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=Pennsylvania=
==Philadelphia, PA==
===1881: Old Meeting, Philadelphia, PA===
An assembly known as the Old Meeting in Philadelphia at 18th Street and Fairmount Avenue is known to have existed in Philadelphia by 1881, for Miss Mary Ann Smith (later Mrs. Mary Harry), a recent immigrant to the United States, was directed there by the Irish evangelists James Campbell and William Matthews. A Mr. Reed was a leading elder in that assembly. But after Miss Smith visited a nearby ‘exclusive’ meeting, she was not allowed to return to the Old Meeting.
===1884: Downtown Meeting, Philadelphia, PA===
Mrs. Harry records that there was no other assembly in Philadelphia to which she could turn, so the Old Meeting was evidently was the only ‘open’ brethren meeting in the city at that time. The young girl wrote to the evangelists, pleading with them to come to Philadelphia, and they did in May 1884, holding tent meetings on South Broad Street below Federal Street. On the first Sunday of the tent meetings, seven Christians Broke Bread together, the beginning of what became known as the Philadelphia Assembly or the Downtown Meeting. Those present were Miss Mary Ann Smith, her brother Robert and mother Mrs. Charles Smith; James Campbell, William Matthews, William McEwen (brother of John Knox McEwen and father of Hugh and Sam McEwen), and John Greer.
Many were saved in the first season of these tent meetings. When winter came, the Philadelphia Assembly rented a room over a blacksmith’s shop at 1113 South Broad Street. It was there that the assembly had its first Conference on Christmas Day, 1887 at which Donald and Charles Ross, James Campbell, William Matthews, Norman Case (later with the China Inland Mission), Frank Crook, William Staner, David Oliver, and John Haliburton were preachers. (Mrs. Harry also mentions attendance by her future husband from the Harrisburg assembly, so the Harrisburg Assembly was in existence by 1887.)
The Christians met for several years over the blacksmith’s shop. Many were saved and added to the group, and many believers came from the ‘old country’ and joined them. Open-air meetings conducted by the assembly were common, and there the greatest opposition to the Gospel was felt, stones and bricks being thrown at the preachers.
The Christians at the Downtown Meeting went through several moves, to 13th and Wharton, 15th and Federal, 17th and Federal, 21st and Latona, and then to 20th and Dickinson, where they remained for many years and apparently erected their own building. This building was sold in 1945 and they moved to rented quarters at 71st Street and Woodland Avenue, and then to 64th and Woodland until 1952, when the meeting disbanded, after 68 years of existence.
===1910: Mascher Street Assembly, Philadelphia, PA===
The original elders at Olney included John McQuillen, David Oliver, David Harry, William Richmond, E.B. Sykes, Harry Strain, and John MacEllan. Another early elder was John McQuillen. Sam and Hugh McEwen had Gospel meetings there in 1927. Open-air preaching at the corner of 5th and Tabor was a feature of the assembly. John Bothwell was known for his distribution of Gospel tracts in the neighborhood. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, five preachers made Olney their home assembly. They were Charles Keller, John P. Conaway, William Robertson, Ed Richmond, and Clay Fite. In the late 1940s, Paul Plubell made his home there.
Among those commended to the Lord’s work have been Edward Richmond, who pioneered and shepherded a work in Dover, DE (now called Dover Bible Chapel), and C.C. Fite, who preached throughout the continent. The Italian evangelist Cesare Patrizio was also associated with Olney Gospel Hall, though commended by the Bryn Mawr Assembly.
=====1927: Grace Gospel Chapel, Philadelphia, PA=====
Grace Gospel Chapel in Philadelphia began in 1927 when a group split off from Olney Gospel Hall. These Christians met on the second floor of a commercial building at 5th and Rising Sun Avenue in Philadelphia. Robert Barnes, George Canning, Granvil Godshalk, and James MacDonald were the acknowledged leaders and among those who started the assembly. In 1944, they rented a former Episcopal church building for their meetings, on Willow Grove Avenue in the suburb of Wyndmoor on the north side. This small building was next to a large Roman Catholic facility; about a year after Grace assembly occupied the building, the Catholics purchased it and had it torn down for their own expansion.
So in about 1946, the assembly moved into a storefront in the Erlen section of the city on Cheltenham Avenue. This was a busy street and the storefront was next to the Erlen Theater. The Christians called their new home Erlen Gospel Chapel.
