Revivaltime: How Radio Helped Shape Assemblies of God Identity

C. M. Ward at microphone, with Revivaltime Choir in background, 1958.

This Week in AG History — December 11, 1960

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on AG News, 12 December 2019

Revivaltime, the Assemblies of God weekly radio program broadcast from 1950 until 1995, was one of the Fellowship’s most successful national ministries. Its hosts, C. M. Ward (1953-1978) and Dan Betzer (1979-1995), became two of the best-known Assemblies of God personalities, known to millions of listeners “coast to coast and around the world,” as the program’s familiar introduction intoned.

The broadcast, established in 1946 as Sermons in Song, was renamed Revivaltime in 1950. In 1953, Ward became the first full-time speaker, and the program began broadcasting on the ABC radio network. Each program began with the song, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” sung by the Revivaltime choir. The song became so ingrained into the program’s identity that some have called it the “unofficial anthem” of the Assemblies of God. The reading of a biblical text and a sermon came next, followed by an invitation to kneel at the “radio altar” while the choir sang Ira Stanphill’s “There’s Room at the Cross for You.”

The program saw almost immediate success. For decades, over 10,000 letters from listeners poured into the Revivaltime offices each month. By 1960, church officials estimated that Revivaltime’s U.S. radio audience was 12 million people — 12 times as large as the Sunday morning attendance at Assemblies of God churches in America. Add to that the numerous Revivaltime broadcasts in other countries, and the magnitude of the program’s influence quickly becomes obvious.

Ward and Betzer engaged audiences with sermons employing simple, direct language and powerful illustrations and human-interest stories. They also modeled the charismatic gifts on the air, sometimes exercising a “word of knowledge” — communicating messages under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to specific unknown listeners. Countless thousands of people wrote in and credited Revivaltime for playing a role in a relative’s salvation, a healing, or other divine interventions.

Revivaltime and other national ministries — such as Christ’s Ambassadors (the ministry to youth and young adults), Royal Rangers (the Scout-like boys ministry), and Missionettes (now National Girls Ministries) — helped to give the Assemblies of God a sense of national identity and branding. While the focus in the Assemblies of God remained on the local church, these national ministries provided generations of Assemblies of God members with a sense that they were a part of a larger community of believers.

The Dec. 11, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel celebrated the seventh anniversary of Revivaltime, featuring C. M. Ward, D. V. Hurst (national secretary of Radio), and Bartlett Peterson (Revivaltime executive director) prominently on the cover. Together, these three men and hundreds of others labored to develop Revivaltime into a ministry that not only helped to evangelize and disciple believers, but also helped shape the identity of the Assemblies of God.

Read articles about Revivaltime’s seventh anniversary on pages 2 and 12 of the Dec. 11, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.
Also featured in this issue:

• “The Security of the Believer,” by Myer Pearlman

• “Predestination: What Does the Bible Teach about this Mysterious Subject?” by Ralph M. Riggs

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Listen to classic Revivaltime radio episodes by clicking here.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: iFPHC.org

Andrae Crouch: The COGIC Minister Who Bridged the Racial Gap in Gospel Music

David Mainse (right) welcomes guest Andrae Crouch (left) to the Assemblies of God television program, Turning Point, in 1977.

This Week in AG History — May 22, 1977

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG News, 24 May 2018

Andrae Edward Crouch (1942-2015) was a gospel singer, composer, music producer, and pastor of New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Los Angeles. As an 11-year-old preacher’s son, Crouch’s father asked him, “Andrae, if the Lord gives you the gift of music, will you use it?” Young Andrae replied, “Yeah, Daddy. I’ll play for the Lord.”

That week Crouch’s mother bought him a cardboard keyboard to learn some fingering techniques. According to a 1977 interview published in the Pentecostal Evangel, two weeks later his father called him to the church piano and said, “If you’re going to play, then play!” The song the church was singing was What A Friend We Have in Jesus and Andrae begin to hit different notes until he found one that sounded right. He remembered, “In our churches they sing in any key, you know, and just take off without a songbook. And there was, oh, it was just really a touch of God, and I knew that He had a plan for my life.”

