Chris ristian tian and Missi siona onary ry Allianc nce e in - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1907 7 Toronto General Hospital expropriates the land on which Bethany Chapel sits. The congregation moves from rented facility to rented facility and its vitality wanes. John Salmon, their pastor, that year receives the gift of tongues, but, unlike many of his Alliance contemporaries, doesn’t join the Pentecostals. (John Salmon, ca. 1907)

H. L. Stephens becomes assistant superintendent (to Zimmerman) of the Western Canada region and begins convention tours there. By 1911, when he resigns from the C&MA, the Alliance has branches in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and a number of other cities in Western Canada. Here he preaches a sermon on the text “only a cup of cold water.”

1909 9 West Queen Street Mission relocates to a new 800-seat facility near Queen St. and Gwyne Ave. and is renamed Parkdale Tabernacle. A. B. Simpson preaches the dedicatory sermon.

1911 Salmon falls out with Simpson over the C&MA’s decision to try to acquire the title to as many Alliance church buildings as possible (because of the defection of many C&MA congregations in the U.S. to the Pentecostal movement). This move smacks too much of denominational control for Salmon. The last straw comes when Salmon’s house is expropriated. He retires, at 80, to southern California. John Salmon and daughter Winnifred in Southern California

L. J. Long replaces Salmon as pre-eminent district superintendent of the C&MA in Canada and pastor of Bethany Chapel. He leaves Bethany and becomes the new pastor of Parkdale Tabernacle on the retirement of Reuben Zimmerman in 1915, and Bethany goes into a steep decline.

1917 Having been without a district superintendent since the resignation of H.L. Stephens in 1911, the branches in Western Canada fold one by one.

One of the last photographs of John Salmon before his death was taken at the Alliance’s Central China conference in October, 1917. Salmon is flanked by Matthew Birrell (left) and R. A. Jaffray (right).

Salmon’s gravestone, Oak Hill Cemetery, San Jose, California

1918 A frustrated L. J. Long resigns: he finds it physically impossible to maintain contact with the branches under his jurisdiction. Moreover, the Great War and the decision of many gifted young men to become missionaries have many pulpits vacant.

1919 Notice of A. B. Simpson’s death.

A. B. Simpson’s funeral procession. Nyack, N.Y.

A. W. Roffe replaces H. L. Long as superintendent of the Canadian work. The Alliance now has eight active branches left in Canada, five of them churches, and only one of them is healthy.

Almost all of the slides used in this presentation have come from the photograph collection of Lindsay Reynolds (1920-2005); and almost all of the text is based on the first part of his definitive history, Footprints: The Beginnings of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada (1982). (Lindsay Reynolds, 1982)

From om Here re To Autono onomy my The History ry of the Chris ristian tian and Missi siona onary ry Allianc nce e in Cana nada da 1919 - 1981

Paul Rader (1879-1938) becomes president of the C&MA on the death of A. B. Simpson. He resigns in 1924. 1919

A.W. Roffe (1866-1947) serves as district superintendent of Alliance work in Canada from the Rockies to the Maritimes from 1919-1924.

1920 A youthful Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986) becomes pastor of Toronto’s Parkdale Tabernacle (35 members), bringing with him his own struggling independent congregation.

1921 Beulah Mission in Edmonton expresses interest in joining the Alliance and asks Roffe to provide them with a pastor. He sends J. H. Woodward (1895-1979). Woodward informs Roffe of the great need of the largely unevangelized West. J. H. Woodward in the early 1920s.

1920s threshing crew somewhere on the Prairies.

A. W. Roffe and his wife make a 62 day fact-finding tour of Western Canada during which he preaches 74 times. He comes away convinced that Western Canada, which has received more than a million immigrants since 1891, holds more potential for the Alliance than the well-churched East. Indeed, it needs the Gospel as much as “darkest Africa” does. A. W. Roffe travelling by dogsled.

Fred Francis, “F. F.” Bosworth (1877-1958) and his song-leader brother B.B. lead successful Alliance evangelistic meetings, centered on healing and the deeper life, throughout Canada and the U.S. Their particularly successful meetings in Toronto in 1921 inspire Oswald J. Smith to erect a tent at the corner of College and Spadina Streets to conduct “continual revival” meetings.