The area gradually deteriorated, and the Christians began looking around for a more suitable place to meet. In 1970, they learned of an available building long known as Ardsley Chapel in Ardsley, then about 10 miles north of the city. The Erlen assembly purchased the building, calling it Ardsley Bible Chapel, which is the current meeting place of the assembly on Jenkintown Road at Harrison Avenue.
===1890’s: West Philadelphia Assembly, Philadelphia, PA===
In the 1880s or 1890s, George McCandless, who had a printing business, was preaching on the streets of Philadelphia. He rented a store at 20th and Kater Streets in south Philadelphia and put a big Bible in the window along with some Bible texts. He invited men to a Bible study and in other ways attracted families to gather, apparently as an assembly. A number of these families later moved to west Philadelphia and met in a room in a large building at 67th and Market Streets, owned by James Arthur, a building contractor. The assembly at that time became known as the West Philadelphia Assembly.
Mr. Arthur knew of George MacKenzie, who had only recently become acquainted with the New Testament manner of gathering and would soon become outstanding itinerant preacher and encouraged him to teach at the new assembly. In about 1900, Mr. Arthur won a contract to develop a residential area in Kenilworth, New Jersey. He brought some of these Philadelphia Christians with him and helped start an assembly in Kenilworth. He sold the Philadelphia building at that time, and the Christians who had been meeting there moved a short distance west to a store between 58th and 59th on Market Street. The group at that time was small and was affiliated with the ‘Grant exclusive’ brethren.
====1948: Landowne Bible Chapel====
Then a split occurred, and one group moved out, to 58th and Hoffman Avenue. These were identified with the ‘open’ brethren. In 1948 they moved into a basement-only building in nearby Lansdowne and became known as the Lansdowne Gospel Hall, and after that the Lansdowne Gospel Chapel. They later added an above-ground auditorium, but a fire forced them to move out for six months. At that time, the brethren who had remained at 5917 Chestnut, invited them back into that space. When the repairs were finished, the rift apparently healed, those brethren joined with the Lansdowne group.
In 1956, some of the families moved further out into the suburbs and established the Malvern assembly. The Lansdowne assembly today is known as the Lansdowne Bible Chapel, located at Greenwood and Wycombe.
=====Malvern Gospel Chapel, Philadelphia, PA=====
An assembly in Malvern, in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, was founded in 1957. In 1956, several families living in that area and who were attending the Lansdowne Gospel Chapel, which was closer in to the city, were exercised to start a new testimony in their neighborhood. They met together for prayer for several months. Some from the Bryn Mawr Gospel Hall joined with this group, as did others. The families of Thomas Fraser, James Mehaffey, Stanley Hart, John Dorazio, Herman Sauer, Charles Wilson, and Hans Kurash formed the nucleus of the group.
In 1957, they purchased and extensively remodeled an old Quaker Meeting House at Woodland Avenue and Roberts Lane, calling it Upper Main Line Gospel Hall in Malvern, and that year celebrated their first Lord’s Supper there. A major effort was made to reach the children of the neighborhood. A Friday night “Happy Hour” for children would run for 12 weeks each spring and fall; a very desirable side benefit was the involvement of the whole congregation.
===1914: West Philadelphia Gospel Hall, Philadelphia, PA===
Another group of Christians were also called a West Philadelphia assembly. Though the names given to its various meeting places have not been identified, I will refer to them collectively as the West Philadelphia Gospel Hall. The assembly was formed in about 1914 and was an off-shoot of the Downtown Meeting because of a number who were living in the western area of the city. They first met in a store front property on South 60th Street near Spruce. Some of the early brethren at the West Philadelphia Gospel Hall were David Sutter, John McLeod, Thomas Anderson, Albert Anderson, William Cameron, James Smith, Albert Wilson, William King, William Long, and Edward Moffitt.
In 1933, the assembly purchased a building at 62nd and Jefferson Streets in the Overbrook section of the city. It was simply a basement with no above-ground floor. In 1933, Sam McEwen had Gospel meetings in the newly purchased building. In 1963, they sold that building and moved further west to rented quarters in Broomall before moving to their new hall in 1967, located on Route 252 south of Newtown Square. In 1927 or 1928, Robert Halliday and John Conaway had fruitful meetings at the West Philadelphia Gospel Hall.
