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The History of the Bethel Ministerial Association
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Chapter 2 |
As previously mentioned, though, Brother Varnell had a serious disagreement with first the PAW and then later with the Pentecostal Church, Inc. Doctrinally, Brother Varnell could not agree with their insistence that the gift of tongues had to be the initial evidence of not only Holy Spirit baptism, but salvation as well. With love for the brethren yet healthy respect for these doctrinal differences, 1929 saw him leave the PAW. He and wife Rachael tried to maintain fellowship with the PCI, but as early as 1934, the same doctrinal difference caused him to leave them to go pastor a new fellowship in Evansville, Indiana at Emmanuel Gospel Lighthouse. Early members of Emmanuel Gospel Lighthouse on Oregon St, Evansville The work in Evansville grew rapidly. A very few years later, the photo below of “charter members” of Emmanuel shows their early growth.  A previous quote from the PAW history bears repeating because it shows the real heart of ministry of Brother Varnell. He cherished the idea of true evangelism....starting fresh works, establishing congregations and providing them with sustainable leadership. “In 1935, Varnell assumed the pastorate of the Apostolic Church of Belleville (IL). He was there until 1937. Apparently, juggling pastorates in both Illinois and Indiana during that time, Varnell resigned the Belleville congregation (which is currently affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church).  After a few years, not only was the work at Emmanuel Gospel Lighthouse growing and flourishing, but history tells us that Brother Varnell was instrumental in establishing other works, especially in Indiana and Illinois. We don’t know how far back before 1937 the “Apostolic Bible Conference” was being held. But it is clear from our records here that the Lord was blessing many works in this region. Many of the ministers, pastors and evangelists of this association have been bi-vocational. In other words, they must work at secular occupations as well as their jobs as preachers of the faith. Throughout the history of this group, however, there can be no doubt that these men....and women.... faithfully follow the challenge of Paul to Timothy to “preach the Word.” That is the tone of these first recorded minutes of what we can assume is a newly organized group of ministers, the “Apostolic Bible Conference.” On this Monday in May, three men speak to a large assembly. Rev W. J. Logan, certainly reminding himself that he is newly appointed to be shepherd of the people represented by this pulpit, speaks on “The Need of the Hour”. Rev A. F. Varnell spoke on “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit” and then, at the evangelistic service at 7pm, after what most likely was lively music, hymns and special singing, Rev Carl Fraese spoke on “The Way of God.” Tuesday, June 1st, the conference began with a Bible discussion on how a Christian should spend Sunday. BMA conferences have always taken on topics that not only would be instructive but also could be grounds for discussion. Some discussions have been known to even be “heated” from time to time. This session was led by Sister Rachael Varnell and included talks on things like family renunions and other secular activities that might interfere with worship. It might not be recognized by many current-day readers that not that long ago, businesses and most activities were not open and available on Sundays. This may very well might have been one of those “heated” discussions. That afternoon, Brother Paul Grant of Logansport spoke on the topic, “The Kingdom of Heaven.” It might be worthy to note that this association has had a long history of not only allowing laymen in the local church opportunity to speak, but often licenses ministers who do not necessarily pastor a church at the time. We don’t know Brother Grant that well....possibly because he may have been just such an individual. The evening “Evangelistic Services” started at 7pm with the first message being presented by Rev Charles Rhoades of Decatur, Illinois. He was followed by Rev Holloman who spoke on “Prepare to Meet Thy God.” An altar call was given by Brother Hoag of Evansville, Indiana. |
 Early photo of Rev M.D. and Mrs Hornbeck On Wednesday, June 2nd, there was a prayer service from 8 to 9am conducted by Rev M.D. Hornbeck of Bloomington, Ill. At 11am, Rev I.E. Wilson of Decatur, IL led a Bible discussion on “When is the Blood Applied?” and was followed by Rev Grant of Logansport. It is worth noting that Rev Hornbeck was called to pastor the church at Bloomington after Brother Varnell had started it, built up the local body and then brought Brother Hornbeck to assume the mantle of leadership. As we said, this model was followed many times by Brother Varnell to establish local church bodies in many locations in the midwest. Evidence seems to indicate that he did the same thing in Logansport with Brother Grant. The minutes indicate that “many brethren took part in the discussion, a Christian spirit prevailed througout the afternoon. Decision was, that the Blood was applied by the channel of faith when one made contact with God, and should by all means be followed with Baptism by immersion in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” One thing has always been consistent in the BMA.....discussion was free and often challenging. But as an association of ministers, this group never had any problem deciding what the “decision” should be about what the Scripture meant. This was especially true under Brother Varnell’s leadership. He wrote many dissertations on Scriptural doctrine and published them for wide dispersal. (This will be shown later in this book.) He rarely expressed that he did not have an opinion on a doctrine. More often enough, as many a young minister would remember, he would ask the listener, “would you rather get it right?” This meant that, having thoroughly studied the Word for a lifetime, discussed it many times over and over, he could easily lead anyone to a consensus about what any particular passage of Scripture might be saying. And, as important as Scripture was, there was no topic mentioned in the Bible that was not worthy of rigorous discussion and ultimate conclusion as to exactly what it meant. Witness the vital discussion of how many people did Jesus really baptise? More about that later. This session was followed by a missionary talk given by Rev Jacob DeVrise of Royal Center, Indiana. The evening service began at 8:30pm and a message was given by Brother Hoag on the subject, “God’s Verdict.” |