Saddlebag evangelist Ed Cross in 1926, 1922 the year of his death. J. H. Woodward establishes the Great West Mission to take the Gospel directly to isolated homesteaders. He starts off with four students from Nyack. Each receives only a horse, a blanket, and a harness, and must rely on the homesteaders for food and shelter. The 1923 team increases to four women and six men.

Oswald J. Smith convinces his congregation to build a new building, the Alliance Tabernacle, (at the corner of Christie and Bloor Streets) to “institutionalize” the Bosworth revival. Popularly known as the Christie Street Tabernacle, it is barn- like, un-insulated, and poorly heated; but it seats up to 2,500 and is often filled. It hosts many large missionary conferences from 1922-1926.

The Cleveland Colored Quintette perform at the Christie Street Tabernacle and accompany Oswald J. Smith and A. W. Roffe in their convention ministries for 18 months.

1923 Margaret Connor (1876-1962), too frail for missionary service, turns her attention to the Canadian west in 1918 and starts planting churches. By 1923 she’s planted four, assisted by the singing duo of Elva and Clysta Stephenson. She then makes a deal with A. W. Roffe , her former pastor: she’ll bring her four churches into the Alliance, if he provides a pastors for them so that she can move on and do more church planting. Roffe accepts. Elva and Clysta Margaret Connor Stephenson

1924 Elmer B. Fitch, former pastor of the Gospel Tabernacle, New York City, accepts a call to oversee the Alliance’s work in Ottawa. Like many other Alliance churches of the period (e.g., the Owen Sound church), it has come to birth as the result of an extended missionary convention. In 1925 the congregation erects a 2,500 seat building in an attempt to replicate, in greater comfort, the Christie Street Tabernacle.

In September 1924 the C&MA’s national training school, Canadian Bible Institute, begins classes in a building adjacent to the Christie Street Tabernacle. The curriculum is based on that of the Nyack Missionary Training Institute. Oswald J. Smith is one of the adjunct faculty. Twenty-nine students from various parts of Canada enroll. Canadian Bible Institute, with the Christie Street Tabernacle on the left.

E. Ralph Hooper, principal 1925-1929. Cover of the program for the graduation exercises of CBI, 1928.

J. H. Woodward becomes Roffe’s assistant. He begins to de-emphasize saddlebag preaching because it is less likely to generate money and volunteers for Alliance missions. Instead, he wants to evangelize cities and towns before the (very aggressive) cults do. Enter the Gospel car, forms of which are already being used by both the Anglican Church and the Salvation Army. It can get from town to town quickly, carry a tent and other supplies, and even serve as sleeping quarters. Constructed on a one-ton Ford truck chassis, the custom- made vehicle costs the Alliance $1,060.00 in the summer of 1924. The first crew consists of Gordon Skitch and Ed Cross.

Ed Cross preaching from the Gospel Car. Gordon Skitch makes a sermonic point. The inscription on the rear of the car reads, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

The crew of the Gospel Car talks to some seekers.

Crowds gather around the Gospel Car in a prairie town.

The Gospel Car begins to show its age.

One of the converts of the Gospel Car ministry is Reuben Pearson, a self-taught radio technician. J.H. Woodward installs him in a basement room of his house in Edmonton, and within three years Pearson has set up a radio station. Woodward begins broadcasting Gospel messages in 1927. From that point on radio will play a significant role in the growth of the C&MA in Western Canada. Some of the larger Alliance churches will later have daily broadcasts — virtual continual revival meetings.

In October 1924 Great West Bible Institute opens in Edmonton under the direction of J.H. Woodward. The 1924 District of Canada conference grants him approval only for “study classes,” but Woodward soon concludes that only a full - fledged Bible school can provide adequate training for his workers. So the school comes into existence without the approval of General Council, the Board of Managers, the Home Department, or the District of Canada. Ten (later 18) students enroll in the first year. Margaret Connor serves as superintendent of women and instructor in evangelism. The faculty and students of Great West Bible Institute, ca. 1925. This location, the school’s second, is a former nurses’ residence. J. H. Woodward is in the front row, sixth from the left.

Catalogue of Great West Bible Institute for the 1925-1926 academic year. The institute has just moved into new quarters in a former school building.

