Written by Phil Wala
1893 (March 21)
Harriet (Hattie) Hulet Walker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. B. Walker, becomes engaged to be married to Hennepin Church’s bachelor pastor, Rev. Frederick O. Holman. Their wedding that October will be the social event of the year. Unfortunately, their marriage will not have a storybook ending. Rev. Holman’s tuberculosis will force him to resign from Hennepin the following year. He will spend three years trying the outdoor lifestyle that doctors recommend as a cure, but he will succumb to the disease in 1897 at the age of 40. His young widow will die a few years later at the age of 33. (Minneapolis Times)
1902 (March 22)
On November 2, 1877, when Hennepin Church was only two years old, and a week after marrying church founder and Minneapolis mayor H. G. Harrison, Elizabeth Wood Harrison began teaching a bible class. In 1902, this Minneapolis Times article reports on the annual parties she hosts for members of her class. She will continue to teach that class for a total of more than 50 years. The Harrison Room, adjacent to the art gallery, is named in her honor.
1918 (March 24)
The World War is underway, and young women of Hennepin Avenue Church are supporting the war effort by preparing surgical supplies for wounded soldiers. (Minneapolis Tribune)
1928 (March 19)
Hennepin Methodist and Westminster Churches are robbed by safecrackers, and the story is headline news in local newspapers. A similar attempt at Central Lutheran Church is thwarted by a church custodian with a gun. Captain Crummy¹ is in charge of the investigation.
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¹ Captain of Detectives, Andrew E. Crummy.
1933 (March 23)
With Easter approaching, and overcrowding expected, Hennepin Church advertises a new innovation. Overflow seating will be provided in the art gallery, and loudspeakers will pipe in audio from the service, using what newspapers tout as the same type of system used for “talking pictures.” It’s thought to be a new innovation, but a search of Minneapolis newspapers show that the same type of system had been used at Hennepin Church as early as Easter 1923!
1952 (March 22)
Dr. Dwight Loder welcomes 100-year-old Christina Merriman as a new member of Hennepin Church. She will remain a member of the church until she dies four years later at the age of 104. (Minneapolis Star)
1953 (March 21)
Fred M. Iverson, usher at Hennepin Church, is honored on his 90th birthday. He has been an usher for 70 years, first at Foss Methodist Church, then beginning in 1903 at Fowler Methodist Church, which merged with Hennepin Avenue Church in 1911. He will die in 1958 at the age of 95, with a seemingly unbeatable record of service …
… except for a fellow usher that would have served with Iverson beginning in 1939. Perhaps taking inspiration from Iverson, Bill Pilgram will break his seemingly unbeatable record, continuing to serve as a Hennepin usher until interrupted by the 2020 pandemic, when at the age of 102, he will have been ushering for over 80 years!
1966 (March 20)
Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church presents a jazz service to an overflow crowd. (Minneapolis Star)
2000 (March 22)
Twenty-Five years ago, Hennepin Church celebrated its quasquicentennial (125th) year by inviting some former pastors and associate pastors for a series of Wednesday evening Lenten services. One of those invited back was Rev. David Tyler Scoates, senior pastor of Hennepin from March 1984 to September 1993. After leaving Hennepin, Scoates served as an associate of Robert Schuller at the Crystal Cathedral in California, and also as visiting pastor for several churches in Florida.
After the service, the church held a reception for Scoates and for his wife Vonda Kay (formerly Miss America 1965). This was the first time in the 6½ years since Scoates had been pastor that he was able to accept an invitation to return to Hennepin. At the time, no one could have known that it would also be his last time here. He died in Florida, at the age of 65, just 45 days later.
Here is Scoates’ sermon from that event, along with an introduction by pastor Rod Wilmoth. Prayer and scripture reading is provided by Rev. Sally Johnson.
