Église des frères chrétiens de Girardville, QC
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[edit] History
John H. Spreeman is considered by many to be the father and first pioneer of brethren assemblies to the people of French Canada. In December 1926, commended from Toronto, he arrived in Quebec at a time when there was almost no witness to French Canadians. Both the French Canadian people and the government of Quebec were solidly Roman Catholic and that church was as intolerant of other religious beliefs and of allowing its people to read the Bible for themselves as it had been at the time of the Reformation.
Mr. Spreeman endeavoured to spread the Word through tract distribution and street preaching in Montreal, Sherbrooke and other cities, but the work was difficult, especially in the first six years. G. G. Johnston and Russell Harris spent some time with him. Tracts were distributed in towns and cities, but there was little desire to hear the truth of the Gospel, and John Spreeman at times found himself in prison for preaching on the street.
About this time, in the northern Lac St-Jean region of Quebec, an unpopular priest had been causing considerable difficulty for some of the parishoners in the area of Girardville. One of the men had recently obtained a New Testament and found many things in it contrary to what he had been taught. Some decided to advertise for a Protestant minister to come to Girardville and preach what the New Testament taught. John Spreeman spoke French and responded to this appeal. In the spring of 1933 he went with Noah Gratton to take the Gospel to Girardville.
On the first Lord's Day after they arrived, the whole community gathered in the unused Roman Catholic chapel and heard the two brethren expose the folly of worshipping Mary. This met with a mixed response – some opposed the Word, others began to see the light, and all were quite unsettled from their old beliefs. For weeks the two missionaries travelled up and down the community, holding little meetings in homes, working with men in the fields, and everywhere preaching the Gospel.
The priest was very active in the meantime, and stirred up considerable opposition. This came to a head when a group of armed men kidnapped Spreeman and Gratton, destroying their Bibles and literature, and drove them out of the district with many threatenings. However, they were back again in the summer of 1934 and this time had the joy of baptizing a number of believers, and of gathering about a dozen Christians for the Lord’s Supper. This Assembly, the Église des frères chrétiens de Girardville, QC, was the first French assembly in the Province. It continues to this day.
[edit] Also See
Assemblée évangélique de Ste-Foy, QC
Église des frères chrétiens de Girardville, QC
[edit] Author
Dan H. Smith, Ed.D. President, Emmaus Bible College
[edit] Resources
Looking Backward, Pressing Forward: A Brief History of the Montreal Assemblies of Christians known as brethren, 1860s-1993 by George H. Dixon.
30th Anniversary of God's Faithfulness to Huntingville Community Church, 1955 _ 1985.
Sorel - Dedication of a New Chapel, 1996
Portfolio of Huntingville Community Church, undated
News of Quebec, vol. 41, #1, spring 1986; vol. 41, #2, summer 1986; vol. 41, #3, fall 1986; vol. 42, #1, spring 1987; vol. 42, #2, summer 1987; vol. 44, #2, summer 1989; vol. 44, #3, fall 1989.
Letters of Interest, June 1945, p. 13; September 1946, p. 33; June 1948, p. 19; May 1950, p. 17; October 1955, p. 14; November 1955, p. 7; January 1958, p. 3; June 1962, p. 21; July/August September 1963, p. 8; April 1971, p. 16; September 1973, p. 6; January 1985, p. 8.
[edit] Ending Note
There about two dozen additional present-day assemblies of French-speaking believers in Quebec for which the necessary historical information is lacking