Andrae and his twin sister, Sandra, spent their childhood singing in their father’s church and in community choirs, including one led by gospel musician, James Cleveland. When they were 14 years old, Andrae and Sandra were invited to Cleveland’s home for a barbeque. Andrae recalled looking up to Cleveland and thinking, I wish I could write a song. Watching the adults pour the large vat of barbeque sauce over the ribs, it reminded Andrae of the blood of Jesus and he begin to sing, “The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.” Sandra wrote the words down but Andrae wasn’t happy with it and threw it in the trash. Sandra said, “Andrae, that was a good song!” She dug it out of the trash can, and kept it.

In 1965, Crouch was attending the annual COGIC conference when the speaker asked, “Is there anyone here that wants to be used of God?” Crouch responded to the altar call and after the service several young men came up to him and said, “Hey, we’ve heard you play at your dad’s church. Would you come over and play for us at Teen Challenge?” Upon learning that Teen Challenge was a rehabilitation center for drug addicts, Crouch tried to put them off by saying, “Maybe I’ll come over sometime.” They responded with, “Come by tonight.” Andrae went with them but had no desire to work with them. Yet on the way home he kept hearing an addict’s choir singing in his head. After a long prayer session, Crouch felt God telling him to sell the car he loved, quit his job, and go to Teen Challenge to start a traveling choir of former drug addicts.

Alongside his work with the choir at Teen Challenge and at his father’s church, Crouch starting singing locally with a group of friends who called themselves “The Disciples.” In 1969, Ralph Carmichael, a Pentecostal record producer, heard them and invited them to a session to record an album, Take the Message Everywhere. Thirteen years after Sandra pulled Andrae’s first attempt at songwriting out of the trash can, listeners heard on the airwaves the song, The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.

Crouch soon left Teen Challenge and began traveling full time in music ministry, including an early engagement with a traveling evangelist who took him on a world tour just a few short years after his first album, giving a wide audience to the musician and songwriter whose popularity was burgeoning. By 1973, Crouch had recorded a live album at Carnegie Hall and in 1975 appeared with Billy Graham at a televised crusade in New Mexico.

The impact of Andrae Crouch’s influence on contemporary Christian music in the 1970s and forward is impossible to quantify. For the first time, mainstream Christian radio stations were playing music performed by a black man for white audiences on a large scale. Crouch’s concerts drew both black and white audiences at a time when most concerts were segregated whether by intention or not.

Today Crouch’s songs, such as Bless the Lord, O My Soul; My Tribute (To God Be the Glory); and Through It All can be found in most contemporary hymnals. Few musicians can say they had both the respect of evangelist Billy Graham and the respect of pop-icon Michael Jackson, whose public memorial service included Crouch’s choir singing his song, Soon and Very Soon.

When he died in 2015, he had won eight Grammy awards and had an Oscar nomination for his music on the movie, The Color Purple. Despite the fame and fortune, Andrae Crouch remained in the COGIC ministry and, along with his sister, Sandra, served as co-pastor of the church his father founded in Los Angeles. Broadly speaking, Andrae Crouch was one of the most widely influential Pentecostal ministers of the 20th century.

Read more about David Mainse’s interview with Andrae Crouch for Turning Point TV program on page 20 of the May 22, 1977, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:
• “Just Waiting,” by Carolyn G. Tennant
• “Tooling Up for the Unfinished Task,” by Thomas F. Zimmerman
• “The Ex-Smuggler,” by Rachel Petersen, missionary to the Dominican Republic
And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

A Warning from 1929 about Making the Worship Service into a Form of Entertainment

The orchestra at Bethany Temple in Everett, Washington, circa 1928-1932, featured musicians such as Myrtle Peterson Robeck on piano (left) and Levi Larson on trombone (right). 

This Week in AG History — June 1, 1929

By Darrin J. Rodgers
Originally published on PE-News, 1 June 2017

What role should music play in the church worship service? A 1929 Pentecostal Evangel article affirmed the value of music, while warning against the tendency to make the worship service into a form of entertainment.

The article observed that, in many quarters, “much of the worship offered to God is governed by what the people want rather than by the divine plan.” What is the “divine plan”? According to the article’s author, Canadian Pentecostal pioneer George A. Chambers, a worship service should include prayer, music, preaching of the Word, and an experience of the “real presence of God.”

Chambers was not opposed to the contemporary worship music of his day. He affirmed the joyful singing accompanied by numerous musical instruments for which early Pentecostals were known. He was concerned that, in some quarters, a certain professionalism was creeping into the church, which emphasized performance over the presence and power of God. He cautioned that musical performances sometimes overshadowed the other elements of the worship service.

According to Chambers, various musical numbers — including solos, duets, and orchestral selections — sometimes receive so much attention “that the Word of God is often relegated to 20 or 30 minutes’ time, and if its discussion is protracted beyond that the people show their disapproval by retiring from the service.” He noted that music often attracts people to church, but added, “Crowds are not always a sign of blessing and of God’s presence.”

Chambers’ concern for the church in 1929 seems quite applicable 88 years later. Noting that the earliest Pentecostals were known for their deeply spiritual services, he encouraged readers to rediscover the deep spirituality that birthed the movement. He lamented the tendency to replace a reliance upon the Holy Spirit with a reliance upon modern methods and advertising, quipping, “It used to be ‘follow the cloud!’ Now in many places it is more or less ‘follow the crowd.’”

Chambers encouraged readers to read 1 Chronicles 13-15, which documented how Israel learned the importance of worshiping according to God’s plan. The church, he believed, could benefit from the lessons provided by Israel’s example. While there are many ways to organize a worship service, Chambers’ article reminds Pentecostals to rely on the Holy Spirit and to keep the necessary elements in balance.

Read Chambers’ article, “Doing a Right Thing in a Wrong Way,” in the June 1, 1929, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel:

Also featured in this issue:

* “Diamond Cut Diamond,” by Harry Steil

* “Scriptural Warnings,” by P. C. Nelson

Click here to view this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

The Revivaltime Choir: Over 1,300 Students were “Young Evangelists” in this Radio Ministry

Revivaltime choir, circa 1960s. Cyril McLellan, director, is standing in front, far right.

This Week in AG History — April 15, 1962

By Glenn W. Gohr
Originally published on PE-News, 13 April 2017

When people reflect on Revivaltime, the long-standing weekly radio broadcast of the Assemblies of God, they often think of the much-acclaimed speakers, C. M. Ward and Dan Betzer. But the ministry of the Revivaltime choir, made up of students from Central Bible College (CBC) who volunteered to sing on the program each week, was just as important.

The Assemblies of God released the first Revivaltime broadcast on Easter Sunday, 1950. Three years later, on Dec. 20, 1953, the program was broadcast from the Bowie Hall auditorium at CBC and began airing on the ABC Radio Network with C. M. Ward as the speaker. Through the years, it is estimated that more than 1,300 people ministered as choir members and musicians under the leadership of Cyril McLellan, Revivaltime’s longtime music director. Although McLellan trained for and expected musical excellence, the emphasis of every practice and broadcast was prayer and a desire for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

The choir practiced during the week. Then on Sunday afternoons, beginning in January 1962, a bus would transport the students from CBC to the auditorium at the Assemblies of God national office. After rehearsing, the choir was joined by the rest of the team for prayer, and then C. M. Ward (and later Dan Betzer) would offer a few inspirational thoughts to the choir before starting the live broadcast. Two songs which became a hallmark of every program were “All Hail the Power” and “There’s Room at the Cross.”

A variety of songs and traditional hymns rounded out the musical selections for the Revivaltime program, with the choir often presenting a sermon in song which would augment the preaching. Whether it was a live radio broadcast in the Assemblies of God national office auditorium or when the choir was on tour, the choir members would often disperse into the congregation, connect with people, and pray for their needs. Ward often referred to the choir as “these young evangelists.”

Each year, two or three times as many talented CBC students auditioned for the choir than could be used. Those selected willingly gave up many hours each week to prepare for the half-hour broadcast. The students only met a small fraction of their audience, and they seldom would see the results of their ministry in music and prayer. Yet there are many testimonies of persons who have been saved, healed, encouraged, and helped by their singing.

An article in the Pentecostal Evangel from 55 years ago entitled “Why They Sing for Revivaltime” gave some background on why the students gladly sang for Revivaltime. The article includes testimonies from choir members as well as people in the audience.

Why did they sing for Revivaltime? One factor listed, in addition to their love for singing, is that the students found that “working with the talented choir director, Cyril McLellan, is a rewarding experience.” They also caught on to the vision of the ministry they could have through Revivaltime.

Gwen Hestand, a sophomore, testified, “I chose Revivaltime as an outlet for ministry because the broadcast’s very foundation is to meet human need wherever it exists and to present Christ as the answer to that need.”

“There’s no other ministry where so many people in so many places can be reached at one time,” said Carl Guiney, another sophomore.

David A. Ferrell, a student who had served as an evangelist, shared: “The Revivaltime choir is the greatest opportunity I have ever had to help so many. To read letters from those in distress and to go before the throne of God with these requests is the most rewarding work I’ve done.”

A listener in Alabama reported, “I receive a wonderful blessing from the message and beautiful music.” From Oregon came this testimony: “I enjoy the singing so much. I like to sing along with the choir.”

Revivaltime was not just a radio broadcast, it was a ministry that touched lives through the message and songs. The choir prayed often. Their focus was not on performance, but on ministering the gospel through song.

Read, “Why They Sing for Revivaltime,” on pages 16-17 of the April 15, 1962, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “The Cross in Christian Experience,” by Gordon D. Fee

• “The Last Supper,” by Violet Schoonmaker

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archive editions courtesy of Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

Melodies of Praise: 60th Anniversary of a Favorite Assemblies of God Songbook

The Melodies of Praise hymnal and orchestrations made their debut in 1957. Pictured here are Assemblies of God Music Division staff members Lorena Quigley (left), Marie Salisbury (center), and Edwin Anderson.

This Week in AG History — February 10, 1957

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on PE-News, 2 February 2017

Early Pentecostals commonly believed that two books were essential for revival: the Bible and the songbook. Fervent, spiritual singing has been a distinguishing characteristic of the Pentecostal movement from its inception, alongside powerful anointed preaching.

In the few first decades of the movement, Pentecostals used and promoted a great variety of songbooks published by non-Pentecostals, such as R. E. Winsett. However, at the 1920 General Council of the Assemblies of God, a recommendation was made that “in addition to the Sunday School literature … a Pentecostal Song Book, to be used universally throughout the Assemblies of God, be prepared and published.”

When Chairman J. W. Welch asked how many ministers would use a uniquely Pentecostal song collection. nearly all the ministers raised their hands. This recommendation was met with the 1924 release of Songs of Pentecostal Fellowship, the first Assemblies of God effort to produce a songbook that was distinctly Pentecostal.

Songs of Pentecostal Fellowship was followed by other songbooks, such as Spiritual Songs (1930), Songs of Praise (1935), and Assembly Songs (1948). These collections consisted mainly of gospel songs which were popular at camp meetings and revival services. They also featured songs by Assemblies of God authors and began to bring unity to the congregational singing of the churches.

The 1950s brought a “golden era” to Pentecostal music. Quartet conventions began featuring more Pentecostal groups such as the Blackwood Brothers, and the Assemblies of God established the Music Division of Gospel Publishing House. One of the Music Division’s first duties was to produce a songbook for congregational singing that would also encourage the use of orchestrations for instruments. 

This new songbook, Melodies of Praise, made its debut 60 years ago in the Pentecostal Evangel, and it was formally introduced at the General Council later that year. It was the first Assemblies of God music publication to be released in both round note and shaped note editions, giving it a broader appeal for use in the southern singing schools. Melodies of Praise kept the gospel songs that were popular in churches but also incorporated more traditional hymns, such as Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Conversely, the compilers also sought to expose more church members to newer writers, such as Ira Stanphill, with the inclusion of songs like Mansion Over the Hilltop and Suppertime. It also incorporated a newer genre of church music with its introduction of choruses like Everybody Ought to Know, I Shall Not Be Moved, and Isn’t He Wonderful. 

Another change the Music Division made was to release a companion edition with instrumental orchestrations. Most Pentecostals embraced the use of instruments in worship and, for the first time, church instrumentalists could participate in the accompaniment of song services with the aid of properly composed notation.

