Eglise Chretienne Evangelique Agape, Montreal, QC
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Contents
History
Eglise Chrétienne Evangélique Agapé was a French open brethren assembly 1960-1994 in Montréal, Southcentral Québec, Canada.
The year 1959 saw the arrival in the eastern end of Montréal of Raymond Taylor and his wife Marguerite who had been serving the Lord for several years in Thetford Mines. Their presence and collaboration were an encouragement to commended workers Noah Gratton and William Learoyd who, together with their wives had been serving for some time here in the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris.
Meetings began in the Taylor home before moving on to the English Alliance Chapel on Pie IX Boulevard. After a group was formed, another worker took over there and Sunday meetings were moved to the Tétreaultville School with week night gatherings in various homes. Within a year there were fourteen persons meeting together to form a new assembly.
A number of brethren, mostly from English assemblies of the city, banded together to encourage the construction of a chapel. These included Mr. R. J. Skelcher, Lucien Langlois, A. R. Lite, J. P. Keith, Jean Jude Bouliane, Gaetan Turgeon, Nelson Pogue, Brian P. Sutherland, Ph. D. A loan was secured from Stewards Foundation. Land was purchased in 1960 and plans drawn up for a three-storey building. The basement and half of the second floor served for meetings for up to 100 people along with Sunday School rooms, and the remainder were living quarters for the Taylors. Located at 8615 rue Boyce, the work came to be known as the Boyce Street assembly.
Meetings were first held in the new chapel on April 30, 1961, dedication following on June 10, 1961. By then, forty persons were in attendance. The following year, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Russell, in secular employment and recently arrived from Arvida, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Ward, studying in Bible college, were all giving a helping hand.
In 1964, Robert Hostetler arrived, participating actively in the life and ministries of the assembly, especially among the young people. The following year, Sheldon Bard and his wife Catherine returned to the province at the invitation of the assembly where they laboured for several years in teaching and pastoral work. By the end of the decade, both of these latter couples had moved on and were engaged in full-time ministry at Bethel Bible School in Sherbrooke. In early 1975, Sheldon Bard was killed in an automobile accident on his way to preside at the annual meeting of the Boyce Street assembly. Shortly thereafter, a municipal change of street name resulted in the assembly henceforth being known as the Église Chrétienne Évangélique Agapé.
In the early nineties, conflict arose within the assembly which resulted in the departure of a significant number of believers. The remaining members sought a pastor from among the Baptists. In 1994, the work together with the building passed into the hands of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches.
Location
- 8615 rue Boyce
- 8615 Pierre de Coubertin
Correspondents
- Jonathan Godfrey @ Boucherville 1987-1989
- Pierre Morin 1990-1994
Alumni
Sources
- Walterick Publishers Assembly Address Books: 1987, 1989-1994
- News of Quebec
