“Despise Not the Day of Small Things”
By: Mrs. Robert (Rebecca) Beisel
Abridged Version
Emmanuel Assembly of God has its inception in the spiritual experiences of the handmaiden of the Lord, Mrs. Albert A. Beisel (Annie Stauffer Beisel). As a member of the Free Methodist of Allentown, Pa., Mrs. Beisel was always reaching out for new and deeper spiritual experiences. Soon after the turn of the century, before she ever heard of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, the Holy Spirit spoke and sang through her in seasons of private worship. After a period of time, she unknowingly quenched the flow of the Holy Spirit and found herself in great spiritual darkness. For a period of years, she wandered in this barren wilderness, searching for the former flow of the fellowship of her Lord.
Meanwhile, the Beisel family moved to a rural area outside of Coopersburg, PA. As was the custom in those days, cottage prayer meetings frequently were held in homes during winter months. It was too difficult to heat church buildings for midweek services and the parishioners lived long distances from the church.
The Beisel family was always open for God’s people to gather for prayer. In the early part of the first decade of the twentieth century, many prayer services were held in that country farm house. The mother, Mrs. Beisel, was constantly seeking to know God in a fuller reality. Help came from several servants of the Lord who counseled her. Then one day Mrs. Lillian Doll, a school teacher said, “I will take you to a convention of God’s children in Newark, NJ. You will find other people who have had the same experience you had enjoyed.” So it was that Mrs. Beisel discovered Bethel congregation in Newark, NJ; Beulah Heights in North Bergen, NJ; and Glad Tidings in New York City, where Mr. And Mrs. Robert Brown were just beginning their ministry on 42nd street. But more important than finding those of “like precious faith”, she discovered that the latter rain was being poured out on believers all around the world since the turn of the century.
The Beisel family moved back to Allentown and one day when Mrs. Beisel went house hunting, she was clearly led to 836 Union Street. Thus the home was purchased in 1909 and was used as a two family house for a number of years; but always from the very beginning, people gathered for prayer meetings. Many were filled with the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of divine healing was very new in those days and there were outstanding healings in answer to the prayer of faith. In a singular way, God used His servant to help the sick. The therapy of pastoral counseling was unknown, but the word of wisdom and knowledge was evident as Mrs. Beisel counseled hungry hearts.
There was never any thought of pioneering a new work or trying to establish a new church. But a keen sense of stewardship of time and the importance of profitable, spiritual conversation caused a God awareness in those unscheduled gatherings.
In 1911, when Mrs. Beisel was prostrate under the Holy Spirit in a tarrying service in a convention at Bethel Assembly in Newark, NJ, she had a vision of her Lord and heard Him say to her, “I want you to open your doors.” Thinking the Lord meant her heart door, she responded, “Lord, I have opened my heart to You.” You are the Master of my life.” “No”, said the Lord, “I want you to open your house doors.” With that, she saw a vision of a great shaft of brilliant, golden sunlight streaming in the front door of her home, 836 Union Street, and extending through that entire first floor, spilling out the rear entrance. “Yes, Lord, I open my doors to you, very definitely. But we have older tenants who have been with us for several years. We could not ask them to move. But, Lord, you may have my house.”
That very week, totally unexpectedly, the aged couple who lived in the Beisel home announced that they were moving to Rahway, NJ. Now the two front rooms on the first floor were used for prayer services. Gradually different individuals asked about coming in for services on Sunday afternoons since they were busy in their own churches on Sunday mornings and evenings. So it was that the Sunday afternoon worship service came into being and was the main service of the Lord ’s Day until 1954. The steady growth in God’s work meant taking out one partition after another to increase space for assembly.
Gospel workers, evangelists and missionaries would stop at the Beisel home and spend the night in route to appointments. At other times, conventions would be called when gospel workers arrived. There would be prolonged seasons of seeking God. One day in 1912, Mrs. Beisel was serving a group of workers at dinner time. As they thanked the Lord for the food, the Holy Spirit blessed each heart gathered around the table. Mrs. Beisel spoke a brief sentence in an unknown tongue. The interpretation was given: “This shall be called Emmanuel Home, for God is with us.” Thus Emmanuel Home Mission was the name by which we were known until incorporation and acceptance into the Assemblies of God in 1954. Emmanuel Assembly of God was to be our new name.
