| rdfs:comment | - Essek William Kenyon (1867-1948) was an evangelist, pastor of the New Covenant Baptist Church, and president of a Bible Institute, Bethel Bible Institute in Spencer, Massachusetts, for twenty-five years. The school later moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and became Providence Bible Institute. It later became Barrington College, and in a fateful irony, merged with Gordon College, named after one of Kenyon's many mentors, Adoniram Gordon. Later that year, Kenyon joined the Free Will Baptists and pastored a small church in Elmira, New York.
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| abstract | - Essek William Kenyon (1867-1948) was an evangelist, pastor of the New Covenant Baptist Church, and president of a Bible Institute, Bethel Bible Institute in Spencer, Massachusetts, for twenty-five years. The school later moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and became Providence Bible Institute. It later became Barrington College, and in a fateful irony, merged with Gordon College, named after one of Kenyon's many mentors, Adoniram Gordon. Kenyon was born on 24 April 1867 in Hadley, New York. Though rarely attending church during his upbringing, he became a church member in his early 20s and preached his first sermon at a Methodist Church in Amsterdam, New York. Desiring to be an actor, Kenyon found a way to earn a living as a piano and organ salesman. During this period of time, Kenyon declared himself to be an agnostic. In an attempt to hone his acting skills, Kenyon attended the Emerson School of Oratory in Boston for one year in 1892. Kenyon married his first wife, a divorcee nine years his senior named Evva Spurling. Like Kenyon, Spurling was also an agnostic. The two were married on 8 May 1893. Shortly afterword, Kenyon attended the services of Clarendon Street Church pastored by Adoniram Judson (A.J.) Gordon. Kenyon pronounced himself saved and his wife decided for the good of the marriage to remain with him. She also claimed to have had a born again experience. Later that year, Kenyon joined the Free Will Baptists and pastored a small church in Elmira, New York.
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