Written by Phil Wala
From the Fowler Church Archives
In anticipation of our May 18 opportunity to tour our church’s former place of worship, here are a couple of church bulletins from that era. The first is a 1903 bulletin from Fowler Church, while they were still worshiping in the Fowler Chapel (which you will see on the tour). The drawing shows the view from the southwest, the corner with the conical tower that is still there. The new sanctuary will be built to the north of the chapel (to the left in this view).
The second bulletin is from August 1911, just two months after the Fowler and Hennepin congregations merged. For now, the bulletin carries the names of both churches, but the official name is already “Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church.” This view from the northwest shows the sanctuary (completed in 1907) with the two towers that face Franklin Avenue. The original chapel portion of the building (shown on the 1903 bulletin) is barely noticeable in this drawing, at the far right.
EVENT REMINDER:
Tour Hennepin’s 1911-1915 Church 5/18/25
This building has been the Scottish Rite Temple since 1915 when it was purchased from Hennepin Avenue Church. This was our place of worship from 1911 to 1915, but it is seldom open to the public. But on Sunday, May 18 the Scottish Rite Masons will conduct three tours specifically for Hennepin Avenue UMC members and friends, highlighting the building’s Methodist history. Tours will be at 12, 2, and 4 pm. Spaces are limited, so register in advance to reserve your spot. The building is on the corner of Franklin and Dupont Avenues (right next to Sebastian Joe’s Ice Cream). Register Here
1875 (May 20)
The assault on Dr. Stanton by Centenary Church member John Horton (see last week’s post) was big news in Minneapolis. The day after Horton’s trial in municipal court, the Minneapolis Tribune published a full transcript of the trial. This is just the opening paragraph. The entire article runs two full columns.
1896 (May 17)
When a groundbreaking new technology has ethical considerations, church leaders are often called upon to address the issue. In 1896, Hennepin pastor Rev. Edward L. Watson preached a sermon discussing “the moral and religious problems of the wheel.”
1904 (May 17)
Dr. C. W. Malchow reads a chapter from his book, “The Sexual Life” to a group of Methodist ministers at Hennepin Church who congratulate him on how well he handled a difficult subject. Not everyone shared that opinion. Later that year Dr. Malchow was convicted of distributing obscene material through the mail and sentenced to a year in the state prison in Stillwater. (Minneapolis Tribune)
1911 (May 17)
Mrs. and Mrs. Gilbert Walker, who live next door to the church (in the home that today houses the Dignity Center), are about to set sail on a ship that will meet a tragic demise four years later. (Minneapolis Tribune)
1922 (May 14)
The fireplace in the Scout Room (known today as “Wesley Hall”) is dedicated to the memory of Robert F. Whipple by his parents. Some of the windows seen in the photo were blocked when the education wing was added in 1950, but the Wesley Room still retains the original beamed ceiling.
1946 (May 14)
Hennepin pastor Dr. Richard Raines returned from a ten-week trip through Latin America, visiting Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, visiting Methodist churches and schools on behalf of the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions. We assume that the missions board was given a film record of the trip based on a strange reel of film in the church archives which appears to be a randomly ordered assemblage of clips from “the cutting room floor” – all the poorly exposed, irrelevant, or otherwise unused clips that weren’t used elsewhere. Rather than discard all these clips, someone had the foresight to piece them together and save them on a reel. While most clips appear to be from the “new member film” in the early 1940s, we were also able to piece together a few minutes’ worth of clips that appears to have been taken during the 1946 Latin American trip.
1955 (May 19)
The former Gilbert Walker home at 425 Groveland has been converted into a parsonage, and its first residents are new pastor Dr. Chester Pennington and his family, recently arrived from New York City. (Minneapolis Star)
1970 (May 16)
The Minneapolis Star reports that the newest member of the Supreme Court, Justice Harry Blackmun, was once a member of Hennepin Avenue Church.
1993 (May 16)
On May 16, 1993, Hennepin pastor Dr. David Tyler Scoates preached a sermon announcing the church’s decision to become an inclusive and reconciling congregation. During the sermon, he interviewed John Cook, a member of the reconciling committee.