Now guests came frequently. Some worshippers stayed for prolonged visits. In the course of a year, hundreds of meals were served to the sojourners. More and more the Home aspect of the work was apparent. Mrs. George Marsteller, a neighbor, sought spiritual help from Mrs. Beisel in 1913. Soon after, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and from that time on she served as “armor bearer” for Mrs. Beisel. Since Mrs. Marsteller lived so close, many half days were spent together. Their occupation? They read the Word of God together. At times they followed the writings of Dr. A.B. Simpson. Another reading course was the lectures of Dr. Seiss on Revelation. Because doctrine of the second coming of Christ, and that of divine healing, required diligent searching of the Scriptures. What precious foundations were thus established for the work of God.
Mrs. Beisel and Mrs. Marsteller labored side by side for many years. Cottage prayer meetings were conducted. “Pure religion and undefiled” was carried out. The “visiting of widows and the fatherless in their afflictions, and kept themselves unspotted from the world.” They traveled on trolley cars and trains, and walked many miles to reach the sick and needy. With the advent of a used model “T” Ford in 1919, Mrs. Beisel’s son Robert transported them, and the sphere of influence began to widen. In 1915, Albert Beisel, the husband and father beloved died very suddenly. What course would this widow take now? There would be no pension or social security in those days. No offerings were taken in the services. A small offering box was on the wall by the door, but this was conveniently overlooked many times. To assist in dining room expenses, Mrs. Beisel who was a practical nurse, cared for numbers of elderly people who made their home with her.
As attendance increased in services, chairs were needed. A second hand shop was the place to buy them. Oh, the thrill and joy of placing chairs in rows rather than around the meeting room! Worn carpets had to be replaced. Used furniture was given from time to time. It was a great joy when the old reed organ (with foot pedals) was replaced with a piano. Years later, a piano was given in memory of a baby daughter of the Fackenthall family. When a memorial Conn organ was dedicated in 1948, we were truly thankful for this assistance in lifting our voices in praise to the Lord.
It is impossible for us to fully appreciate the self-sacrifice and self-denial that was necessary in the formative years of the work. The heartaches, the suffering for Christ that Mrs. Beisel endured, but never did she retract the consecration she had made. She opened her doors and gave her house for the work of the Lord. As the work developed into a schedule of many services. Hundreds of people came and went through 836 Union Street in the course of a month. Though Mrs. Beisel hardly had privacy of her own apartment, she never withdrew her consecration. The church never remunerated her and never paid her for the use of her properties. In 1960, when her son Robert gave the two deeds or 834-836 Union Street to Emmanuel Assembly of God, it was a sacrifice with a fragrant odor. During those first years, Mrs. Beisel led the services and exhorted under the Holy Spirit’s unction, but she never assumed the duties of the ministry. Ordained ministers were invited to serve communion, dedicate infants, baptize believers, and conduct funerals and weddings. In 1926, her son Robert and his wife Rebecca Marsteller Beisel, were ordained under the New England Fellowship and assumed these responsibilities, laboring side by side with their mothers. They received recognition as ministers of the Assemblies of God in 1954.
In January 1937, Mrs. Beisel handed her sword to Robert and Rebecca and entered her Father’s House. Mrs. Marsteller followed in November 1945. As of David of old it could be said: “They served their generation in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
In retrospect, the secret of the success of the work of God was the absolute supremacy of the WORD OF GOD. Prayer was the medium of making the realities of the Scripture personal. Mother Beisel never urged people to seek the baptism: rather, to seek God in His Word and walk humbly with Him. This obedience led to the infilling of the blessed Holy Spirit.
A very straight line of separation from the world was maintained in Emmanuel from the earliest days. The doctrine of Sanctification was stressed in everyday living. Conformity to worldly customs, styles and observances was frowned upon. For did not the Lord command us to “come out from among them”? There was Cross in the message we taught, and constantly we were reminded: “We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; we have hard work to do and loads to lift; shun not the struggle, face it -- ‘tis God’s gift. Be strong! Our speech, attitudes and particularly our motivations were constantly held before the light of the Cross.”
Thursday afternoon prayer service, known as the mothers’ meeting, was guided by the two mothers for the primary purpose of praying through.
