everett.

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Sometime before 1909, Otto and Louisa Timmreck moved to Everett after a fire destroyed their tavern and hotel. In that city they heard the Gospel preached by W.C. Arnold and James Harcus. Louisa Timmreck was saved, among many others. Later, the Timmrecks moved to farm in the Okanogan valley, which was then a remote area in north-central Washington. In 1911, Mr. Arnold came to Okanogan and held Gospel meetings in a schoolhouse, at which time seven people were saved. His daughter, Mrs. John D. (Betty) Robertson, later wrote: “In the fall of 1911, Dad took Mother with him to Okanogan. It was a trip she never forgot, and she would tell of the terrifying stagecoach ride into that country. Dad had Gospel meetings in a schoolhouse. Very few folks knew the hymns and Dad could not carry a tune, so Mother led the singing.”

In 1924 and 1925, Mr. Arnold returned for more meetings at which several more were saved, including Lester P. Hinde, who was many years later commended by the assembly to minister throughout the region, and was instrumental in starting the Grants Pass Gospel Hall in Oregon.

In 1926, Henry Clifton of the Penticton Gospel Hall in British Columbia, came to the area for cottage meetings and visited extensively. In that same year, Lester and Leone (Timmreck) Hinde visited for a time at the Forest Grove Gospel Hall in Oregon, the home of the Arnolds, to learn of New Testament principles of meeting. Returning to Okanogan in early 1927, they started a meeting to Remember the Lord in their home, and the Okanogan Gospel Hall came into being. Seven people comprised that first assembly, the Hindes, Mr. and Mrs. Sterley, Mrs. Martha Moss; Mrs. Amy Moss, and Mrs. Louisa Timmreck. Garner and Nellie Garrett joined the assembly soon after that.

Soon, Lester Hinde and Henry Clifton began preaching together. Henry Clifton and W.C. Arnold are the pioneers of the Okanogan Gospel Hall. Of several others who led the assembly through the years, we mention Lester Hinde, Alvah T. Williams, Hubert C. Hitchner, J.W. (Chuck) Klein, and more recently Farel Hitchner.

In 1929, the assembly moved into a one-room schoolhouse at 1033 S. Seventh Avenue. In 1939, the Christians built their present hall at 304 Conconully Street. The assembly has always been small, and helped by men such as Hector Alves, Ralph Goff, and Charles Summers. Many others also worked in the area and strengthened the assembly.

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The Shoultes Gospel Hall in Marysville was an outgrowth of the work at the Arlington Gospel Hall. The portable building used by Hector Alves and William Warke in the Mount Vernon area in the 1950s was later used for Gospel meetings in the Marysville area north of Everett. Because of the interest, the portable hall was erected on the Steen farm and used for weekly youth meetings. In 1960, a building for this work was erected on land donated by the Steens. Children’s meetings were held there on Friday evenings, and Gospel series from time to time. In 1981, Sunday evening Gospel meetings were added. Then in 1984, nine acres at 116th Street and 51st Avenue N.E., Marysville, were purchased. A building was constructed, and an assembly was established at Shoultes Gospel Hall in 1994.

Some of brethren involved in the early outreach were Fred and Chuck Steen, John A. Klein, Jack Saword, Al Flett, and George Styles. Later, Ken Kroeze, Phil Kazen, Jim Klein, and Tom Hoy joined to help carry on the Gospel outreach in Marysville. Leadership was carried by Phil Kazen, Tom Hoy, and Tony Flett. The assembly has commended workers to El Salvador. Shoultes Gospel Hall has about 100 adults and youngsters in attendance.

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The assembly now meeting at Tieton Drive Bible Chapel in Yakima had its start in about 1908, when a group of families started meeting in the Yakima area in south central Washington, following the pattern of the early churches of the New Testament. They probably met first in homes. In 1910, the group moved into an old Methodist church building on North 4th Street. The name Yakima Gospel Hall was probably used then, although they did not legally incorporate until sometime later. Some of the men involved in this early group were Robert Stanton, Otto W. Elder, Charles Peterson, and Harry Guthrie; these had no connection or interchange with brethren assemblies at that time. John Mallett and a Mr. Duffield came from ‘exclusive’ assemblies in England.

