Wisconsin history

Wisconsin

“One of the earliest assemblies in this area was probably LaCrosse. On June 9, 1890, they met for the first time to remember the Lord.” So wrote Val Brandt in 1996 of the LaCrosse Assembly. “I remember going to conference in LaCrosse. I remember Mr. Redpath who had a kind of whistle when he prayed. There was Frank Hussman. . . Some of the preachers there were Grandpa Gould (father of George Gould Jr.), John Ferguson (father of William Ferguson, editor of Words in Season), John Conoway (often used nature to illustrate), and W.P. Douglas (a stately gentleman from Cleveland).”

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The assembly initially called Bible Truth Hall in Cudahy was established in 1929 or 1930 by Harlan Vintage and P.A. Orloff. Those and Frank Gilanyi, Ralph Hartfield, Ray Routley, and Fremont Brauch were in leadership over the years. By the 1970s, the assembly had been renamed to Grace Chapel. After the last of the above named leaders had moved or died, the assembly closed in November 1996.

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Wauwatosa Community Chapel in the Wauwatosa area of Milwaukee was established in about 1920 by William Graf, Albert Cutting, and L. Andersen. It was first located on Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee, and after that at three other locations before coming to its present address at 220 N. 67th St. in Wauwatosa. Other individuals active in leadership over the years have been John Hale, T. E. McCully, Gus Quindt, and Frank Brown. Among the many that Wauwatosa Community Chapel has commended to the Lord’s service, we mention Vernon and Gladys Schleif to work in the U.S., and Ed McCully to the work in Ecuador. About 200 adults and youngsters attend Wauwatosa Community Chapel.

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Oconomowoc Bible Fellowship, in the town of Oconomowoc between Madison and Milwaukee, began in the early 1990s in the home of Frank Brown. The Browns were involved in weekly neighborhood Bible studies, while continuing their fellowship with Wauwatosa Community Chapel in Milwaukee, some 35 miles away, where Mr. Brown was an elder. Several other families, including Alan and Kay Gustin, were also making the Sunday journey to Milwaukee. With the blessing of Wauwatosa Chapel, the Oconomowoc group started Sunday evening Remembrance and Family Bible Hour meetings in the Brown home. Most of these Christians continued to drive to Wauwatosa Chapel for the Sunday morning meetings.

After some months, they rented a Baptist facility, and met there for about a year. Then they rented a local Senior Day Center and began Sunday morning meetings and have continued in that location. About 50 adults and youngsters attend on Sunday mornings. The Christians of Oconomowoc Bible Fellowship meet in homes for three different prayer meetings and Bible studies; some attend other Bible studies to meet and help Christians and the unsaved outside the assembly. Frank Brown, Wayne Scheppele, and Mike Brinkman have been elders in the assembly.

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The town of Appleton in east-central Wisconsin saw the Appleton Assembly begin in about 1930 in the home of James Simpson. The principal people at that time were the families of James Simpson, Lynn Carey, John Watson, Richard Watson, and Joe Alberts. These men together with James Watson, Oliver Krull, Harold Felten, William Gibson, Earl Asman, and Donald Abel have been the elders. The assembly moved in 1940 to 412 E. Wisconsin Avenue and took the name Appleton Gospel Chapel. In 1966, the Christians moved again, to N. Mason Street, taking the name Appleton Bible Chapel. The assembly discontinued in 1968. The Appleton Assembly has commended a worker to the Congo.

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In 1956, a group left the Appleton assembly to form an assembly in Kaukauna. The Christians met for a little over two years in an empty store on 2nd Street, while building Community Gospel Chapel in Kaukama at 1717 Main Avenue, which they opened in 1959. The principals in starting the Kaukauna assembly were R. Watson, J. Watson, K. Nichols, and Earl Asman. The latter three were the elders. The assembly commended a sister to work with Asian wives of U.S. service men in Colorado Springs. Community Gospel Chapel discontinued in 1976.