"They prayed mightily day and night to bring their people to the highest regions of faith and holiness. They prayed mightier still to hold them to this spiritual altitude. This divine art of intercession accomplished more than homiletics by the ton. " E. M. Bounds
The adults who came to seek the Lord at Emmanuel brought their children, and so there was always a children’s service at the end of the Sunday after-noon worship time. All of us went to our denominational Sunday schools. The first established service for boys and girls was a missionary band that met on Friday night.
The practice of giving to missions, and the ministry of the first missionaries of the Assemblies of God in our midst, molded a pattern into the work. We supported an orphan girl in India for a number of years. After various leaders had worked with the children, Mother Beisel gave a commission to Mrs. Elsie Markle, and Robert and Rebecca that they make a success of the Friday evening children’s service. In the event they failed, she said, she would ask the Lord to “put us on the shelf for the rest of our lives.” When God’s servant, six feet, two inches long, took long strides as she delivered the word of the Lord, it carried great weight.
It was 1920 when our Sunday school started. As it grew, first 834 and then 832 Union Street was taken over as one room after the other was used for teaching the Word of God. The entire Sunday morning was used for a unified Sunday school. Eventually providing classes for each age group in the entire family bracket. Here again the commission was that, “it must be a Holy Ghost Sunday school. We have had enough of the dead, formal routine of denominational Sunday school.”
We were encouraged in the use of visuals for teaching. Long before other Pentecostal people allowed the slide projector we were using this as one medium for visual presentation. Rebecca Beisel first studied the Worker’s Training Course under Dr. Robert Fritsch in Muhlenberg College extension classes. The result was that we carried on a continuous worker training program through the years.
We launched out in opening branch Sunday schools. Coffeetown, Siegersville, Walnutport and the Gospel Center (near Emerald, PA) were the various locations. For many years, we conducted three Sunday schools for each Sunday and a weeknight preaching service at the three different locations.
When Robert and Rebecca Beisel resigned from Emmanuel Assembly of God in 1958, the total Sunday school enrollment (including home and extension departments and cradle roll) was 250, with an average attendance of 150.
After reaching thousands of boy and girls on various camp grounds in the late twenties and conducting many Vacation Bible School in the early thirties, Rebecca Beisel, co-authored a set of notes on The Vacation Bible School. Mrs. J. Roswell Flower asked her to teach these notes at the Maranatha Summer Bible School in 1935. Mrs. Flower opened the door for Mrs. Beisel to join the faculty of Eastern Bible Institute (now The University of Valley Forge) until her retirement in April of 1977.
The missionary offering, despite their humble beginning back in 1917, increased through the years so that in the early 1950’s, we were sending more than $10,000 dollars to various mission fields and definite home missions projects.
“How far this little candle cast its gleam.”
The necessity for a church building caused Robert Beisel to appoint a building committee in the spring of 1958. Due to health reasons, he and his wife Rebecca resigned as co-pastors in October 1958, after serving the congregation for more than 32 years.
Ground was broken for a new church building. In August 1960. In June of the following year, the Beisels were invited by the Pastor, Rev. Fred Haddad and the Official Church Board to lead the last Sunday Morning Worship service at 836 Union Street. It was a time of wistful reminiscence, for indeed it was a sacred place where many couples had been married, parents had come to dedicate their children, and funeral ser-vices had been held.
If the wallpaper could have talked, what records we would have heard; prayers, consecrations, vibrant testimonies of the miracle-working power of God, volumes of singing in the Spirit, and the most unusual, anointed congregation-al singing. Yes, the carpet, too, would have added to the story of tears and travail, for it was literally soaked with tears of the seekers of God many times. But this was the day to MOVE FORWARD, as Brother Beisel literally turned the key in the door after the last worshipped departed. That Sunday afternoon, he and his wife were among the first to open the door to the beautiful new sanctuary located at the Lehigh Parkway and Wyoming Street for the dedicatory services.
We would be remiss to not mention the great host of the people of God who stood by in the development of the work in Emmanuel from the very earliest years. But there is the danger of inadvertently omitting names of God’s precious children, a large percentage of whom did not have public ministries; so we have refrained from focusing attention on individual personalities.