===1973: Germantown Christian Assembly, Philadelphia, PA===
The Germantown Christian Assembly began in 1973, the planned product of a Gospel Crusade convened at the Church of the Atonement in the Germantown area of Philadelphia. Under the leadership of B. Sam Hart and others from Calvary Gospel Chapel in West Philadelphia, the new assembly began with 27 members. The assembly’s initial Sunday morning services were conducted in the local YMCA, and the Breaking of Bread and other services were held in the building of the Church of the Atonement on Green Street.
In 1974, the Christians purchased a large house at 610 E. Mount Pleasant Avenue, which became the home of the assembly and of the Grand Old Gospel Fellowship, the organization established by Mr. Hart for camp work and radio ministry. By mid-1975, more space was necessary, so plans were drawn to approximately double the seating capacity. The expansion was finished in 1978 after delays caused by a fire and neighborhood opposition. Within a few months, the new sanctuary was filled with new faces.
In 1980, B. Sam Hart left to plant another church (his radio broadcasts and Gospel crusades have led to the establishment of ten or more assemblies in black communities along the eastern seaboard), and Charles Hart was called to pastor the Germantown Christian Assembly. By 1982, the assembly had five elders and nine deacons. In 1983, the assembly observed the 100th birthday of its oldest living member, Whitfield Nottage, whose name is written large in the history of black evangelism in America.
The growing church with its many outreaches into the community and prisons, and active programs within the church, soon required three full-time and three part-time workers. At the end of the 1980s, the old building was torn down, and replaced by a new structure, seating 450 persons.
Others active in leadership over the years have been John Holley, Andrew Trusty, Dan Curbison, Charles Jones, Ed Harris, Ron Felten, and more recently Emmitt Cornelius. The assembly supports many missionaries and has commended workers to India and within the U.S. Ed and Carmen Harris were commended to the Lord’s service at the Willingboro Christian Assembly in New Jersey.
===1950’s: Frankford/Mayfair Gospel Hall===
The assembly at Frankford Gospel Hall in Philadelphia bought a church building in Mayfair in the early 1950s and called it Mayfair Gospel Hall. The new building doubled their seating capacity and gave them a new neighborhood in which to work.
===1913: Roxborough Bible Chapel, Philadelphia, PA===
Emory Richards, Ralph’s brother, returned to the area about then, and joined the fellowship at Mascher Street on the north side of the city. Soon, in 1926 or 1927, Mr. Hunton and his large family were in the fellowship at Mascher Street.
Mr. Hunton and others at Mascher Street were exercised to start a Gospel effort in Hatboro and held cottage meetings there. They invited Oswald MacLeod, who along with Samuel Rea had tent meetings there in 1928. A Gospel outreach was continued in Hatboro in 1929 by James Marshall, Charles Teller, and local brethren from Philadelphia. In tents pitched that summer, they saw a few saved, including Mr. and Mrs. Haskell Coleman.
A new assembly was formed in Hatboro in November 1930, with more than 20 in fellowship. The assembly first met as the Hatboro Gospel Hall in half of a rented storefront on Montgomery Avenue, a partition dividing the assembly meeting room from a drum storage area. In 1935, the partition was taken down, and the assembly had full use of the storefront. The wooden floors, wooden folding chairs, and walls filled with Bible texts, are remembered. In that first year, the Hatboro assembly jointly with Mascher Street commended Samuel Rea to the work of the Lord.
In 1943, a building fund was started, and in 1946 the Christians purchased a lot at 23 W. Moreland. Construction was begun that year and completed in 1948. The Hatboro Gospel Hall still meets at that location. Many Gospel series were held by the assembly in the following decades, with speakers such as Gordon Reagor, Hector Alvez, Norman Crawford, Paul Plubell, Fred Holder, and many others. The hall was enlarged in 1982.
===1983: Believers’ Fellowship, Yardley, Philadelphia, PA===
In November 1922, a young Christian, Chester Myers, became burdened about people living in Plumsteadville and surrounding villages north of Philadelphia. Having tried various means of spreading the Gospel, he invited Mr. Harold Harper, then preaching in the Germantown Gospel Hall in Philadelphia, to come to the Plumsteadville schoolhouse for Gospel meetings. The school was packed to capacity and the meetings were continued beyond the original closing date.