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Fox Valley Bible Fellowship in Appleton was established in early 1996 by Tim and Susan Geske and Ralph and Vicky Wells, and meets in the Geske home in nearby Kaukauna. Although there had been assemblies in Appleton and Kaukauna in years prior, the Fox Valley Bible Fellowship began independently of them. About 30 adults and youngsters attend the assembly. Leadership includes the Geskes and Wells’. Robert and Lois Sawyer, former missionaries to Spain, work in the assembly.

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When the Felten family came to Sheboygan, north of Milwaukee, from Germany in 1893, they found other families of believers and came together for Bible study and prayer. Assembly meetings were soon begun and were held from house to house. As more families were added, the Feltens built a house at 1628 Georgia Avenue in about 1912, and this became the permanent home of the assembly. Services were in the German language until 1916 when the change was made to English. At first the assembly met in the dining room, but as the numbers grew, it was necessary to enlarge the upstairs to accommodate the meetings. As many as 100 persons were present on some occasions. They continued to meet there for 33 years.

In June 1941, these families incorporated as Bible Truth Chapel in Sheboygan and started a building fund. But in 1942, a sad division took place. The 22 believers still remaining in fellowship leased and remodeled a store at 1226 Georgia Avenue and moved there.

Early in 1949, having more than doubled the membership and having well-attended Sunday School classes, with Friday night meetings that drew as many as 140 children, the believers determined to build on the lot they had purcha-sed years earlier on Broadway Avenue. With volunteer labor, help from other assemblies, and assistance from Stewards Foundation, the Broadway Avenue Gospel Chapel was constructed and occupied in December 1949.

The Lord blessed the testimony beyond expectation. Most of the families that left in 1942 returned, souls were saved, and Christians from churches around were added to the company. There were about 70 in fellowship in the early 1950s. The assembly continues today as Zion Christian Assembly.

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Grace Fellowship in Madison came into being in 1977, starting in the home of David Brauch and moving shortly to the Conference Center of a Quality Inn on Madison’s southeast side. Those involved in the start-up include David Brauch, Dick Matthews, and Jerry Barr, and those in leadership include David Brauch, Gerald Kurtz, Randy Jorgenson, George Jones, Dick Peik, and Al Schirmacher. Messrs. Matthews and Peik are former pastors of denominational churches. Grace Fellowship has commended workers to Portugal and Romania. About 30 adults and youngsters attend Grace Fellowship.

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The assembly at the Beetown Gospel Hall began in 1926 in the town of Beetown in southwest Wisconsin. Stephen Mick and Samuel Hamilton are those to whom the start-up is attributed. Stephen Mick, a preacher who lived in Boscobel, Wisconsin, was the leader in starting several Gospel Halls in Wisconsin. The first overseers at Beetown were Roy Barr, Adam Jamison, Buzz Jamison, and Sam Dixon. About 20 adults are in fellowship at present.

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The assembly called Believers Gathered Together in Beloit, almost at the Illinois state line, began in 1972, the result of efforts of Tom H. Ruff, Tommie Ruff, Leroy Ruff, and Thurston Sandlin. The latter was the correspondent for many years. A second assembly was was formed in the mid-1980s, meeting at Beloit Gospel Hall with Tommie Ruff as correspondent. The two assemblies existed together in the town until Believers Gathered Together disbanded in the mid-1990s. The Athlone Street Gospel Hall in St. Louis, MO was involved in the beginnings of the work of the Beloit Gospel Hall, which has an attendance of about 50 on Sundays. Leaders over the years include Tom and Tommie Ruff and Major Cain.

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Mt. Sterling, Lynxville, and Prairie du Chien are towns in the southwest part of Wisconsin, near the Mississippi River.

The Lynxville Gospel Hall was established in 1940. The assembly moved to the Mt. Sterling Gospel Hall in 1978 and continues today.

In 1993 a group split off from the Mt. Sterling assembly to form the Prairie du Chien Christian Assembly. These Christians, some of them elders from the Mt. Sterling assembly, first met in a home for about five years and now have their own building in Prairie du Chien. Daryl Aspenson and Robert Borne were among those initiating the new assembly, which has about 40 to 45 persons attending. Daryl Aspenson and Robert Borne are the elders.

Sources

• Questionnaire Responses
• Untitled Report by Val Brandt, 1996
• Letters of Interest, February 1950, p. 1; January 1953, p. 7