THE HISTORY OF A BALDWIN CITY CHURCH: COAL CREEK GOSPEL CHAPEL

 Student researchers were Pamela Miller, Brandon McDonnell, Melissa Cox, Brett Algaier (2004)

Editor: Dr. George Wiley, Baker University

Photographs

Website: http://www.bibletruth.net/ksbaldwa/index.html

 

Introduction 

  1. What are the churches of Baldwin City?

  2. Has work on this church's history already been done?  Is there a written history of the assembly?  If yes to either question, find out more so you don't duplicate someone else's efforts.

  3. What People In This Assembly Know About Its History?
    The members of the assembly are knowledgeable about the history.  They take more of a scriptural approach to the story of the assembly than a historical one.  For instance, some members believe that God sent people to Baldwin City to spread the word of the Lord.   

  4. What Written Documents Or Artifacts Are Available?

Mahel O’Brien’s letter of January, 1972

 

  1. How Did The Assembly Get Started?

David Olmstead, a fellow brother of the Assembly, informed us that

Coal Creek School had been closed as a school building in 1947.  We used the Coal Creek School for our meetings until a tornado took the building in 1977. We were renting the building from the owner until the tornado took the building. We then met in the Baldwin American Legion Hall for about two years. LeRoy and Mildred Olmstead gave a building site on which the present Gospel Hall stands. Many Christians gave toward the cost of the present building. 

See also the text of Mahel O’Brien’s letter of January, 1972 (excerpt) about the history of the Assembly.

Note: Members of the Assembly are adamant that the word “church” doesn’t mean a building.  The pamphlet entitled “Welcome” emphasizes this by stating, “We meet in a building called Gospel Hall: Gospel, because God’s good news of salvation is preached there; Hall, because the building merely provides a public meeting place for the Christians.”  The gathered believers are the assembly.

 

  1. Who were the founders?

 

  1. Why did they decide to start an assembly?

3.      Has the assembly existed in other buildings than the present one? What were they?

 

4.      How have major historical events affected the assembly? Examples: "Bleeding Kansas," the Civil War-World War I-World War II-Korean conflict-Vietnam War, economic crises (like the Great Depression), changes in agriculture, the civil rights movement.

  1. What people have been influential in the life of the assembly over time? (other than the founders). These people might include a particularly beloved pastor (or a particularly unpopular one) or a lay leader.

  2. What controversies has the assembly experienced?

  3. What gives the assembly its particular identity or flavor? What makes it different from other Baldwin City churches or from other assemblies in its association?
    A factor that separates the Coal Creek Gospel Assembly from other churches in the Baldwin City community is the absence of a pastor.  This absence is because of the members’ belief that the laymen of the church should lead them in the readings of the scripture. The “Welcome” pamphlet states:

All men “in the fellowship” are able (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) to give thanks to God, to ask for a hymn to be sung, and to read and speak from the Word of God.  The Bible teaches that all brethren in the fellowship are able to minister in these ways, and not just one man. This is why we have no single pastor to officiate. (I Corinthians 12:6-8, 28.)

Besides not having a pastor, the Assembly also uses no musical instruments.  When asked why, a member replied, “We don’t want to detract from Him by including instruments.” According to those interviewed, the absence of an instrumental accompaniment can allow those in the congregation to come to peace and find the Lord by focusing entirely on the words being sung.  Also, the emphasis that the Assembly places on the teachings and worship practices of  the New Testament distinguishes its services from other church services in the community.

8.      What Is The Mission / Purpose Of The Assembly?
 “Communicating, as an assembly, with God is the purpose of this meeting” (“Welcome”).  As Olmstead explained, the congregation as a whole welcomes the Lord into their thoughts and rituals so as to become more at one with Him.  They embrace Him and His presence and strive to make Him a part of their lives, wherever they may go. Finally, the Coal Creek Gospel Assembly celebrates the Lord’s death every Sabbath day, whereas (in Olmstead’s view) most churches just emphasize it around Easter, but their assembly celebrates every Sabbath as the Lord’s reward to them for being sinners.

  1. How Has The Assembly Ministered To The Baldwin City Community?

The members of the Assembly interact with the community by setting up a booth for the annual Baldwin City Maple Leaf Festival, visiting the local nursing home, mailing gospel calendars and other gospel material, and putting weekly gospel messages in the Baldwin Signal. Members of the Assembly have also spread the gospel by doing services in retirement homes in nearby Edgerton, Ottawa, Lawrence, Wellsville, and Eudora.

 

  1. How Has The Assembly Ministered Beyond the Baldwin City Community?
     According to David Olmstead:

For the last ten years we have been involved in a number of items connected with Russian refugees as follows: (1) hold services in both English and Russian, (2) give English lessons to some of the Russian families (Catherine Stewart), (3) interact with missionaries from the U.S. who work in Russia and the Ukraine, (4) sponsor a families or individuals from the Ukraine, and (5) send clothing, Christian Bibles, Christian material, and other goods to Russia and the Ukraine.

 

  1. What contact or involvement has this assembly had with other churches in Baldwin City?

  2. Is the assembly connected to a judicatory body? (annual conference, archdiocese, etc.) If so, what kind of relations has the assembly had with its judicatory body?

  3. What is the assembly's polity (how does it govern itself, how do decisions get made)? Are decisions up to the congregation only? Are others involved?

  4. What was the toughest thing the assembly ever went through?

  5. What Are Some Of The Assembly's Successes?
    The members consider their greatest success to be “The gospel being preached and people saved through preaching done at this church.”  Whenever a person is saved, they count it as a success that that another person has been saved from the gates of hell.

Student Researchers’ Comments.