Parkview Gospel Hall, Abbotsford, BC

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[edit] History

A small group of believers living in the Abbotsford area, southeast of Langley, were meeting in the home of William Brown in Langley. One of them was John Rae, who was postmaster for the town of Abbotsford. He was able to obtain a room above the post office, where the Christians in the Abbotsford area first gathered as an assembly in 1921. The fellowship included the Anderson, Vertch, Sparrow, McKie, Adams, McKay, Hyde, Higginson, John Rae, and Ed McPhail families.

In 1922, a small building was built on the site of the present Fraser Valley Inn, but as the town grew, this building had to give way to commercial development. Land was obtained in 1926 on Mission Highway and the Abbotsford Gospel Hall was built. The first series of Gospel meetings at the hall was in 1927, with Herb Harris and Charles Summers preaching, at which many professed salvation and joined the assembly. Mr. Harris held Bible readings in the McPhail home to instruct the new believers. Evangelist David Scott came the next year to help in the assembly, and Hector Alves and Arthur Rae followed in subsequent years with tent meetings in the area.

In 1952, a new hall was built on Old Yale Road. After that the assembly relocated to Gladwin Road when additional parking space was required, and then to Parkview Road, where the assembly took its current name Parkview Gospel Hall. Leadership in the assembly has been provided by Messrs. Emmans, Fadden, Fifer, Moore, Styles, and Barber in the earlier days, and more recently Bruce Fadden, Jim Larson, Elton Krenzler, and John Lightfoot.