Chapter 11
CHURCHES
Personally, I love the name Bethel Ministerial Association. Of all the names this group has gone by, this name seems to best represent what we are. I can't find any evidence as to why the group chose Bethel as its identifier. Sometimes, a name is chosen just because it is the identifier everyone can agree on. This might have been the case with BMA at a meeting previously discussed back in the Fifties, although that certainly would give less drama to the selection.
I like to think that the name Bethel was significant in the minds of folks like AF Varnell, IE Wilson, MD Hornbeck, RR Schwambach and many others. Looking at the brief list above, it certainly looks like using your first initials to identify your name was very popular among ministers in this association back in the Forties and Fifties, but who knows? What is in a name, after all? I bet that if we sat in one of those meetings when a name was being decided for the association we certainly would have enjoyed the consensus that they seemed to arrive at deciding upon the name Bethel.
You don't need the meeting minutes to know the attraction of the name. Beth-el, the house of God would surely have been a favorite of Brother Varnell as he joined with others to found numerous “houses of God” in the fellowship.
The name Ministerial would have been another of those very natural choices. The BMA became, more than anything else an association of Ministers. You certainly could have called us the Bethel Preachers Association since ours is a rich and vibrant history of those who loved to Preach the Word. However, throughout its history, there have been many other ministers licensed and associated with the BMA who were from other vocational lines and callings. Ministers seems to have always best fit the name of the association.
Of course, Association as a name is one of my favorites. The BMA has become an association of ministers who loved the name Bethel. The group has never claimed the name denomination and, in fact, in most instances stressed that it would never be one. In an era where millions in our country were joining to stress independent, yet united allegiances to specific doctrines and dogma, the BMA insisted on maintaining its independence typically characteristic to non-denominational and inter-denominational groups forming everywhere.
As an illustration of this identification, I can site my experience in 1972 when I left home to attend the Air Force Academy. Like the good preacher's son I always tried to be, very shortly after starting my four years at the Academy, I decided I needed a church to attend every Sunday. (Honestly, the prime motivation for this, I have to admit, was the obvious advantage of being allowed as a first-year cadet to get away from the Academy grounds every Sunday without having to take an Off Duty Privilege, having only earned one per semester in that first, rather draconian year. I discovered early that a bus would arrive every Sunday morning and take us to Northside Baptist Church since we had no transportation of our own. Afterward, I could also go over to the Baptist Student Union, a ministry specifically designed and funded to minister to cadets, where we could socialize, have a free lunch (Free FOOD!) and, most importantly, have the distinct possibility of meeting girls from Colorado Springs! (This might have been just an interesting anecdote except for the fact that the Lord led me to a wife this way who I lived the rest of my life with. I was not the only cadet with this kind of story.)
My quandary came when I was asked if I was a Baptist by the pastor of Northside Baptist Church, Rev Bill Irwin. I was sure Jesus had shown me my future spiritual home away from home and I wanted to be part of this group. So, in a discussion with Dad about who we were, he gently explained that the BMA was very much like Baptists, maybe more like the Assemblies of God (watch out for that strong Trinitarian Doctrine there), but we were certainly NON-Denominational. In addition, I rediscovered that the BMA was made up of INDEPENDENT ministries and churches, we were Pentecostal in the experiences of the Holy Spirit, and the one uniting belief among us was that it DID make a difference what you believe.
Imagine my concern when I shared with Dad that this church that I wanted to devote my attention to for the next four years wanted me to be baptized to become a member of their church. In a loving approach, which very much represents the love and acceptance of others in the body of Christ characteristic in our association, Dad explained to me that I could be baptized as many times as I wanted to (or that others would want me to) to satisfy their requirements if that was what I wanted to do. The important thing to Jesus was that several years earlier in my young life I had, according to the Scriptures, obeyed Jesus command to be saved and be baptized IN JESUS NAME, and that was good enough. If I more accurately recall, he said something like, “you can get wet as many times as you want to, you have been baptized already.” I received that not as a judgmental or critical comment but as a very clear explanation something that is a unique distinctive of members of the BMA. Brother Varnell would have said exactly the same thing, probably indicative of the fact that Dad sat under the teaching and guidance of Brother and Sister Varnell for a long time.
Many, many years later, while on a trip for UPS, I attended an Episcopalian church. During the service, the minister walked down the isles with water and hyssop branch in hand and, as he walked by my position, he splattered my face with the water. I reckon that now that I have been baptized so many ways, there is no way I can stand before Jesus and have anyone claim I am not covered! In true BMA doctrinal fashion, however, let me state that I am, and have been for many years, covered by the blood of Jesus. Praise the Lord!
The name agreed to has remained for several decades now as the Bethel Ministerial Association. Dad shared with me some time back that, actually, in the 1950s, Brother Varnell strongly suggested that we rename the group the Bethel Baptist Assemblies. He indicated that we did this because Brother Varnell had a group of Baptist ministries that he wanted us to be associated with during that time. I would not be critical of such motives. But I also recognize that sometimes we call our associations what we want to identify with. Occasionally, that name has more to do with objectives than who we might actually be. I had to laugh recently when I was out on a walk near a hotel I was staying at in Skokie, IL, a suburb on the north side of Chicago. I had to take a picture of the sign identifying the church I had just walked by, the Baptist Episcopal Methodist church.
It would be a mistake to identify the BMA as only an association of churches. There are certainly, and have always been, ministries associated with the BMA that are not specifically churches. However, the majority of ministries associated with the association have been independent churches. As already mentioned, Brother Varnell gets a lot of credit for starting many of these churches. That was his calling in life. As a result, no study of the history of the BMA would be complete without a thorough look at the churches who, throughout its history, have made up the association.
An appropriate way to discuss the churches of the BMA would be by studying the founders and pastors who have made up the leadership of those churches. A more generalized yet accurate approach to identifying these ministries however, might be by listing them by geographical location. It is understood that, in many cases, identifying works by their city names will include more than one congregation. However, almost always, the reason there is more than one ministry in these locations is because men came together and started multiple ministries in the same city to increase the reach for the Gospel. Decatur, Illinois and Bloomington, Illinois would be great examples of this.
From the beginning years of the association's history, there were a few locations where ministers pastored that still exist and make up membership in the BMA today. No study of the history of the BMA would be complete without the mention of Evansville, Indiana. Brother Varnell founded the church there and passed on leadership to Rev R.R. Schwambach. The history of that church will obviously be studied. At the earliest history of the BMA, Rev I.E. Wilson was pastoring a church in Decatur, Illinois. Decatur has a BMA history of two ministries, the first pastored by Brother Wilson and Rev Don Etneir. The second, still in existence today, was a pioneer ministry founded by Rev Don Horath, many years the chairman of the BMA. Decatur must be looked at.
Bloomington, Illinois was the pastorate of Rev M.D. Hornbeck but certainly included several churches in several locations and at present must include two other ministries that joined us only in recent years, pastored by Rev Ed Herald and Rev Mark Marshall. Rev Herald's church ministry has direct ties to our early Bethel roots although his family only in recent years joined us in membership. On the other hand, like Rev Herald, Rev Marshall joined us in recently after leaving the United Pentecostal denomination and pastoring a work there in Bloomington as well. Such ministries and ministers as this are certainly the rule rather than the exception, demonstrating over the years the desire by many men who have independent ministries but enjoy the freedom of fellowshipping in an association of churches with like doctrinal beliefs. Such an approach is how the BMA has grown over the years.
Some early mention of ministers and ministries merit our attention even though ministries in those locations no longer exist. Kokomo, Fort Wayne, Vincennes and Jocky, Indiana would all be such examples, where churches and ministries began but, for one reason or another which we may discuss, were discontinued. Their existence contributes to the rich history of the BMA and in many cases, the still existing works might not have existed without their early work. In other areas, the not uncommon experience has been those who associated with us that chose to go another direction, found the BMA to not be what they were looking for, or in some cases just disagreed with what the BMA stood for enough to decide to no longer associate with us. Only in passing would I mention well-known ministries that had fellowship with us in one way or another that no longer do. The well-known disaster of the ministry of Jim Jones had a limited contact and association with the BMA, long before he led his followers to Guyana and the historic end to those followers' lives. It is generally recognized that Rev John Hagee at one time pursued taking over the ministry of International Bible College that has association with the BMA in San Antonio. He went on to a very large ministry there in San Antonio. We already mentioned our brief history and association with the Humbard family in early days. Rev Rex Humbard went on to a nationally recognized ministry in Akron, Ohio.
There is a long existing ministry in Logansport, Indiana which still exists today. We can give much of the credit to its founding to Rev Max Campbell. He was followed in the years of its greatest growth by Rev Jim Holt and later Rev Buddy Holder. Any history of the churches of the BMA will include looks at pastors, founders, the church buildings and the cities in which these ministries were built.
Indianapolis, Indiana was the location of the ministry founded by my father, Rev Don Matthews. He served there, and earlier in several locations prior, for several decades before passing on pastorship to Rev Jaman Iseminger, a young man who met a tragic death when a mentally deranged woman he had ministered to came in one Saturday morning and shot him to death.
Dad grew up under the tutelage of Brother Varnell. Like so many others, at a very early age, Dad knew God's calling on his life, associated with and gained license/ordination with the BMA and began works that contributed to the expansion of BMA associated ministries. Like many others of the ministries mentioned above, these men devoted the majority of their lives to making them grow and reach their communities for the Gospel. Their examples and leadership, not only in their local ministries but also in their contributions and leadership in the BMA, made our association the great success it has been for so many years.
Works were started from already existing ministries all the time in our history. The Rockport, Indiana church was founded by Brother Glen Dyhouse from his association with BMA brethren. This ministry now exists in a vibrant ministry led by Rev Walter Phillips in Reo, Indiana, an area very close to Rockport. Vandalia, Illinois was an outreach ministry started from earlier works by Rev Jim Wilson, the adopted son of Brother I.E. Wilson. He later founded the church in Hatfield, Indiana still in existence today. The church/churches in Boonville, Indiana were outreaches from the home church and ministries of Rev RR Schwambach in Evansville. That church was founded by Rev Tony Greene and is now pastored by Rev Scott Pullum. We would have to include more recent ministries begun well outside the early ministries, primarily in Indiana and Illinois. Certainly, churches and ministers from more distant states was not unusual, even from the beginning of the BMA. However, even now we know of ministries associated with us from Crosby, Texas by pastor and son-in-law to Rev Don Horath, Rev Keenan Smith, long-existing associated ministries in Atlanta, Georgia under the leadership of Reverands Eugene Holder and Jack Morrow. The BMA has known several ministries from San Antonio, Texas which bear mention which would have to include the influence of International Bible College and churches existing in that city today.
So, in an attempt to relate what must be considered the central story to the existence and influence of the BMA, we will look at several of the cities/geographical locations where our ministries started and exist yet today in an attempt to explain, in some measure, who we are. This would never in any way be intended to diminish the numerous works and mission ministries literally around the world that have been part of our association. In fact, we intend to address those ministries in great detail later. But at this point, because the local pastorates have been such a vital part of the BMA, we must consider each of them, their histories and their contributions first to the outreach of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and second to their contributions and impact on us as an association.
