Petch and the "Connection"
Featured at the CCCHS 9th Meeting
Geoffrey Ellis
          Mr. C. W. Petch is an earnest Christian... [who] believes very much in building up the churches... He is a good speaker and preaches interesting and well organized sermons..." This was a quote by Shelley Jacobs, Regina, SK, featured speaker of the CCCHS 2008 annual meeting, of Lillian Torkelson's 1931 estimate of Charles W. Petch who served the Churches of Christ in their early years in Western Canada during the period 1927-1932. Torkelson believed that Petch helped to make her dream of a Bible School in Saskatchewan become a reality, an event that she believed helped shape the future of the church in that region.
         Shelley Jacobs' presentation of the Life of Charles W. Petch portrayed a man who, following two years of study at Nashville Bible School, 1899-1901, spent his years serving churches in Ontario and Western Canada until his untimely death in a farm accident at Charlton Station, ON, in 1938. The early years of the 20th century were difficult for Churches of Christ, following in the aftermath of a major division, where discouragement, inertia, and troubled times threatened the work. Petch, with a small handful of preachers, can be credited with preserving and advancing the cause that continues to the present. Jacob's warm summary of Petch's life story contributes to its being both preserved and appreciated.
         The ninth annual meeting of the historical society was held at the Newmarket Church of Christ, Newmarket, ON. Noting that the "Christian Connection" movement from the New England area in Ontario had its beginning in Newmarket in 1821, the second focus of the meeting was the influence of this movement upon the emerging Disciples of Christ in the province. Edwin Broadus, Burlington, ON, examined the points of contact between the two movements, especially through the 1830s. The Connection emerged from the efforts of Abner Jones and Elias Smith in New England to restore New Testament Christianity, and was linked with a similar effort in the mid-west US led by Barton W. Stone. The "Christians" of Stone's influence and the "Disciples" of Campbell's influence merged their efforts in Lexington, KY in 1832. A similar attempt in Whitby township, ON in 1834 failed to draw these two efforts into one. Joseph Ash was a young leader in the Connection at the time. His withdrawal and subsequent efforts to advance the Disciples' cause in Ontario is central to the study presented by Broadus.
         The intensive efforts by Edwin Broadus over the past two years to research the Daniel Wiers story and the Christian Connection in Canada resulted in his choice by the historical society as its "Historian of the Year" for 2008.
         The Aug. 16th meeting concluded with Broadus' update on the Wiers account. Daniel Wiers (pronounced "Wires"), who took the lead in establishing, in 1832, the congregation from which the Beamsville and Jordan Churches of Christ emerged, it turns out, moved from the Niagara Peninsula in 1834. He surfaced in Norfolk County in 1856 in accounts where he was identified with the "Bible Christians," a Restorationist movement with a background in the Methodists. Later he moved to Michigan where he died on September 26, 1869, in Ionia County.
         The area of interest for the historical society for this year's meeting was the "North Shore" region, east of Toronto to Prince Edward County. (For example, Charles Petch served the Pine Orchard and Stouffville congregations, nearby to Newmarket, for an extended period.) Geoffrey Ellis researched the periodicals from 1853 to 1883, drawing out excerpts that mention the various churches established in that area. Twenty-eight congregations are identified as having been established there during the latter half of the 19th century. Tragically, twenty-four did not survive until the end of the century and only two of those remain today, the West Lake Church of Christ (Disciples, 1863), Prince Edward County, and the Pine Orchard Church of Christ (1894). The collapse of these congregations, almost one-third of all churches established in Ontario in the 19th century, calls for further study.
         Myrna Perry made a major contribution to this year's meeting by presenting four papers: "Hamilton Churches, Excerpts from the Gospel Herald, 1946-1999," "Newmarket Church of Christ, Excerpts from the Gospel Herald, 1963-1999," "Stouffville, Pine Orchard, and Orangeville, Ontario Congregations," and "Work Among the First Nations People." These papers, and both printed and recorded copies of the presentations by both Shelley Jacobs and Edwin Broadus, are available from the historical society. See the CCCHS publications list below.
                                                                                                          - Waterloo, ON

Canadian Churches of Christ Historical Society Books

The CCCHS offers a variety of publications in support of its purpose to Encourage and promote the historical study of Restorationist churches in Canada.
Publications Available from the Canadian Churches of Christ Historical Society: