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The History of the Bethel Ministerial Association
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Chapter 3 |
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The next morning, Tuesday, Nov 23, 1937, a prayer service at 8a.m. was conducted by Bro Holloman. Following this, at 10:30, there was a “discussion” on the subject of current events which portrayed the drama of the End Times, opened by Bro Grant, followed by Bro Wilson, Bro Hornbeck, Bro Holloman and Bro Logan. The 2pm afternoon services opened with songs & prayer. The subject of the afternoon was, “Is There a Difference Between Begotten and Born of the Spirit?” The session was opened by Bro Varnell and followed by Bro Humbard. The consensus decision was that “these terms can be used interchangably and could not run paralell with the natural birth. The natural, after begettal, waits for flesh to develop. With the spiritual, there is no flesh to develop.” In the evening Evangelistic services at 7:00, the first speaker was Bro. Hornbeck followed by Bro P. Grant. Wednesday at 10am featured a Bible discussion: namely, “Is there a difference between the righteous and Holy people?” All agreed that “righteousness is Holiness worked out.” At 1pm, the first recorded “Young Peoples’ meeting” was held. Bro Wilson was in charge and Bro Holloman & Bro Roy Simpkins made a talk on “Faithfulness.” “Plans were presented for young people to work and Bro Wilson was selected for young peoples leader.” This first recorded reference to an interest and emphasis on young people was especially significant. We find later that Brother Wilson’s involvement in organizing future youth events and obtaining grounds for a Youth Camp would be instrumental in developing one of the most significant ministries of the organization that would affect thousands of lives over the years to come and result in commitments to ministries around the world. That evening, the Evangelistic service was led by Bro. Hornbeck. Thursday morning, Sis Humbard led a prayer service. The same article mentioned above states that Martha Bell Childers Humbard was an assistant to the evangelist Mother Barnes before her marriage. When her son, Rex was 2 days old, his mother consecrated him to God’s service. In his ministry, Rex’s “sermons were televised on Sundays from 1953 to 1999, reaching up to 20 million viewers, his ministry estimated.” After this morning prayer service, there was a “Morning Service Praise and Testimony Meeting.” At 1pm, the subject, “Christian Standards” was opened by Bro Wilson, followed by Bro Hornbeck and Bro Wellens, “Midget Preacher.” As a possible interesting aside, this association has never shied away from inviting persons to speak who are well known in the ministry and who have had notable impact to large numbers of people, particularly in the area of evangelism. Although the results have not always been positive, it can be noted that we have never been afraid to try new things and explore the “fascinating” in attempts to reach people, and especially young people, for Jesus. The same claim can be made for using new things and new methods in evangelism. It would be a good bet that Brother Wellens was a good example of this as have been many others through the years, many of which we will mention later. The organization has never been afraid of notariety. That Thursday evening saw another Ordination Service led by a sermon by Brother Varnell. Brother Elmer Sheperd of Clinton, Ill and Bro Hansom Holloman of Leroy, Ill were ordained. This was followed by a message by Sister Laurence of Decatur, Ill followed by Bro Wilson on the subject, “How Strong is the Church?” Friday morning, Brother Grant led the morning prayer meeting. This was followed by a Bible Discussion on the Various Judgments led by Bro. Holloman, Bro Varnell and Bro Grant. In the evening service, the first message was given by Bro. Sheperd and the second followed by Bro Holloman. Several business meetings were conducted during this conference. Wednesday evening after supper, a business meeting was held in the basement of the church. A statement was made by Brother Varnell that “it would be better to have credentials with W.F.M.A and still have our separate unit or council. Resolved that we change our name from E.M.A. to E.M. Council. That motion was carried.” Also, on Thursday evening after supper, another business meeting was held in which it was decided that the next conference would be in Bloomington, Ill, March 1938. Bro. Hornbeck would serve as host pastor. The Evangelistic Ministerial Alliance now became known as the Evangelistic Ministerial Council. The practice of holding a Spring or Summer meeting as well as a Fall meeting, whether previously established or not, now became the norm. March 28, 1938, the Evangelistic Ministerial Council Bible Conference convened at The Gospel Lighthouse, 911 West Washington St, Bloomington, Ill, March 28th to April 1. Pastor M.D. Hornbeck served as host. The opening message at 3 p.m. was “Powerful Christians” delivered by Rev I. E. Wilson of Decatur, Ill. The message of the evening was delivered by Bro Ora Dauson of South Bend, Ind and Bro Ransom Holloman of LeRoy, Ill.  Present day location at 911 West Washington Street |