Following that, and for the next several months, Mr. Harper held Gospel meetings in many chapels and schools. This faithful preaching of the gospel of God’s grace resulted in 75 to 100 souls trusting Christ as Savior. After the evangelist left, Chester Myers undertook the unfolding of the Word of God to these newborn souls. Bible classes were held in Danboro Chapel and in the homes of Mr. Harvey Huber and Mrs. Benjamin Snape.
Ten automobiles were used to carry interested believers to the annual Thanksgiving Day conference at Collingdale Gospel Hall in Philadelphia. As many of them had learned the truth of Christian baptism from the scriptures, 19 took the opportunity to be buried with Christ in baptism. Among this number were Harvey Huber, Mrs. Benjamin Snape, Hilda Snape, Mr. and Mrs. Arlington Myers, Howard Tyson, Carrie Leatherman, Helen Lear, Lloyd Tyson; and Monroe, Wilmer, Mabel, and H. Welcome Detweiler.
A meeting was arranged for the benefit of a number who had expressed desire for teaching about New Testament church truths. As a result, 22 believers met to remember the Lord at Fountainville Chapel in December 1923. Much persecution followed. So intense was it for some believers that they were forced to leave their homes. The Lord sent many of His servants to help the new testimony.
The first Bible Conference at Fountainville Chapel used Harold Harper’s tent for the dining room. During the summer months open-air meetings were conducted in Doylestown, Stockton, New Hope, Lonsdale, Quakertown, Souderton, Telford, Perkasie, and Point Pleasant. In the winter months a class for young people was held on the first and third Saturday evenings of each month. These proved to be a source of growth. Fellowship funds from these meetings were sent to workers around the world.
In Fountainville Chapel and nearby places Frank Detweiler, Harold Jones, David Blackburn, August Hasse, and others preached the Gospel and souls were saved and added to the Lord and to the assembly. In May 1928, the Christians decided to build a chapel on the Easton Highway to house the assembly. Grace Gospel Chapel in the Curly Hill, PA area was opened formally in January 1929. The assembly held for many years a Memorial Day conference. Open-air baptisms were held in the summer months in Pine Run Creek on the John B. Detweiler farm, and in the creek under the bridge near the William Tyson farm.
In 1953, about 100 were in fellowship at Grace Gospel Chapel. The assembly has commended to the work of the Lord: Frank M. Detweiler, H. Welcome and Helen Detweiler; and John and Eleanor Schultz.
===1975: Sellersville, Philadelphia, PA===
==Pittsburgh, PA==
===1876: McKeesport, Pittsburgh, PA
The first assembly in the Pittsburgh area was in McKeesport, a southern suburb of Pittsburgh, in 1876. No other details are available for this time period, but it is known that from 1908 to 1913, an assembly was meeting in an upper room in downtown McKeesport, to which William Pinches came to preach.
===1952: The Gospel Barn, Harmony, Pittsburgh, PA===
The assembly meeting at the Gospel Barn, near Harmony on Route 19 north of Pittsburgh, had its start in 1952. Ed and Dorothy Bohl, who were acquainted with some brethren from Pittsburgh, fixed up their barn for a meeting place and invited the Pittsburgh brethren to come preach. The Bohls invited their neighbors, Peter and Lillian Frankenstein, who were Presbyterians, to come hear the preaching. They liked what they heard and began fellowshipping at the Gospel Barn. For a time, about 30 people came to the assembly meetings. When Mr. Bohl died, the assembly declined; Helen Theis and Lillian Frankenstein are the only remaining members at this writing.
===1920: Donora Gospel Hall, Pittsburgh, PA===
===Pre-1900: Elk Run Avenue Chapel, Punxsutawney, Pittsburgh, PA===
The assembly now known as Elk Run Avenue Chapel in Punxsutawney, northeast of Pittsburgh, began sometime before 1900, and probably met in homes initially. The deed to the assembly for the land is dated 1899. A building was constructed soon after that, and a basement added later. Those involved in its start included W.F. Wineberg, Joseph Dennison Jr., George Murray, William Dennis, and Henry Strachan. Known for many years as the Punxsutawney Gospel Hall, the name was changed to its current one in 1970. The assembly has always occupied the same location on Elk Run Avenue.