Among the ministers who assisted Mother Beisel in the period of 1911 to 1920, we recall Rev. and Mrs. Ralph Jeffery. Both of these loved ones have been home with the Lord for several years. Aside from the children who have grown up among us, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Fackenthall and Mrs. George Minnich were among early worshippers dating back to 1924. God raised a noble band of Sunday school workers and teachers. Many of them stood by and taught particular age brackets for many years. Each year they were found in worker’s training classes, ever seeking to improve themselves in the presentation of the Word of God.
With deep gratitude we remember the sons and daughters who have gone into the vineyard and are presently laboring for the Lord of harvest in pastorates, on mission fields, in the evangelistic field, and as teachers in Christian schools. Others are laymen with outstanding ministries such as child evangelism and editorial work. They seek to serve their generation in the power of the Holy Spirit.
One of the favorite hymns of Mother Beisel comes to mind in conclusion:
Arise, My Soul Arise
Arise, my soul, arise! Shake off thy guilty fears,
The blessed Sacrifice in my behalf appears,
Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.
He ever lives above for me to intercede,
His all redeeming love, His precious blood to plead,
His blood atones for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.
Five bleeding wounds He bears, received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me.
“Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,
Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”
My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear,
He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father”, cry.
Charles Wesley
Rebecca Martsteller Beisel
September 1968
Additional Addenda:
“Book Room”
Somehow the fact that Emmanuel had a “book room” {which today would be called a bookstore} was never mentioned in the write-up by Rebecca Beisel. The sign, indicating where it was, is clearly seen in the picture on the back cover of this book. Since this was probably the first Christian bookstore in the Lehigh Valley, we believe it is important to include this information. It is also part of the history of Emmanuel Church. The following is compiled from recollections of various individuals who attended Emmanuel for many years.
The Book Room was located at 832 Union Street. No one is certain, but it is believed that the store opened at least 75 years ago, which would make it circa 1936. Mother Marstellar was a big influence in getting the book room started. According to one person, it did a very good business during WWII. The store consisted of two rooms. In the center of one room, there were boxes with Sunday school trinkets and cards. Pictures to be sold were displayed on the walls. The store also sold Bibles, some Christian books [there were not many published back in those days], Sunday school quarterlies, VBS materials, sheet music and some jewelry.
Robert Beisel was in charge of the store and had a desk and chair off to the side where he would study, if he was not needed to help in the store. There was a bell above the door that would jingle when any-one entered. The store was open every weekday all day, unless there was a service being held. In addition to the Beisels, Ruth Shellhammer Day, Ruth High Stewart and Carole Maxwell Wescott worked in the store. Ruth Stewart also remembers an uncle of Rebecca’s, George, working in the store as well. The store closed in 1955, prior to the church moving to Wyoming & Lehigh Parkway.
Churches would come in and order supplies. Sometimes they didn’t have the money, but the Beisels would allow them to pay later. Ruth Stewart does not remember any of them every failing to pay.
On Friday night, teen classes were held downstairs below the book store. The teens had to go through the store to get to the classroom. Goldie Conrad was a lady who lived with the Beisels and helped with various chores. She taught the teen class.
Growing again
In 1988 it became apparent that more room was needed for Sunday morning services that had reached an average attendance of 220. In addition, the Sunday school attendance averaged about 170 and more classrooms were sorely needed, thus Pastor Watters formed a building committee. The committee presented a multi-purpose building to be constructed at the rear of the church at Lehigh Parkway East & Wyoming Streets. This building would house space for Sunday school and administrative offices in the lower level. The main floor would be used for services, recreation, church dinners and other church activities. The result is the Beisel Christian Life Center, dedicated in 1992.
Mothering of other churches
Just as with Coffeetown, Siegersville & Walnutport, Emmanuel has “mothered” other churches over the years. In more recent years, City Limits Assembly of God was birthed in center city Allentown with the main impetus being Pastor Watters and the people of EAG. Rev. Jimmy Rivera and his family attended Emmanuel for a time prior to becoming the pastor of City Limits. Several families from Emmanuel went with Pastor Rivera to start this church. They went with the blessing of the Pastor and congregation and received financial support from Emmanuel for quite a few years.
