Written by Phil Wala
1897 (September 30)
The Minneapolis Times applauds a “liberal movement” by the “wide-awake and progressive” Hennepin Avenue Church. What was this daring move? It was a decision to discontinue the system of charging rent for pews. Families would no longer be able to reserve their favorite pew by means of an annual subscription fee.
At least that was the idea. In fact, pew rental did return on several occasions, even into the 1940s — but it was an optional fee that only reserved the pew until five minutes before the beginning of the service. If the “owner” hadn’t shown up by then, those seats were opened up to anyone, free of charge.
1911 (September 26)
Anna Goheen, the last of the Harrison siblings that were charter members of Hennepin Avenue Church, died on September 23, 1911, at the age of 85. Goheen’s tireless work for the church and her extravagant generosity earned her a reputation as “the mother of Methodism in Minnesota.” While still in the red brick church at 10 th and Hennepin, Goheen had vowed that she would not buy a new bonnet until a new church building was completed. The photo shows Goheen (on the right) wearing that bonnet on the steps of the red brick church.
Unfortunately, when Goheen died, work on the new church hadn’t even begun. Hennepin Church was just three months into its transition phase, merging with Fowler Church, and selling the red brick church that had been Goheen’s spiritual home for the past thirty years. Goheen’s funeral would have to be held at Fowler Church, a place that hadn’t yet begun to feel like “home” to her.
Except … in a circumstance of serendipitous timing, when Goheen died, the deal to sell the red brick church had fallen through just days earlier. Until a new buyer could be found, the old building was temporarily back in the hands of Hennepin Church. The decision was quickly made to open up the old sanctuary, dust off the pews, and gather together on September 26 for one last service – a watershed event for Hennepin Church, as they said goodbye to both the red brick church and to Anna Goheen.
By the way, the person on the left in the photo is Charlotte E. Thorpe, another founding member of Hennepin Church. Both Thorpe and Goheen have stained glass windows in our sanctuary dedicated to them. The next time you’re in church, see if you can find them. (Minneapolis Journal)
1896 (September 22)
Hennepin Church announces that Andrew Gillies, Hennepin pastor since 1907, has resigned. Gillies has been away from the church for most of the past two years due to a condition later described as “nervous exhaustion.” Associate Pastor Gilbert Stansell has assumed pastoral duties in Gillies’ place. Gillies penned his resignation letter three months ago, citing that his treatment, which consisted of outdoor living and complete rest, had not improved his condition.
The church still has Gillies’ actual hand-written resignation letter in the archives. Click here to read the letter (with a typed transcription included for those who struggle to read cursive.)
It’s important to note that Gillies did recover sufficiently from his illness to return to Hennepin Church in 1925, substituting for Pastor Bugbee during the month of August. The following year he became pastor of Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, serving for eleven years until his retirement in 1937. Pastor Gillies died in 1942.
1942 (September 27)
The new fall session of University of Life begins with the showing of a color film “Open Doors,” featuring highlights from the previous (1941-1942) year. We have already shared some clips from this film, but now, on the 83 rd anniversary of its first showing, we are able to share not only the entire film, not seen for 83 years, but an “extended cut” version, with deleted scenes reinserted.¹
We don’t know if there was music and a narration accompanying the first showing of the film, but the film itself is silent — so we have added selections of music from four record/CD albums released by the Hennepin music department. Artists include the Sanctuary Choir, the 1960 Children’s Choir, Copper Street Brass, Hennepin Chime, and a Richard Waggoner organ solo.
Watch the film “Open Doors” here: https://youtu.be/pPRLjHvT7Ec
¹ Unused film clips, swept up from the cutting room floor, had been spliced together (in random order) and archived on a separate reel, enabling us to retrieve them and match them to scenes in the film. This adds about ten minutes worth of never-before seen content.