Melodies of Praise was well received and sold 77,410 copies in its first year. By 1986, almost 2 million copies had been sold. Even after it was replaced in 1969 by the popular Hymns of Glorious Praise, it continued to sell well. Pentecostals have long known the power and importance of good church singing. The songs of the church teach and affirm biblical truth, are a spiritual expression of our affection toward God, and a testimony of His work in our lives. They also serve as a unifying factor. With the publication of a denominational hymnal, an Assemblies of God church member from Kentucky could visit a church in California and instantly feel at home during the congregational singing.

As the 60^th anniversary of the release of Melodies of Praise is celebrated, it is a time to recognize the Assemblies of God’s rich history of worshiping through song. Even as times have changed, and many churches have moved to electronic projection of songs rather than printed hymnals, the Assemblies of God is still known as a people who embrace the musical language of worship with fervent passion.

New copies of Melodies of Praise are available through My Healthy Church.

See the original advertisement for Melodies of Praise on page 10 of the Feb. 10, 1957, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

* “A Prophet’s Shattered Home” by J. E. Harris

* “What is Communism” by Frank W. Smith

*”First Graduating Class at Rhodesian Bible School” by H. B. Garlock

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org
Website: www.iFPHC.org

The Healing of Joseph Wannenmacher: How a Gifted Violinist became an Assemblies of God Pioneer

This Week in AG History — October 29, 1949

By Darrin Rodgers
Originally published on PE-News, 29 October 2015

As a young man, Joseph P. Wannenmacher (1895-1989) was a rising star in the Milwaukee musical scene. But a miraculous healing in a small storefront mission in 1917 forever changed his life, and he went on to become a well-loved Assemblies of God pioneer pastor. He shared his powerful testimony in the October 29, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Like many other Milwaukee residents, Wannenmacher was an immigrant. He was born in Buzias, Hungary, to a family that was ethnically German and Hungarian. The Wannenmachers moved to Milwaukee in 1903, but his father was unable to adapt to American ways so they returned to Hungary after 10 months. In 1909, they returned to Milwaukee to stay.

From an early age, music helped define Joseph Wannenmacher’s life. In Hungary, he was surrounded by some of the nation’s best musicians and became a noted violinist. In Milwaukee, at age 18 he organized and conducted the Hungarian Royal Gypsy Orchestra (named after a similar group in his homeland), which performed at many of the region’s top entertainment venues.

Wannenmacher seemed to have it all. He could afford fashionable clothing, a gold watch, and diamond-studded jewelry. But underneath his successful veneer, Wannenmacher was haunted by his own human frailties.

Wannenmacher knew that he was dying a slow, painful death. His flesh would swell, develop blisters, and rot. Doctors diagnosed his condition as bone consumption. His sister had already died of the same malady. Anger boiled up in Wannenmacher as he grappled with the unfairness of life. He developed a sharp temper and, try as he might, he could not find peace.

Wannenmacher was raised in a devout Catholic home, so he turned to his faith to help him deal with his physical pain and bitterness. He frequently attended church and offered penance, but these practices did not seem to help.

He then turned to Luther’s German translation of the Bible, which someone had given to him, and began reading it voraciously. In its pages he discovered things he had never heard before. He read about Christ’s second coming, salvation by faith, and Christ’s power to heal. Perhaps most importantly, he learned that God is love. Up until that point, he had conceived of God as “Someone away up there with a long beard and a big club just waiting to beat me up.” But then, at age 18, he began to discover the gospel for himself.

In the midst of this spiritual awakening, Wannenmacher’s health was weakening. He could barely hold his violin bow in his hand, and the pain was almost unbearable. Then one morning in 1917 he heard about a group of German-speaking Pentecostals who prayed for the sick. The next service was scheduled for that afternoon, and Wannenmacher made a beeline for it. He wrote, “It was a dilapidated place, but the sweet presence of God was there.”

The small band of believers had been fasting and praying that God would send someone who was in need of salvation and healing. The service was unlike anything Wannenmacher had ever seen before. He watched the people get on their knees and cry out to God. Their outpouring of genuine faith moved Joseph’s heart.