In 2002 Pastor Phil Propson, an associate at Emmanuel for 16 years, felt led of God to restart the work in Hellertown. Again, several families from Emmanuel went with him to help in this endeavor. They, too, went with the blessings of the Pastor and congregation and financial help for several years
In September of 2008, Spanish Emmanuel Assembly of God {SEAG} held their first service in what is now called the chapel [the initial building at Wyoming and Lehigh Parkway East]. At that service there were 45 in attendance. SEAG has continued to grow at an amazing pace with attendance of 195 on Easter Sunday April 24, 2011.
Meanwhile, the Beisel family moved to a rural area outside of Coopersburg, PA. As was the custom in those days, cottage prayer meetings frequently were held in homes during winter months. It was too difficult to heat church buildings for midweek services and the parishioners lived long distances from the church.
The Beisel family was always open for God’s people to gather for prayer. In the early part of the first decade of the twentieth century, many prayer services were held in that country farm house. The mother, Mrs. Beisel, was constantly seeking to know God in a fuller reality. Help came from several servants of the Lord who counseled her. Then one day Mrs. Lillian Doll, a school teacher said, “I will take you to a convention of God’s children in Newark, NJ. You will find other people who have had the same experience you had enjoyed.” So it was that Mrs. Beisel discovered Bethel congregation in Newark, NJ; Beulah Heights in North Bergen, NJ; and Glad Tidings in New York City, where Mr. And Mrs. Robert Brown were just beginning their ministry on 42nd street. But more important than finding those of “like precious faith”, she discovered that the latter rain was being poured out on believers all around the world since the turn of the century.
The Beisel family moved back to Allentown and one day when Mrs. Beisel went house hunting, she was clearly led to 836 Union Street. Thus the home was purchased in 1909 and was used as a two family house for a number of years; but always from the very beginning, people gathered for prayer meetings. Many were filled with the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of divine healing was very new in those days and there were outstanding healings in answer to the prayer of faith. In a singular way, God used His servant to help the sick. The therapy of pastoral counseling was unknown, but the word of wisdom and knowledge was evident as Mrs. Beisel counseled hungry hearts.
There was never any thought of pioneering a new work or trying to establish a new church. But a keen sense of stewardship of time and the importance of profitable, spiritual conversation caused a God awareness in those unscheduled gatherings.
In 1911, when Mrs. Beisel was prostrate under the Holy Spirit in a tarrying service in a convention at Bethel Assembly in Newark, NJ, she had a vision of her Lord and heard Him say to her, “I want you to open your doors.” Thinking the Lord meant her heart door, she responded, “Lord, I have opened my heart to You.” You are the Master of my life.” “No”, said the Lord, “I want you to open your house doors.” With that, she saw a vision of a great shaft of brilliant, golden sunlight streaming in the front door of her home, 836 Union Street, and extending through that entire first floor, spilling out the rear entrance. “Yes, Lord, I open my doors to you, very definitely. But we have older tenants who have been with us for several years. We could not ask them to move. But, Lord, you may have my house.”
That very week, totally unexpectedly, the aged couple who lived in the Beisel home announced that they were moving to Rahway, NJ. Now the two front rooms on the first floor were used for prayer services. Gradually different individuals asked about coming in for services on Sunday afternoons since they were busy in their own churches on Sunday mornings and evenings. So it was that the Sunday afternoon worship service came into being and was the main service of the Lord ’s Day until 1954. The steady growth in God’s work meant taking out one partition after another to increase space for assembly.
Gospel workers, evangelists and missionaries would stop at the Beisel home and spend the night in route to appointments. At other times, conventions would be called when gospel workers arrived. There would be prolonged seasons of seeking God. One day in 1912, Mrs. Beisel was serving a group of workers at dinner time. As they thanked the Lord for the food, the Holy Spirit blessed each heart gathered around the table. Mrs. Beisel spoke a brief sentence in an unknown tongue. The interpretation was given: “This shall be called Emmanuel Home, for God is with us.” Thus Emmanuel Home Mission was the name by which we were known until incorporation and acceptance into the Assemblies of God in 1954. Emmanuel Assembly of God was to be our new name.