In the period 1910 to 1913, two events occurred which had a major effect on the believers at the Gospel Hall. David Little came to Yakima from Spokane and preached on the second coming of Christ, then a radically new notion in the area. As the result of his teaching, area churches split over the issue. Some individuals then came over to the Yakima Gospel Hall, which was in full accord with Mr. Little’s teaching. Among these were J.V. Mohr and his daughters.

George L. Hunt, a dynamic evangelist-preacher, had also come to Yakima at that time and held a series of tent meetings in the Fruitvale district. He moved to Yakima and joined with the group at the Gospel Hall. His ministry drew many people to the assembly. Among the outreach ministries that Mr. Hunt helped foster were Sunday afternoon meetings in country school houses. O.W. Elder, Bert Stewart, J.V. Mohr, and Ira Meyer helped in this ministry. Baptisms during this period were in the cold and gravelly Yakima River, and in an irrigation ditch on Park Avenue.

Around 1914, the building on North 4th Street was sold. The assembly met in various homes until about 1917 when a building was rented on west Yakima Avenue near 8th Avenue. In 1918 they rented a wood frame house on the southwest corner of 10th and Yakima Avenues.

The well-known writer and teacher A.C. Gaebelein visited the area around 1918, staying in the home of Harry Guthrie. While there he taught in the Yakima assembly. Many people were attracted to the Yakima Gospel Hall through his teaching.

Saturday night street meetings were a regular part of the evangelistic outreach of the assembly from its earliest days, usually at 2nd Street and Yakima Avenue. These continued until the 1930s when automobiles became popular and dominated the scene.

By 1920, more space was needed to meet the needs of the new families that had come into the assembly. The old building was moved out and a new building was completed in 1921. In May 1922, the assembly was incorporated and officially took the name Yakima Gospel Hall. Records show that Breaking of Bread took place on Sunday evenings.

The numbers continued to grow. New family names were the Sweets, Mickelsons, Purviances, Cramers, Franksons, Davidsons, Martha Winchester, Louise Walker, Charles Hamilton, and Percy Hamilton. Yakima Gospel Hall was also a center for the main social life of the people involved. The annual Thanksgiving Conferences were highlights of the year for the assembly. The platform was ‘open,’ meaning that any brother could speak. The meetings began in the morning and lasted into the evening.

Itinerant preachers came often to hold series of meetings, sometimes every night of the week. John Smart, Neil Fraser, and Wallace Logan are remembered. Henry Petersen had a series on Pilgrim’s Progress that lasted for three weeks. In the 1930s, Edward G. Dillon held a series of meetings and was instrumental in getting the assembly involved in door-to-door distribution of tracts. Leonard E. Brough and H. Allister Thompson were effective workers at the Gospel Hall in that period.

The 1940s brought dramatic change. World War II took many away, into the military service or ship building or aircraft facilities. The assembly founders passed from the scene. The itinerant preacher era began to phase out. The number of men in the assembly dwindled and did not revive much until after the war. Then John E. Crawford and Harold Buckley returned with their families. These men were much used in the assembly.

In 1950-51, the Christians remodeled their building and changed the name to Yakima Gospel Chapel. In the 1960s, Ernie and Helen Crabb and their family, who had served as missionaries in Alaska, came to live in the community. Mr Crabb was a real driver for gospel outreach and he involved the assembly in door-to-door visitation. People were saved and added to the assembly. With the growth and the movement of the city population toward the west part of the city, the elders decided that the assembly should buy a property on Tieton Drive. Total attendance was running around 150 at that time.

In November 1970 the move was made to the newly constructed building and the name was changed to Tieton Drive Bible Chapel. The time of construction was one of the most cooperative and supportive times of the assembly life. Through it all the visitation program continued, and the new neighborhood canvassed.

