Accounts of the beginning of the work of God in Charllon and Deer Lake. These stories are typical of pioneer days in Northern Ontario
In 1921, Ben Widdifield, from Huntsville, came to the Charlton district to bring the gospel to his mother and other family members. In homes and schoolhouses, a number were saved including Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Rodgers, Mrs. Jack Waters, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Rodgers, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Rodgers, Mr. Herman DeVries, Mr. John McCoy, and others.
The assembly was planted in 1923. It met for a few months in the home of Stewart Rodgers. Then, a schoolhouse was purchased and moved 2 miles, using teams of horses, to the farm of Stewart Rodgers, 3 miles north of Charlton. Mr. Fred Watson and Mr. Robert Bruce labored here as well.
In 1927, Mr. Shivas and James Kay arranged for the Earlton believers to come for a day of meetings. This was the first time for this type of meeting and was the beginning of the Earlton-Charlton Conference. It was held initially in October, and then changed to July 1. Since 1965, the four assemblies – Earlton, Englehart, Kirkland Lake, and Charlton – have convened a Conference at Englehart School.
In 1939, many were saved in Charlton and Hough Lake under the preaching of Mr. Widdifield and Aubrey Dellandrea at school and house meetings. In 1939, an assembly commenced in Hough Lake, just north of Charlton. It carned on until 1944. Some moved away and the rest of the Christians joined the Charlton Assembly. Hough Lake itself was used for many years for baptisms by Charlton and Englehart.
In 1966, a hardware store in the town of Charlton became the new Gospel Hall, and Arnold Adams had three weeks of ministry on the Gospel of John. Over the years, many preachers visited the area for fruitful times of teaching and gospel. Some of these include: Ed Doherty, Ernie Dellandrea, Bert Grain ger, Sam Patton, Ken Moore, Don Nicholson, Stan Simms, Arnold and John Adams.
In 1975, David Rodgers was commended to the work and later to Chile. Murray Pratt had been working with David and was commended the same year from Kirkland Lake. Another helper, Bruce Rodgers, was commended in 1980 and worked with Murray in Kapuskasing. We thank God for testimony at Charlton yet.