The leading brother for many years was Clifton R. Wineberg. Other elders have been Clifton M. Wineberg and Tony Sushereba, in addition to those above. David L. Roy traveled from Cleveland many times to give help and encouragement, as did Lloyd Wineberg. David Madgwick was co-commended to Africa by the assembly. The assembly has always been small but has an active work among young people in the area.
The Indiana Gospel Hall in the town of Indiana east of Pittsburgh was formed in 1912, or perhaps a little before, as a result of the work of David L. Roy, who worked also in Punxsutawney. The Christians met first in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lott Frederick, and in April 1912 moved into a building at 526 Philadelphia Street in the town. Mr. Frederick was a true and loving shepherd of the Lord’s people.
Later in 1912, the Christians secured a lot on West Church Street for tent meetings by W.B. Johnston and David Roy. Similar meetings were held in 1913. Sometime between 1913 and 1916, the Christians rented a room in what they called the “Cement Block Building” near the Frederick home, for their meetings. In 1919, they held their first Annual Conference. Over the next two decades, the assembly moved through several rented spaces, and then in 1938, bought the lot at the corner of 5th and Locust streets at which the present Indiana Gospel Hall was constructed.
Located in a college town, the assembly has seen a number of students saved and brought into fellowship. Paul Plubell was commended to the Lord’s work in the 1940s and saw many souls saved before going to be with the Lord at an early age. William A. Seale, Jr. was commended to full time work as an evangelist in the early 1990s. Others involved in leadership over the years have been Jack Byers, Glenn Moose, James Walker, Cammie Plubell, William Craig, Robert Baird, and William Parks.
==1951: East Freedom Chapel, PA==
The assembly known as East Freedom Chapel, in the town of East Freedom, 100 miles east of Pittsburgh, began in 1951 when Obie and Mary Ann Snider met together with Mary C. Walter in the Snider home at Singing Brook Farm. They were joined in fellowship over the next couple of years by Mrs. Walter’s son John, Hugh Caulfield, Cloyd Shaffer, and Sam Hagen. The fledgling assembly was faithfully taught and encouraged with regular visits by T.B. Gilbert, [[Alfred Perks Gibbs|A.P. Gibbs]], Joe Neibor, Herman Luhm, David Pollock, and John Milton Mills.
In 1960, the assembly moved into East Freedom Chapel at 16637 Mount Pleasant Street, its present location. The opening was marked by a month’s special meetings by Bill Paterson. Harold Blattenburger, David Harper, and Dan Snaddon, have also been active in ministering the Word. David Harper and his wife have been commended for work in the assembly. About 50 were in fellowship in 1996. In 1997, a wing was added to the building to accommodate increased attendance.
Many brethren from Plainfield, NJ helped in the growth and development of the assembly. In addition to John Bloore, there were other regular visitors, such as Samuel Ridout, George McCandless, Fred Mackenzie, Richard Hill, and R.J. Reid. P. Daniel Loizeaux would visit every month and read missionary letters at the monthly missionary meeting. Harry Ironside frequently conducted evangelistic meetings at the Odd Fellows Hall in Reading. Thus, the assembly was associated with the ‘Grant exclusive’ brethren in its early days.
Much of the assembly growth came about through the evangelistic efforts of some of the local brethren. George Starke, who was the correspondent for many years, and George Kreidler were very active in children’s work throughout the city. They would rent store fronts and conduct children’s meetings in them. Also, many children were reached through an outreach in federal housing areas. George Hoeffelfinger, a founding elder, compiled and printed the first missionary prayer handbook in 1936. Paul Bitler, who later became a worker among the Spanish in New York City, was very active in the housing project work. [[Alfred Perks Gibbs|Alfred P. Gibbs ]] was brought in each year to conduct a week of children’s meetings.
During the years of the assembly’s existence, there were three commended workers. Paul Bitler was commended to work among the Spanish in New York City in 1944. He worked there for almost fifty years and saw Spanish assemblies established in Manhattan and the Bronx. Bill Oglesby was commended also in the 1940s and he first worked in the assembly itself for a number of years. Then he moved to the south, where he labored in Victoria and Richmond, VA, and also Raleigh, NC. Jim Yorgey was commended to the work in France and later worked for many years in Quebec.