The assembly recognized elders and deacons in the 1990s and was growing again after a period of decline. Workers over the years have been commended to Malawi, Argentina, Mexico, Africa, and to Immanuel Mission in Arizona.

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The Cosmopolis Gospel Chapel on 3rd Street in Cosmopolis, 100 miles southwest of Seattle had its beginning through the work of E.K. Bailey. In the fall of 1922, Mr. Bailey held a three-month series, with meetings every day in the schoolhouses of the North River lumbering and farming area. He drove his Gospel Car over the precarious plank roads to reach these places, but God’s Word found an entrance into hearts, and an assembly testimony was established at North River.

At about that time, he purchased a tent and set it up in Cosmopolis, some 15 miles from North River. The little assembly of the Lord’s people moved from North River to Cosmopolis and met in a small hall there until the building of the Cosmopolis Gospel Hall. An apartment was built at the back of the Hall in which Mr. and Mrs. Bailey could spend the winters when tent work was impossible.

P.E. Pearson, who worked in a pulp mill, obtained employment at the mill for several people in the Cosmopolis assembly; he was instrumental in the formation of the assembly and was its treasurer for many years.

In July 1930, an inaugural Conference was held in the completed Cosmopolis Gospel Hall, with Harold Barker from London ministering the things of Christ. In May 1938, another Conference was held at Cosmopolis with Alfred Mace, George Landis, Harold Harper, and Henry Petersen ministering the Word. This time the gospel tent had to be set up in the lot adjoining the Gospel Hall to accommodate the crowds attending.

In the late 1950s, the assembly moved to their current location and changed their name to Cosmopolis Gospel Chapel. The Cosmopolis assembly was primarily responsible for the building of Shiloh Bible Camp in the mid-1970s and still is the main supporter of the 70-acre facility.

During the 1960s and 70s, the assembly had a Friday night program for kids that drew more than 100 to hear the Gospel. In the 1990s, the assembly produced a weekly half-hour children’s program that aired over the local access cable TV station. About 40 adults were in fellowship in 1996.

Other men active in leadership in the assembly have been John Covert, Charles Smith, Al and Gary Geddes, Robert Smith, and Don Norkoski. The assembly has had several full-time workers over the years: Leroy and Debbie Junker, Jack and Irene Heseltine, Ray and Lynne Wald, Sam and Margaret Stewart, Larry and Wincie Anderson, Peter and Louise Daley, Scott and Marsha Blair. Paul and Helen Flint worked in the assembly before moving to Emmaus Bible School.

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The Centralia Bible Chapel in Centralia, south of Olympia, began in 1962 through the efforts of Richard and Nora Barada, and Ken and Anne Schrier. First meeting in rented space in the Carpenters Union Building in Centralia, the assembly moved in 1970 to a vacant school building, and then in 1973 to its present location at 209 North Pearl Street. Mr. Barada was a chaplain at the local hospital at the time of the formation of the assembly. Centralia Bible Chapel has commended workers to Bolivia, Thailand, Peru, and other areas, including a military chaplaincy.

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The assembly at Longview, near the Oregon state line, was established in the early 1930s and for many years continued in rented quarters. In 1950 the brethren started building the Evergreen Terrace Gospel Chapel in Longview, using largely their own labor. They completed the building and moved into it in the fall of 1952, but within a few months fire destroyed the chapel. E.K. Bailey was on his third weekend visit to Longview when he suffered a stroke which took his life in June 1953. He had been asked to come for weekend meetings through June and July in the Gospel tent that the Longview assembly was using during the summer because of the destruction by fire of the chapel. The loss was covered by insurance, and after meeting for some time in the tent, the brethren rebuilt Evergreen Terrace Gospel Chapel. The Longview assembly continues today.

Sources

• Questionnaire Responses
• Recollections Concerning the History of Tieton Drive Bible Chapel, 1996
• History of the Arlington Assembly, undated but probably late 1980s
• A History of the Okanogan, Washington Assembly from 1927- 1995, by Jean Hinde Klein and J.W. Klein
• Letters of Interest, August 1953, p. 19; January 1954, p. 7; June 1959, p. 11