Written by Phil Wala
This week we are excited to share an exceptional treasure from HAUMC history. Stored in the church archives we discovered a reel of 16mm movie film purported to be a Hennepin Christmas service telecast over WTCN-TV Channel 11 in 1962. Having an audiovisual record of a Hennepin church service from the 1960s was something we wanted to preserve and share. But a surprise awaited us when we previewed the film. The sign-on announcement at the beginning of the film was not from Channel 11, but from Channel 9. And the call letters were KEYD-TV.
A bit of TV history: Minneapolis Channel 9 first went on the air in January 1955 as KEYD-TV, an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network. Unfortunately, by the time KEYD-TV went on the air, the DuMont network was already struggling. By mid-1956 it had folded, the station was sold, and the new owners changed the call letters, first to KMGM and then in 1958 to KMSP, the call letters it has now retained for more than 66 years. The original call sign of KEYD-TV became an obscure and ephemeral relic of early television history, in existence for only 18 months. In fact, there was only one Christmas when KEYD-TV was on the air: 1955. That was enough to identify the film as a recording, not of a 1962 telecast, but of a Hennepin service telecast on Christmas Day, December 25, 1955 — 69 years ago!
Although only about 28 minutes of the 90-minute live telecast was filmed, it is by far the earliest audiovisual recording of any service at Hennepin Church. It was Dr. Pennington’s first Christmas at Hennepin. He was 39 years old at the time, and had only been Hennepin pastor for about seven months.
A word about the quality: this was before the invention of videotape, when the only way to record a live television program was by kinescope – pointing a movie camera at a television set. The sound is badly distorted, there is video flicker due to the movie camera being out of sync with the TV frame rate, and the film itself was in deteriorating condition. But the ability to see individual TV scan lines indicates that the focus and the film scanning process were good, and that much of the generally poor video resolution can simply be attributed to what it was like to watch live local television programming in 1955.
So if you can forgive the imperfections of 1950s technology, we invite you to Christmas Day 1955 at Hennepin. Pick up a copy of the bulletin by clicking the photo of the bulletin cover. Then click the image of the television screen and imagine what it was like to attend this service – or to be at home tuning into the very first Hennepin service available by remote video.
Interesting aside: The photo below shows one of the KEYD-TV remote television cameras that was likely used in the Hennepin sanctuary that morning. The reporter in the photo was the news director for KEYD-TV, a young newspaper and radio reporter named Harry Reasoner who wanted to give television a try. Reasoner lost his job when KEYD-TV was sold in 1956, but he was quickly hired by CBS television. Twelve years later, in 1968, he and Mike Wallace teamed up to host a brand new program called “60 Minutes.” (MN Historical Society photo)

News Items From This Week in Hennepin History (December 15-21)
1875 (December 19)
The ninth weekly meeting of the new Hennepin Avenue Sunday School will feature former Centenary Church pastor Rev. Ambrose Hollington as guest. He will serve as the first pastor of Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. (Minneapolis Tribune)

1875 (December 21)
The Elk River News reports on the formation of a new church in Minneapolis, with hopes that the split from Centenary Church will finally end the “seething mass of religious contention” that has marked the past three to four years. The new Hennepin Church already has hopes of purchasing and building on two lots at Ninth and Hennepin. (This will not come to pass. Instead, the church will erect a temporary church building on rented property, and then build the red brick church at 10th and Hennepin.) (Minneapolis Tribune)

1892 (December 16)
Hennepin Avenue Church announces plans to remodel the red brick church at 10th and Hennepin, removing the entrance stairs from the Hennepin Avenue side. This is made necessary by the city’s announced intention to widen and, for the first time, pave Hennepin Avenue. (Minneapolis Times)

1913 (December 16)
Hennepin Avenue Church, meeting in the Fowler Church building at Franklin and Dupont, advertises its Christmas services in the Minneapolis Tribune.

1940 (December 20)
The University of Life presents the Christmas play “When the Chimes Rang,” directed by Carolyn Joyce. (Hennepin County Library)

1956 (December 16)
The Minneapolis Star profiles Mrs. Chester A. Pennington (Marjorie) as part of its “Woman Behind the Man” series.

1978 (December 16)
The Minneapolis Tribune has some fun with its reporting of a drama being performed at Hennepin Avenue Church.

1987 (December 21)
Hennepin Church’s presentation of “The Nativity” makes news when a burro gets stuck in the church basement. (Star Tribune)

1998 (December 17)
The Star Tribune reports on unsuccessful attempts to recruit a celebrity for a cameo appearance in “The Nativity.”