The pastor, Hugo Ulrich, preached that sinners could be saved simply by trusting in Christ. It seemed too good to be true, Wannenmacher thought. Faith then came into his heart, and he started laughing for joy. The pastor thought Wannenmacher was mocking him, but Wannenmacher didn’t care. At the end of the service, Wannenmacher came forward to the altar and experienced a powerful encounter with God.

Wannenmacher described his time at the altar: “the power of God just struck me and shook for fully half an hour…the more His Spirit operated through my bones, through my muscles, through my being, the hotter I became. The more God’s power surged through me, the more I perspired. The Lord simply operated on that poor, diseased body of mine.”

He described this experience as being in the “operating room” of God. Later in the service, as he knelt at the altar rail in silent prayer, it seemed like heaven came down. He recalled, “As I waited there in God’s presence … [God’s] hands went down my body from head to toe, and every spirit of infirmity had to go. I got up, and I was a new man.”

A few days later, Wannenmacher was baptized in the Holy Spirit. He soon launched into gospel ministry and shared his testimony wherever he went. He played his violin and sang gospel songs during the lunch hour at the Harley Davidson plant, where he sometimes worked. He testified about his healing in hospitals, street corners, and other places. Everywhere he went, he prayed with people, and many accepted Christ and were healed. Wannenmacher’s family jokingly referred to his violin as the “healing violin,” because numerous people experienced healing as he played songs such as “The Heavenly City.”

In 1921 he married Helen Innes and started Full Gospel Church in Milwaukee. He went on to found six additional daughter churches in the area. He also served as the first superintendent of the Hungarian Branch of the Assemblies of God, which was organized in 1944 for Hungarian immigrants to America. After pastoring Full Gospel Church (renamed Calvary Assembly of God in 1944) for 39 years, he retired in 1960.

Throughout his ministry, Wannenmacher emphasized the importance of the Word of God. In his Pentecostal Evangel article, Wannenmacher compared reading the Bible to the mastery of music. “You have to practice and play music over and over again before you have mastered it,” he wrote, “and you have to apply yourself to those wonderful teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, too, in order to make them yours.”

While Joseph Wannenmacher went to be with the Lord in 1989, his legacy lives on in the churches he founded and in the people whose lives he touched. Calvary AG is continuing to reach people in the Milwaukee area and was renamed Honey Creek Church in 2015. Joseph and Helen’s three children, John, Philip, and Lois (Graber), were involved in Assemblies of God ministries. Philip served as pastor of Central Assembly of God (Springfield, Missouri) from 1970 to 1995. Philip’s daughter, Beth Carroll, serves as director of Human Resources at the Assemblies of God National Leadership and Resource Center. On the floor just above Beth’s office, Joseph’s “healing violin” is on display in the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center museum.

Joseph Wannenmacher’s story reminds believers that history never really disappears. People, events, and themes from the past tend to resurface in the present, but it often takes discernment to see them. God radically transformed Joseph Wannenmacher’s heart and healed his body, and the world has never been the same.

Read Joseph P. Wannenmacher’s article, “When God’s Love Came In,” on pages 2-3 and 11-13 of the October 29, 1949, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Life’s Supreme Objective,” by D. M. Carlson

• “Ministering to the Needy,” by J. H. Boyce

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Joseph Wannenmacher’s “healing violin,” on display at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center museum

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org

From Buddhism to Christ: Yonggi Cho’s Healing and His Father’s Conversion

This Week in AG History–June 28, 1959
By Darrin Rodgers

Also published in PE News, 25 June 2015

When Yonggi Cho began holding services in May 1958 in Seoul, South Korea, he couldn’t have known what God would do through his ministry. Only five people attended the first service, held in the home of a friend. However, the small gatherings grew in size, ultimately developing into the largest Christian congregation in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church, an Assemblies of God church with over 700,000 members.

At the time, Yonggi Cho was 22 years old and a recent graduate of Full Gospel Bible School, an AG school in Seoul. Cho faced much opposition to the gospel from people in the community, including from his own father. But Cho persisted and his father became one of his early converts. The June 28, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel reported the story of Cho’s father’s remarkable conversion.