Evansville - Rev A.F. Varnell, Rev R.R. Schwambach, Rev Steve Schwambach, Rev David Schwambach
Decatur - Rev I.E. Wilson, Rev Don Etneir, Rev Don Horath
Bloomington - Rev M.D. Hornbeck, Rev. Merwin Masters, Rev Dan Marshall, Rev Ed Herald, Rev Mark Marshall
Indianapolis - Rev Don Matthews, Rev Jaman Iseminger, Rev Derek Daniel (Harvey Davids and Wendel Nance, Jack Opie)
Leroy - Rev W.B. Badger
Mahomet - Rev Merwyn Masters, Rev Phil Frye
Hatfield - Rev I.E. Wilson, Rev Jim Wilson, Rev John Wongler
Logansport - Rev Paul Grant, Rev Max Campbell, Rev Jim Holt, Rev W.W. Holder
Rockport - Rev Glenn Dyhouse, Rev David Williams, Rev Walter Phillips
Vandalia, IL - Rev Jim Wilson, Rev Pete LeDuc, Rev Greg LeDuc
Boonville - Rev Tony Green, Rev Scott Pullum
Lincoln, IL - Rev Oscar Owens, Rev Steve Owens
Marietta, GA - Rev Eugene Holder, Rev Harvey “Jack” Morrow, Rev Postell
Crosby/Huffman, TX - Rev Keenan Smith, Rev Josh and Rhonda Powell
San Antonio, TX - Temple of God Full Gospel - Rev Jerry VanRonk
Wadesville, IN, Wadesville Christian Church, - Rev Scott Branam
Kokomo - Rev W.J. Logan
Belleville, IL - Rev Varnell, Rev Froese, Rev I.E. Wilson
Vincennes, Jocky, Owensboro, KY
Dale, IN - Rev Marvin Green
I should know better than to attempt to compile a comprehensive list of pastors and churches in the BMA. No compiled list is ever perfect, nor complete. I know there is no way I can recall all the pastors and churches who have ever associated with the BMA without missing some. So, all I can say is, the above list is "best" first attempt. I expect others to amend it, add to it, correct it. But I have no delusions that it will ever be complete.
The Lord knows. He knows all of those who joined us, left us, inspired us, founded churches, missions, evangelistic ministries and made all the contributions over all the years of our association to build His kingdom through His ministries in our lives. "The Church" is not just buildings, cities, ministries, nor individual leaders...although it certainly contains all of those. So, it would be my hope that part of telling the story of Bethel, I might be able to include some of the stories of many of the churches and ministries that made it up.
Much of the history in earlier chapters has been relating our interpretation of recorded minutes over several decades. The real story of the BMA, however, is one of "associated" ministries...ministers, missionaries, evangelists and loyal church members who join together because of a common understanding of the Word of God. No history would be complete, however, without looking at the churches who made up the Bethel Brethren throughout the years. It is my hope to do that here.
It is important to recognize that the last agreed-upon and established name, "Association", probably best describes the BMA. Bethel is not a denomination. There have been regular membership dues required from each of its ministers through the years but the Association has never inflicted budgets on its members as many denominations do. Similarly, the Association does not demand strict compliance with its doctrines. There is a Credentials Committee that considers doctrinal stands of its members before accepting them as members. But it is not difficult to find differences among our members in how they believe about what the Bible says on many issues. As a matter of fact, often-excited and heated discussions have been central to what makes us who we are. Sometimes, the issues were less demanding: “How many people did Jesus baptize?” And occasionally, it was better for those who disagreed with us over more “central” doctrines to our core statements of faith to maybe seek fellowship in another group. However, through it all, I think a shining testimony of the love displayed by our group has been demonstrated many times over the years as we tried to live out the unofficial motto of the BMA: "In things essential, unity. In things non-essential, liberty. In all things, charity."