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A major concern I have in writing a history such as this is how much I write about individuals. It will be obvious to anyone reading that some individuals had a much greater impact on the BMA than others, if for no other reason than the amount of space spent describing them and what they did. My concern centers on the fact that some may think that because not much space is spent on one name or another that it would be our opinion that their contribution is less significant. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, there are no small contributors. It should be accepted however, that sometimes the reason one name receives so little attention in the story telling is just because we know so little about them. I’m sure that in heaven, some of the people the world knew the least will be ones the Lord rewards the most. But sometimes when you try to tell a story that happened so long ago, someone will be mentioned less because the story teller just doesn’t have any more information on them. There are also other individuals who, through the years, come into our lives very briefly and then we might never see again. The same has been true in the BMA. Throughout the history of the association, the Lord has led folks into our lives who we see only briefly and then we never see them again....but that does not mean that the Lord doesn’t use them vitally somewhere else. We just don’t end up knowing about it....at least as far as the telling of this story goes. Now, there are certainly others whose lives have had a great and lasting impact on our association. These individuals have invested huge amounts of time, money and personal investment into the ministry of our association. Of course, as the founder of what we now know as the BMA, Brother Varnell’s impact provides a greater input to the narrative. But there are lots of other men and women who, because they have devoted many, many years of their lives to the BMA, the impact of what they have given to it is of great significance. Some of those folks can not even remember a time when they weren’t serving the Lord through some avenue of this ministry. Rev I. E. Wilson is one of those individuals. To this point in the story, his name has not been mentioned much. However, there would literally be no story without his input. As the secretary of this association, it was he that has written what we have shared so far from these early beginnings in the minutes. He was certainly not the only secretary of the BMA, but he was the first. And his contributions go way beyond this ledger. (We will discuss that much more when we get into talking about the Youth Camp.) As an individual who has personally benefitted from this ministry throughout my life, I know I will always thank the Lord that people like him chose to give so much to the work.  In the evening service, Sister Katie B. Laurence of Decatur spoke on “Adam, Where Art Thou?” She was followed by Brother Wilson whose subject was, “God’s Plan for Divine Healing.” The minutes indicate that “quite a number were healed.” Praise the Lord! After the service, a business meeting was called by Brother Varnell, who presided over the session in Brother Logan’s apartment. In this meeting, the membership resolved to change the name from Apostolic Bible Conference to the Evangelistic Ministerial Alliance. The following “alliance platform” was agreed upon: OUR AIM, UNITY OF THE SPIRIT OUR PURPOSE, EVANGELISM OUR FAITH, THE BIBLE (WHERE THE BIBLE SPEAKS, WE SPEAK. WHERE THE BIBLE IS SILENT, WE ARE SILENT) The minutes go on to state that “Officers of the present time consist of I.E. Wilson, Secretary, Paul Grant, W.M.K. Hoad, A.F. Varnell, Conference Committee. Due to the fact that Brother Varnell was selected to act as chairman of the E.M.A., he resigned as member of the Conference Committee. Motion was made, seconded and carried that Brother Hornbeck serve in Brother Varnell’s place.” It was also “resolved that the conference committee act as an advisory board and grievance committee for the organization.” June 5th would be the sixth day of this conference. Many of the pastors and ministers had been to the meeting now for six straight days. There are no signs of fatigue in the minutes. All indications are that, unlike present day conferences, this one was set to go the distance. At 10am, a discussion on “Methods of Modern Warfare” was presented by Sister Varnell and followed by others. The evening service at 7:30pm was an Ordination Service. Messages were given by Brother Varnell, I.E. Wilson and J.D. Logan. Brother Varnell then ordained Brother Grant and Brother Hornbeck. The evening message was delivered by Brother Atkins of Kokomo, Indiana. At the conclusion, the conference was closed. We have no previous records of what the Apostolic Bible Conference was or how they conducted their business. We do not have any indication of what brought these men, women and their ministries together...although I’m sure it doesn’t stretch the imagination to see Brother Varnell’s evangelistic gifting at work bringing together a fairly large yet united group of people. We do know that they had officers and that they remained in place for the following year. As a result, it is difficult for us to say exactly what date this “organization” actually began. We can sense, however, that to them at least, their purpose is clear and they had established a firm foundation on which to base their future “alliance.” Recorded already in these first minutes are the following individuals who can be considered members: Rev. A.F. Varnell, Chairman Rev. I.E. Wilson, Secretary, Pastor, Decatur, Ill. Paul Grant, Conference Committee, Pastor, Logansport, Ind. W.M.K. Hoag, Conference Committee, Evansville, Ind. Rev. M.D. Hornbeck, Conference Committee, Pastor, Bloomington, Ill. Bro Atkins, Kokomo, Ind. Rev. Jacob DeVriese, Royal Center, Ind. Rev Carl Froese, Apostolic Church of Belleville, Ill. Bro. Hoag, Evansville, Ind. Rev. Holloman Rev W.J. Logan, Pastor, Gospel Tabernacle, Kokomo, Ind. Rev Chas Rhoades of Decatur, Ill. Sis Katie B. Laurence, Decatur, Ill. Sister Ruth Varnell, Although these fourteen individuals are the only ones mentioned to this point, it would be senseless to suggest that they were the only ones attending this first conference. We have the benefit of a long list of names and addresses that Brother Wilson added on the last page of this ledger that lists some 37 individuals. Many are additions after this meeting, the women and wives are not listed and there are prominent names that do not appear on the list at all. As a result, it is impossible to determine how many people attended this first recorded conference. We do know, however, that “a much larger delegation than was expected” showed up and a very successful conference was recorded. Today, we have the benefit of looking back on all that God has done through this alliance and we must thank Him and praise Him for it. Certainly, excellent leadership and an uncommon unity of faith and vision helped what this organization started out as to develop into something the Lord is certainly pleased has existed through the years. We all thank Him for it. |
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