Now guests came frequently. Some worshippers stayed for prolonged visits. In the course of a year, hundreds of meals were served to the sojourners. More and more the Home aspect of the work was apparent. Mrs. George Marsteller, a neighbor, sought spiritual help from Mrs. Beisel in 1913. Soon after, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and from that time on she served as “armor bearer” for Mrs. Beisel. Since Mrs. Marsteller lived so close, many half days were spent together. Their occupation? They read the Word of God together. At times they followed the writings of Dr. A.B. Simpson. Another reading course was the lectures of Dr. Seiss on Revelation. Because doctrine of the second coming of Christ, and that of divine healing, required diligent searching of the Scriptures. What precious foundations were thus established for the work of God.
Mrs. Beisel and Mrs. Marsteller labored side by side for many years. Cottage prayer meetings were conducted. “Pure religion and undefiled” was carried out. The “visiting of widows and the fatherless in their afflictions, and kept themselves unspotted from the world.” They traveled on trolley cars and trains, and walked many miles to reach the sick and needy. With the advent of a used model “T” Ford in 1919, Mrs. Beisel’s son Robert transported them, and the sphere of influence began to widen. In 1915, Albert Beisel, the husband and father beloved died very suddenly. What course would this widow take now? There would be no pension or social security in those days. No offerings were taken in the services. A small offering box was on the wall by the door, but this was conveniently overlooked many times. To assist in dining room expenses, Mrs. Beisel who was a practical nurse, cared for numbers of elderly people who made their home with her.
As attendance increased in services, chairs were needed. A second hand shop was the place to buy them. Oh, the thrill and joy of placing chairs in rows rather than around the meeting room! Worn carpets had to be replaced. Used furniture was given from time to time. It was a great joy when the old reed organ (with foot pedals) was replaced with a piano. Years later, a piano was given in memory of a baby daughter of the Fackenthall family. When a memorial Conn organ was dedicated in 1948, we were truly thankful for this assistance in lifting our voices in praise to the Lord.
It is impossible for us to fully appreciate the self-sacrifice and self-denial that was necessary in the formative years of the work. The heartaches, the suffering for Christ that Mrs. Beisel endured, but never did she retract the consecration she had made. She opened her doors and gave her house for the work of the Lord. As the work developed into a schedule of many services. Hundreds of people came and went through 836 Union Street in the course of a month. Though Mrs. Beisel hardly had privacy of her own apartment, she never withdrew her consecration. The church never remunerated her and never paid her for the use of her properties. In 1960, when her son Robert gave the two deeds or 834-836 Union Street to Emmanuel Assembly of God, it was a sacrifice with a fragrant odor. During those first years, Mrs. Beisel led the services and exhorted under the Holy Spirit’s unction, but she never assumed the duties of the ministry. Ordained ministers were invited to serve communion, dedicate infants, baptize believers, and conduct funerals and weddings. In 1926, her son Robert and his wife Rebecca Marsteller Beisel, were ordained under the New England Fellowship and assumed these responsibilities, laboring side by side with their mothers. They received recognition as ministers of the Assemblies of God in 1954.
In January 1937, Mrs. Beisel handed her sword to Robert and Rebecca and entered her Father’s House. Mrs. Marsteller followed in November 1945. As of David of old it could be said: “They served their generation in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
In retrospect, the secret of the success of the work of God was the absolute supremacy of the WORD OF GOD. Prayer was the medium of making the realities of the Scripture personal. Mother Beisel never urged people to seek the baptism: rather, to seek God in His Word and walk humbly with Him. This obedience led to the infilling of the blessed Holy Spirit.
A very straight line of separation from the world was maintained in Emmanuel from the earliest days. The doctrine of Sanctification was stressed in everyday living. Conformity to worldly customs, styles and observances was frowned upon. For did not the Lord command us to “come out from among them”? There was Cross in the message we taught, and constantly we were reminded: “We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; we have hard work to do and loads to lift; shun not the struggle, face it -- ‘tis God’s gift. Be strong! Our speech, attitudes and particularly our motivations were constantly held before the light of the Cross.”
Thursday afternoon prayer service, known as the mothers’ meeting, was guided by the two mothers for the primary purpose of praying through.
"They prayed mightily day and night to bring their people to the highest regions of faith and holiness. They prayed mightier still to hold them to this spiritual altitude. This divine art of intercession accomplished more than homiletics by the ton. " E. M. Bounds
The adults who came to seek the Lord at Emmanuel brought their children, and so there was always a children’s service at the end of the Sunday after-noon worship time. All of us went to our denominational Sunday schools. The first established service for boys and girls was a missionary band that met on Friday night.