We have already related how the "association" started back in the 1930s. Most of the credit for founding Bethel and establishing it is given to Brother Varnell. But other individuals were there at the beginning as well. While Brother Varnell helped establish the ministry in Decatur, Illinois, he was also founding and establishing the ministry in Evansville, Indiana. Brother I.E. Wilson was there at the beginning and led the Decatur church for many years. Lots of names were mentioned at the beginning....Rev Paul Grant, Rev W.J. Logan, and several others....but because the history is so old and we don't have lots of people who would be alive now and remember many of them, our history of their ministries and contributions to Bethel are not well known.
Some names, however, are well known in our history because their ministries served for many years and continued to be associated with our history. Others we just don't know that much about, although their work for the Lord would certainly never be minimized by us in any way. Still others beyond these we just do not know much about because they chose to go another path...perhaps associated with another group or, for one reason or another, did not continue their relationship with Bethel. That happens. No group will survive without problems, disagreements and once in a while, "a parting of the ways." I don't think that will make us love each other any less in heaven. It just doesn't make their part of the story part of ours.
So, having said all of that, it is my intention to look at the churches who have had the longest impact on the BMA. We will mention many who either did not exist for long or didn't have a very long relationship with the association. The others we look at very specifically, existed for many reasons for many years. For no other reason than convenience, we will look at them geographically...specifically with where they developed, how leadership was passed on and the impacts each of those ministries had on the history of the BMA and on their own communities.
If anyone in the BMA was to be given credit for an apostolic ministry, it would have been Brother Varnell. Formalized "apostolic" ministry has become very popular in recent times and has come to be considered many things. One of those duties of the apostle, namely that of establishing churches, was something Brother Varnell took very seriously. No one really knows how many churches he started...Decatur, Evansville, Belleville, and others...but certainly, his taking on this role and inspiring others to spread the Gospel through their own ministries can be credited with the very existence of the association and its effectiveness through the years. In any discussion of any of our related churches, it never takes long before testimony of Brother Varnell's influence is considered a central theme.
The geographical choice of where a ministry would be started was always an interesting topic of consideration. Many of the pastors who participated in the BMA were bi-vocational. Because the churches they started were often small at the beginning, like the tent maker Paul of the New Testament, our pastors would very often have a secular job as well as the full-time responsibilities of their pastorate. That is certainly why a new church was founded in Vincennes and Indianapolis and many others places. Other times though, a church would be "planted" in a location because prayerful consideration led to the vision of a church in a specific community and often, a pastor was sent from the membership of one of our member churches out into that community.
Lastly, succession of leadership in these ministries was always something interesting to observe. Frequently, sons of pastors took over the work from their fathers. As founding pastors grew older, they would often look for faithful followers to take up their "mantel" and continue to pastor the flock with the same vision as the founder. It is well worth remembering however, that no matter what leader the Lord sent for the flock, everyone always considered the ministry was the Lord's and not one man's specific ministry instead. Occasionally, having put his hand to the plow and finding the work too hard to bear or perhaps much more intense than expected, it was not unusual for a pastor to seek another path for his life and move leadership of the flock onto another pastor.
It must always be remembered that, although we look at churches and ministries individually and see how their involvement influenced and impacted the BMA, each of these ministries was always acknowledged as independent. As previously mentioned, the BMA was never thought to be a denomination. Members and their ministries were free to join together in the association with others, but the BMA was always just that....an association. It would never have continued to exist and flourish without the involvement of its members and their individual, independent ministries. But the reason they joined together in the first place was usually the common acceptance of essential doctrines of the Christian faith and the knowledge that they could each find acceptance among fellow members, encouragement in times of trouble and trials and a common brotherhood among those who felt the irresistible call of the Lord on the ministry they chose to devote their lives to.
It has already been acknowledged that the Youth Camp program was central, vital and essential to the BMA. Later in our history, we will look at how important local and foreign missions were to the association as well. None of these joint ministries of the association, however, would exist, let alone thrive within our group without the local assemblies that made the group up. In a very real way, the history of the BMA would not exist without the vital, individual ministries of its members. Let us look at those individual ministries now as we continue to consider the history of the BMA.
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