Changes

A Mr. Mory then built a four-story apartment building at 5917 Chestnut Street and rented the whole first floor to the assembly. There it flourished and grew, and many well-known speakers came for special meetings, including Henry Allan Ironside, A.E. Booth, and George MacKenzie.

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.