View source for Assemblee Chretienne de Rollet, QC

=History=
This is a French open brethren assembly founded in 1942 at Rollet, [[Quebec|Québec]].

The assembly at Rollet, in northwestern Québec province, like that in Montréal, had its earliest beginnings in 1938 through the efforts of [[John Spreeman]]. The following year, he and [[Vincent Davey]] teamed up together to evangelize in the area, but soon met with opposition, as told in their own words. 

“The priest stirred up the people and organized, a plot to intercept us on the road the next Lord’s Day afternoon. That Saturday evening we were warned by some interested ones, and went out to the place of meeting that same night, reaching it about 2 a.m. Shortly after noon, a crowd began to gather at the corner near the house, some coming by foot together with four large truckloads of men and lads, making an estimated total of between two and three hundred. The provincial police were also present, as we had advised them of the warning we had received. It looked as though there would be blows and perhaps bloodshed when some of the mob got over the fence and made towards the house, but then the proprietor forbade them to advance further and the police ordered them back onto the road. They lingered around for quite some time but then withdrew, giving us a chance to get away to another district where we were to have a meeting that evening. We were threatened with further trouble of the same nature, and were advised by the police to refrain from going for a little while. We reluctantly missed going out for one Lord’s Day, but then continued as before without further interference”.                          

In 1940, a vacant house, between Rollet and Montbeillard, was secured from Mr. Lucien Martin for living quarters and a meeting place. The first floor was turned into a school room and meeting hall with plank benches and a wood stove for heating. The upper level was renovated to serve as living quarters. In the fall of 1941, Vincent and Della Davey moved to the area in order to serve the educational needs of a growing number of French-speaking children from protestant families and Mr. Davey assumed the leadership of the young assembly. The official date for its opening is given as 1942. This was the third French-speaking, open brethren assembly to be established in the province, following those at Girardville and in Montreal.

 In 1943, a new schoolhouse was made possible through a grant from the provincial government. Assembly meetings were transferred to this facility. This would continue until 1966 when a new assembly hall, seating about a hundred people, was constructed on a property that had been purchased at “a bargain price” in the centre of the village of Rollet. It was hoped that the work would now have greater appeal to the Roman Catholic population which generally seemed to look favourably upon this French protestant effort.

 By this time, [[Gaston Jolin]] and his wife Margot were in the picture. They were commended to the work in 1964, the same year in which Gaston launched [[''L’Heure de la Bonne Nouvelle]]'', his media ministry, first radio and then television. [[Camp Joli-B]] had begun the previous year. These were carried on in addition to his leadership responsibilities at the local assembly where he served until his home call in 2016 at the age of eighty-five.   

As time went on, the assembly commended several couples to the Lord’s work. Among these were [[Robert Hanks]] and his wife Hazel in 1967 and [[Joseph Tremblay]] in 1970.  During the decade of the seventies, the assembly showed normal growth for one located in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, far-removed from all major urban centres. For most of the nineties, [[Daniel Blanchet]] and wife Bonnie gave a helping hand at the assembly as well as at nearby Camp Joli-B. At the turn of the century the assembly boasted a goodly number of young people.

 With the rebirth of the assembly at nearby Rouyn-Noranda in 2006 and the arrival of commended worker [[Tony Bissonnette]] the following year, attention was increasingly focused on this new undertaking.  Outreach efforts were also begun in 2009 at Notre-Dame-du-Nord which led to the beginnings of a new assembly at that location. These, together with the passing of veteran worker Gaston Jolin, who had served the assembly for over fifty years, led to the closing of the Rollet assembly, which by then had become quite small.   

=AKA=
* Rollet French Assembly (OB-F) +1954-1962
* Assembée Chrétienne Française de Rollet 1961-1972
* Assemblée Chrétienne de N. Lemay 1973-1986

=Locations=
* Protestant School, Range 9 & 10 +1954-1960
* Principale St. +1989-2008;
* 744 Principale 2009-2020+;

=Correspondents=
* [[Edward Vincent Davey|Vincent Davey]] @ Noranda (b. 1907 Peterborough, Ontario - d. 1995 Montreal, QC) +1954-1962+;
* Gaston Jolin 1961-1966, 2007-2010+
* Pierre Doucet 1967-1972
* Priscille Demontigny @ Beaudry +1987-2000+
* Monique Beaupré +2003
* Monique Aumond 2004-2006
* Gérard Jolin 2008
* Agathe Jolin +2013-2017

=Alumni=
* [[Who's Who at Assemblee Chretienne de Rollet, QC|Who's Who at Assemblée Chrétienne de Rollet, QC]] 1940-2017

=Visiting Ministry=
* [[Visiting Ministry at Assemblee Chretienne de Rollet, QC|Visiting Ministry at Assemblée Chrétienne de Rollet, QC]] 1940-2017

=Sources=
* Waltericks/ECS AAB's 1943-2020
* News of Quebec