A.W. Roffe tries to bring B.C. into his jurisdiction, but the Board of Managers tells him that the province is more effectively administered from Seattle than from Toronto. In 1924 he conducts 28 missionary conventions, suffers a nervous collapse, and resigns as superintendent. During his tenure the number of active branches increases from 8 to 23. The C&MA now divides Canada into two districts: the Western Canadian District (Fort William to the Rockies), under J. H. Woodward, and the Eastern and Central District, under Oswald J. Smith. Smith resigns his pastorate at the Christie Street Tabernacle, and attendance at the church goes into a steady decline.

1925 H. M. Shuman (1878-1967) becomes president of the Alliance. Under his leadership missions begins to overshadow salvation, healing, and the deeper life. He and the Board of Managers have come to believe that if the C&MA stresses overseas missions then home ministries will automatically prosper. But most members of Canadian C&MA churches end up giving far more to missions, which inhibits church growth at the local level. The Pentecostal churches take a more balanced approach and make considerable inroads in the C&MA in Canada during the 1920s. Shuman and the Board of Managers begin to re-emphasize “home work” around 1935.

1926 Building on the (1923) evangelistic campaigns of Charles Price (c.1880- 1947) and the subsequent teaching meetings of T. J. McCrossan (1867- 1960), the Alliance establishes a church in Victoria, B.C. The Alliance also establishes churches in other major centers during the late 1920s: St. John, N.B. (1928 — the first C&MA church in the Maritimes), Winnipeg (1926), Regina (1928), and Montréal (1926). One factor in this growth is the flight of conservatives from the newly-formed United Church. One of the polemical writings of T. J. McCrossan, whose teaching meetings play a critical role in the establishment of a C&MA church in Victoria, B.C.

1928 J. D. Williams (1870-1949) becomes superintendent of the Eastern and Central District following the resignation of Oswald J. Smith. He re-emphasizes home ministries; interest in missions remains strong.

1929 In the face of a decline in giving the C&MA’s Board of Managers orders the closing of both of its Canadian schools and two of its American Bible institutes. In addition, it orders the Western Canadian District to sell the Great Western Bible Institute property, insists that Canadians attend American schools, and overrules further attempts to reopen the two Canadian schools. J. H. Woodward is devastated.

The Western Canadian District conference in Winnipeg votes to create three part-time sectional superintendents to help Woodward: Gordon Skitch (Alberta), Gordon Wishart (Saskatchewan), and Elmer B. Fitch (Manitoba). Gordon Skitch, who became pastor of Elmer B. Fitch, recently installed as Beulah Tabernacle in Edmonton in 1928. pastor of Winnipeg Gospel Tabernacle. Gordon and Myrtle Wishart in 1929, during Gordon Wishart’s tenure as pastor of the Alliance Gospel Hall in Regina.

1931 Following the closure of Great West Bible Institute, the Home Department tells J. H. Woodward to abandon rural extension work and to relocate to Calgary. Two years later, the Board of Managers tells him that the Western Canadian District does not generate enough income to justify having a superintendent there. He terminates the work of the Great West Mission and moves to the United States. J. H. Woodward and his wife Flossie.

1932 The Board of Managers amalgamates the Eastern and Central and Western Canadian districts under the leadership of J. D. Williams. In 1934 Williams becomes superintendent of the Pacific Northwest District and continues his Canadian superintendency part-time. He resigns from his Canadian responsibilities in 1936, having done a remarkable job despite his restricted involvement.

1935 J. D. Williams appoints Marion Hull and Marguerite Railton to take over one of Margaret Connor’s churches in Denzil, Saskatchewan. The work prospers, as does the Bible camp they take over — hundreds of people become Christians at the camp over the years, and many campers became ministers or missionaries. Hull and Railton move to Hythe, Alberta in 1941. Marguerite Railton and Marion Hull in Denzil, Saskatechewan, 1939.

Inside the big tent at Denzil Bible Camp.

David Mason becomes district superintendent of the Eastern and Central District. He favors the old policy of stressing missions at the expense of planting and nurturing churches. Church growth in his district stagnates during his tenure (1935-1946). In 1930, the district has 23 churches, in 1947, 22.

1937 Gordon Skitch is appointed “Board representative,” i.e., de facto district superintendent, for Western Canada. Despite numerous appeals on the part of his district, the Board of Managers does not officially recognize him as District Superintendent until 1943. Gordon and Myrtle Skitch outside Canadian Bible Institute, Regina, in the early 1940s.