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Tuesday morning at 10am, a Bible discussion was conducted on the question, “What are the Requirements of Entering Heaven?” It was agreed that what is required is a “born again experience and a faithful consistent Christian life until Jesus comes.” At 1pm, a discussion about, “Should the present day Christian practice of feet washing serve as a sacrament” was presented by Brother Logan, Evangelist, who declared that it should be observed. His view was opposed by Paul Grant of Logansport, Ind, “who held the position that it was an excellent custom but not considered a church ordinance and when mentioned in the church epistles it came under the heading of good works and not a divine sacrament.” The Evangelistic message of the evening was by Bro Paul Grant of Logansport, Ind. Wednesday morning’s Bible discussion was “What are the Scriptural requirements of a minister?” This was presented by I.E. Wilson. It was agreed that a minister must first, “experience a call into the ministry. He needs to be patient and kind, not greedy and money crazy but be willing to sacrifice. He should have his own wife and family under subjection, providing he had one. He must control his own house or he is not capable to take care of the house of God. He must have a good report of those who are without, not given to foolishness or going excessively in debt, one must be prompt in paying bills. He should be careful to observe laws of the land as long as they do not conflict with God’s Word, that in all things he should be an example of the believers.” This was adopted by all. Wednesday afternoon at 2pm, an exposition on Demonism was presented by Brother Varnell. That evening at 6pm, there was a Young Peoples Service conducted with Brother Wilson in charge. Bloomington was represented first, followed by Tishawa, Decatur, Logansport and Evansville, Ind. A severe electrical storm caused much disturbance. Brother Wolff of Tishawa showed some screen pictures of Rock of Ages and the sermon was given by Brother Logan. Thursday opened with a discussion on “Who and what constitutes the Bride?” Brother P. Grant took the position that Israel was the bride and the Church was the Body. “It seemed that practically all disagreed with him. The majority believed that the Church is the Bride.” That afternoon at 2pm, there was an exposition by Brother Grant on current events and “Kings in prophecy.” The evening message was by Brother Wolff. Friday at 10am, there was a continuation of Bro Grant’s exposition on Prophecy. That afternoon, at 12:30, a discussion, “When was the devil cast out of Heaven?” was presented by Bro Holloman followed by different brethren. Most of them agreed that Satan lost his position when he sinned and fell from his exalted place. Yet he continues to have some access to some parts of heaven or presence of God and that his final casting out will be future prior to Great Tribulation period. Thursday afternoon, a business meeting was called by Bro Varnell. The subject was presented by Bro Wilson on whether or not we should get new credentials and fellowship cards or just mark out the word “Alliance” and put “Council” in its place. Decision was made for the latter suggestion. It was also decided that Brother Sheperd, Holloman, Grant, Hornbeck, Rhine, Dauson, Logan, Wilson and Bro Varnell would donate monthly on paper on which we are printing “The Evangelistic Ministerial Council Messenger.” Bro Varnell would give $2.00 monthly and all others would give $1.00. Power was granted to Bro Varnell in a business meeting later to appoint someone to take Bro Hoag’s place on the Conference Committee since Bro Hoag resigned. Bro Holloman was appointed. “This conference had no law but love. No clean minister was barred. Meals and rooms were free to all. Conference was supported by donations and free will offerings. The next conference would be for ministers only and Evangelistic services at night would be held at the Gospel Tabernacle, 800 E. Wm Street, Decatur, Ill, May 30th to June 4th, I. E. Wilson, host pastor.” The next entry into the ledger was from July 28, 1938. A special fellowship meeting was called of the Ministerial Council at Evansville, Ind. for the purpose of giving Bro Varnell a boost in a tent meeting. The meeting was also conducted to ordain Bro H.L. Rigsby of Hannibal, MO. The Ordination service took place at the tent on the corner of Gorenan and Jackson St, Evansville, Ind. Bro Varnell, Bro Wilson, Bro Hornbeck, and Bro Sheperd did the ordaining. Each minister gave a short talk and Bro Varnell gave a explained the purpose of ordination. Quite interesting, by its absence, is the fact that no other minutes were recorded by the fellowship until 1941. That is a three year lapse in recorded history! I have no clear answer for why this occurred. There are very mild suggestions above that occasionally, the fellowship experienced disagreement over doctrinal issues. We already know that Brother Varnell himself, left organizations that he literally helped established because of doctrinal differences on issues like speaking in tongues. The statements above like, “this conference had no law but love” and “no clean minister was barred” hint at how difficult it is to hold strong doctrinal stands and maintain a loving, united relationship in any association. Some early “growing pains” may explain why minutes from that time do not exist. Throughout the history of the association, we have always held fundamental many of the doctrines that Brother Varnell preached. He had at least fifteen distinct printings of tracts with these addressed in them over the years. I will post these throughout this history since many of them occurred over time and they can be rather extensive. However, there probably never was a clearer expression of what we came to believe than what he wrote. In expressing, discussing and sometimes arguing what we believed the Word of God was teaching us, Brother Varnell would often ask friends, associates and fellow pastors, “Wouldn’t you rather get it right?” |
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