The practice of giving to missions, and the ministry of the first missionaries of the Assemblies of God in our midst, molded a pattern into the work. We supported an orphan girl in India for a number of years. After various leaders had worked with the children, Mother Beisel gave a commission to Mrs. Elsie Markle, and Robert and Rebecca that they make a success of the Friday evening children’s service. In the event they failed, she said, she would ask the Lord to “put us on the shelf for the rest of our lives.” When God’s servant, six feet, two inches long, took long strides as she delivered the word of the Lord, it carried great weight.
It was 1920 when our Sunday school started. As it grew, first 834 and then 832 Union Street was taken over as one room after the other was used for teaching the Word of God. The entire Sunday morning was used for a unified Sunday school. Eventually providing classes for each age group in the entire family bracket. Here again the commission was that, “it must be a Holy Ghost Sunday school. We have had enough of the dead, formal routine of denominational Sunday school.”
We were encouraged in the use of visuals for teaching. Long before other Pentecostal people allowed the slide projector we were using this as one medium for visual presentation. Rebecca Beisel first studied the Worker’s Training Course under Dr. Robert Fritsch in Muhlenberg College extension classes. The result was that we carried on a continuous worker training program through the years.
We launched out in opening branch Sunday schools. Coffeetown, Siegersville, Walnutport and the Gospel Center (near Emerald, PA) were the various locations. For many years, we conducted three Sunday schools for each Sunday and a weeknight preaching service at the three different locations.
When Robert and Rebecca Beisel resigned from Emmanuel Assembly of God in 1958, the total Sunday school enrollment (including home and extension departments and cradle roll) was 250, with an average attendance of 150.
After reaching thousands of boy and girls on various camp grounds in the late twenties and conducting many Vacation Bible School in the early thirties, Rebecca Beisel, co-authored a set of notes on The Vacation Bible School. Mrs. J. Roswell Flower asked her to teach these notes at the Maranatha Summer Bible School in 1935. Mrs. Flower opened the door for Mrs. Beisel to join the faculty of Eastern Bible Institute (now The University of Valley Forge) until her retirement in April of 1977.
The missionary offering, despite their humble beginning back in 1917, increased through the years so that in the early 1950’s, we were sending more than $10,000 dollars to various mission fields and definite home missions projects.
“How far this little candle cast its gleam.”
The necessity for a church building caused Robert Beisel to appoint a building committee in the spring of 1958. Due to health reasons, he and his wife Rebecca resigned as co-pastors in October 1958, after serving the congregation for more than 32 years.
Ground was broken for a new church building. In August 1960. In June of the following year, the Beisels were invited by the Pastor, Rev. Fred Haddad and the Official Church Board to lead the last Sunday Morning Worship service at 836 Union Street. It was a time of wistful reminiscence, for indeed it was a sacred place where many couples had been married, parents had come to dedicate their children, and funeral ser-vices had been held.
If the wallpaper could have talked, what records we would have heard; prayers, consecrations, vibrant testimonies of the miracle-working power of God, volumes of singing in the Spirit, and the most unusual, anointed congregation-al singing. Yes, the carpet, too, would have added to the story of tears and travail, for it was literally soaked with tears of the seekers of God many times. But this was the day to MOVE FORWARD, as Brother Beisel literally turned the key in the door after the last worshipped departed. That Sunday afternoon, he and his wife were among the first to open the door to the beautiful new sanctuary located at the Lehigh Parkway and Wyoming Street for the dedicatory services.
We would be remiss to not mention the great host of the people of God who stood by in the development of the work in Emmanuel from the very earliest years. But there is the danger of inadvertently omitting names of God’s precious children, a large percentage of whom did not have public ministries; so we have refrained from focusing attention on individual personalities.
Among the ministers who assisted Mother Beisel in the period of 1911 to 1920, we recall Rev. and Mrs. Ralph Jeffery. Both of these loved ones have been home with the Lord for several years. Aside from the children who have grown up among us, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Fackenthall and Mrs. George Minnich were among early worshippers dating back to 1924. God raised a noble band of Sunday school workers and teachers. Many of them stood by and taught particular age brackets for many years. Each year they were found in worker’s training classes, ever seeking to improve themselves in the presentation of the Word of God.