1939 Future district superintendent Roy McIntyre, having established a church in Fort St. John, moves to Moose Jaw, SK, where he and his wife Evelyn begin a radio ministry that contributes greatly to the steady growth of the Alliance Tabernacle there. Their daily radio program, “Rock of Refuge” (later renamed “Tabernacle Tidings”) is broadcast over CHAB.

J. D. Carlson, pastor of Beulah Tabernacle from 1939 to 1944, also uses radio successfully as an evangelistic tool. He broadcasts his daily program directly from facilities in the tabernacle. He later establishes a radio ministry in Calgary.

1941 The founding of Canadian Bible Institute (Regina) Part 1: George Blackett, pastor of the Winnipeg Gospel Tabernacle, becomes principal of Winnipeg Bible Institute (now Providence College and Seminary) in 1935. Disagreements with the board of WBI lead to Blackett’s resignation in April 1941. Blackett writes Willis Brooks, pastor of the Alliance Tabernacle in Regina, telling him he believes it is time to open an Alliance Bible school in Western Canada. Possibly on the same day, Willis Brooks writes Blackett about his own desire to see an Alliance Bible school established in the West, and offers to host it in the basement of his church. George and Lucy Blackett. George Blackett Willis Brooks and family ca. 1944. From 1941-1945 was the founding principal and dean of Willis Brooks serves on the faculty of CBI, and his Canadian Bible Institute (Regina). church hosts the school.

The founding of Canadian Bible Institute (Regina) Part 2: Brooks and Blackett present their plan to de facto district superintendent Gordon Skitch. Skitch has the two men present their plan to the district conference, which gives its approval. Canadian Bible Institute opens on 1 October 1941, in the basement of the Alliance Tabernacle, with a student body of 50. The Alliance Tabernacle, Regina. Canadian Bible Institute will hold classes in its basement from 1941-1945. Premiere issue of The Messenger . Classes at CBI start a month after its publication.

Second year class at CBI on the steps of the Regina Alliance Tabernacle, ca. 1942. Note the large number of women students.

An early CBI reception in the basement of the Alliance Tabernacle.

Negative consequences of the founding of CBI: The Eastern & Central District is alienated because: they weren’t consulted, they wanted to reopen their own school, the Westerners have stolen the name of their school, they consider it a case of one-upmanship. The Board of Managers (in New York) says CBI’s refusal to obtain permission violates policy. It waits four years before granting the school official status, and requires that CBI change its name to Western Canadian Bible Institute.

1946 The newly-renamed Western Canadian Bible Institute moves into new quarters, the former Clayton Hotel, in downtown Regina. Note the “provocative” sign. Ever the dignified Englishman, president and dean George Blackett arrives for work at the new campus.

The Eastern and Central District sells the Christie Street Tabernacle and (former) Canadian Bible Institute property to buy an estate in the Muskoka district that will become Glen Rocks Bible Conference. A view of Glen Rocks from 1949 showing the tent where services were held, the Manor, and Lake Rosseau.

Regina-based Mavis Anderson becomes District Sunday School Superintendent and Youth Secretary. She edits two periodicals, develops a standard curriculum, and initiates a training program for Sunday school teachers. In 1952 she becomes the National Sunday School Secretary (for Canada and the U. S.) 1947 Mavis Anderson (with “regulation” head covering) teaching a (largely male) class.

1948 The Board of Managers decides not to establish a separate Canadian “agency” despite agitation for same.

His health having broken, Gordon Skitch resigns as district superintendent and returns to the pastorate. During his tenure the number of C&MA churches in the district almost triples, to 64, and missionary giving increases six-fold. This growth can be attributed to Skitch’s leadership, aggressive evangelism (especially by means of radio), and the large numbers of prairie folk leaving the United Church in search of a “plain gospel.” Gordon and Myrtle Skitch in Vancouver around the time of his resignation as district superintendent.

1949 Willis Brooks, since 1946 pastor of 10 th Avenue Alliance in Vancouver, becomes superintendent of the Western Canadian District, a position he holds until 1953. He convinces the Board of Managers to add Victoria and the Lower Mainland to that district. A year before becoming superintendent he conducts revival meetings with A. H. Orthner in Abbotsford that lead to the founding of what will become the largest Alliance church in Canada, Sevenoaks Alliance. Shown here in the late 1950s, A. H. Orthner, co-founder of the Alliance work in Abbotsford, would eventually become the superintendent of Willis Brooks in the 1940s. the Canadian Midwest District.