With deep gratitude we remember the sons and daughters who have gone into the vineyard and are presently laboring for the Lord of harvest in pastorates, on mission fields, in the evangelistic field, and as teachers in Christian schools. Others are laymen with outstanding ministries such as child evangelism and editorial work. They seek to serve their generation in the power of the Holy Spirit.
One of the favorite hymns of Mother Beisel comes to mind in conclusion:
Arise, My Soul Arise
Arise, my soul, arise! Shake off thy guilty fears,
The blessed Sacrifice in my behalf appears,
Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.
He ever lives above for me to intercede,
His all redeeming love, His precious blood to plead,
His blood atones for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.
Five bleeding wounds He bears, received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me.
“Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,
Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”
My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear,
He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father”, cry.
Charles Wesley
Rebecca Martsteller Beisel
September 1968
Additional Addenda:
“Book Room”
Somehow the fact that Emmanuel had a “book room” {which today would be called a bookstore} was never mentioned in the write-up by Rebecca Beisel. The sign, indicating where it was, is clearly seen in the picture on the back cover of this book. Since this was probably the first Christian bookstore in the Lehigh Valley, we believe it is important to include this information. It is also part of the history of Emmanuel Church. The following is compiled from recollections of various individuals who attended Emmanuel for many years.
The Book Room was located at 832 Union Street. No one is certain, but it is believed that the store opened at least 75 years ago, which would make it circa 1936. Mother Marstellar was a big influence in getting the book room started. According to one person, it did a very good business during WWII. The store consisted of two rooms. In the center of one room, there were boxes with Sunday school trinkets and cards. Pictures to be sold were displayed on the walls. The store also sold Bibles, some Christian books [there were not many published back in those days], Sunday school quarterlies, VBS materials, sheet music and some jewelry.
Robert Beisel was in charge of the store and had a desk and chair off to the side where he would study, if he was not needed to help in the store. There was a bell above the door that would jingle when any-one entered. The store was open every weekday all day, unless there was a service being held. In addition to the Beisels, Ruth Shellhammer Day, Ruth High Stewart and Carole Maxwell Wescott worked in the store. Ruth Stewart also remembers an uncle of Rebecca’s, George, working in the store as well. The store closed in 1955, prior to the church moving to Wyoming & Lehigh Parkway.
Churches would come in and order supplies. Sometimes they didn’t have the money, but the Beisels would allow them to pay later. Ruth Stewart does not remember any of them every failing to pay.
On Friday night, teen classes were held downstairs below the book store. The teens had to go through the store to get to the classroom. Goldie Conrad was a lady who lived with the Beisels and helped with various chores. She taught the teen class.
Growing again
In 1988 it became apparent that more room was needed for Sunday morning services that had reached an average attendance of 220. In addition, the Sunday school attendance averaged about 170 and more classrooms were sorely needed, thus Pastor Watters formed a building committee. The committee presented a multi-purpose building to be constructed at the rear of the church at Lehigh Parkway East & Wyoming Streets. This building would house space for Sunday school and administrative offices in the lower level. The main floor would be used for services, recreation, church dinners and other church activities. The result is the Beisel Christian Life Center, dedicated in 1992.
Mothering of other churches
Just as with Coffeetown, Siegersville & Walnutport, Emmanuel has “mothered” other churches over the years. In more recent years, City Limits Assembly of God was birthed in center city Allentown with the main impetus being Pastor Watters and the people of EAG. Rev. Jimmy Rivera and his family attended Emmanuel for a time prior to becoming the pastor of City Limits. Several families from Emmanuel went with Pastor Rivera to start this church. They went with the blessing of the Pastor and congregation and received financial support from Emmanuel for quite a few years.
In 2002 Pastor Phil Propson, an associate at Emmanuel for 16 years, felt led of God to restart the work in Hellertown. Again, several families from Emmanuel went with him to help in this endeavor. They, too, went with the blessings of the Pastor and congregation and financial help for several years
In September of 2008, Spanish Emmanuel Assembly of God {SEAG} held their first service in what is now called the chapel [the initial building at Wyoming and Lehigh Parkway East]. At that service there were 45 in attendance. SEAG has continued to grow at an amazing pace with attendance of 195 on Easter Sunday April 24, 2011.
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