Cho’s father, a local businessman and politician, had no interest in learning about Christianity. He was a dedicated follower of Buddhist and Confucian teachings. However, unanticipated difficulties brought him to his knees. He ran a failed campaign as a candidate for the National Assembly, which left him penniless. In addition, his oldest son, Yonggi Cho, developed a life-threatening case of tuberculosis. Out of desperation, Cho’s father turned to his traditional religions for comfort and guidance.

Yonggi Cho, however, turned to Christ. He had been learning English from a young American man who was teaching English-language Bible classes in the neighborhood. Yonggi Cho trusted God for his healing and, to the amazement of his doctor and his family, was completely healed! The doctor sent for a new set of X-rays, which revealed that the large spot on his lung had disappeared!

Yonggi Cho’s father grudgingly accepted the fact that it was Jesus Christ who healed his son. But when Yonggi Cho insisted that salvation was found only in Jesus Christ, his father became indignant. His father responded, “Just as there are many paths to the top of the mountain, so there are many ways to reach paradise; you have your way and I have mine. Don’t worry about me.”

Soon after being healed, Yonggi Cho enrolled in Bible school. He tried repeatedly to tell his father about Christ, but to no avail. Finally, his father relented and attended special revival services at the Bible school, where Cho was serving as the translator for an American evangelist. Cho’s father came with contempt for what he termed the “foreigner’s religion,” but he encountered something that he could not explain in the service. He could feel the presence and glory of God, and he envied the joy exuded by the students. At the end of the service, the evangelist and Cho began praying for his father. The elder Cho began crying, which embarrassed him because he had not wept in years. According to the article, his father “felt a burning sensation go through his body, and then a sweet peace settled in his heart.” He accepted Christ and his life changed forever.

Yonggi Cho and his father went home and testified to the rest of the family, all of whom were Buddhist. Two of Yonggi Cho’s sisters also accepted Jesus as Savior and were healed of illnesses. Read more about the conversion of Yonggi Cho’s father in the article, “A Buddhist’s Search for God,” by John Stetz, on page 6 of the June 28, 1959, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

* “A Tiger Becomes a Lamb,” by Waldo Nicodemus

* “Among the Mayans of Guatemala,” by John L. Franklin

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: archives@ag.org

R. Hilton Griswold, Longtime AG Minister and Gospel Musician, with the Lord at Age 93

Hilton Griswold playing the piano in the E. N. Bell Chapel at the dedication of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

By Glenn Gohr

The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center is saddened to announce the passing of a dear friend and saint of God. Rev. R. Hilton Griswold was born on November 12, 1921, and he passed away on May 5, 2015 in Springfield, Missouri, at the age of 93.

Hilton Griswold passionately loved Gospel music. He is remembered for playing the piano and singing baritone for the Blackwood Brothers Quartet from 1940-1950. He was credentialed as an Assemblies of God minister on July 10, 1948, and pastored churches in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois.

Hilton has been a friend of the Heritage Center for many years. In addition to singing and playing in the Assemblies of God National Leadership and Resource Center chapel on various occasions, he played gospel hymns and choruses for the opening of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center and museum on January 19, 1999.

In recent years he ministered in nursing homes and senior adult gatherings. He also hosted his own program called “Inspiration Time,” which was released on television, radio and internet releases nationwide. He not only personally knew many of the gospel singing groups and composers, but he often knew the stories behind the songs, which he often shared on his weekly television programs.

For a wonderful example of Griswold’s inspirational music, watch this segment of him playing the piano, bass, and harmonica, and also singing 4 different parts for the song “We Shall Rise” as well as some other selections: https://vimeo.com/3599197

Additional selections of Griswold’s music are found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HiltonsFriends

Hilton Griswold was preceded in death by his wife, Marie, and his daughter, Barbara Chapman. He is survived by his son, Rev. Larry Griswold of Plainfield, Illinois and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He leaves a wonderful legacy of gospel music and singing which will continue to inspire future generations.

__________________________________

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free: 877.840.5200
Email: Archives@ag.org

Pentecostal Songwriter F. A. Graves

Description: F. A. Graves, circa 1897. 

This Week in AG History — January 22, 1927

By Darrin Rodgers
Originally published on AG-News, Wed, 22 Jan 2014 – 4:36 PM CST

Music has always been an important part of the Pentecostal tradition. This was true one hundred years ago as it is today. One of the best-known early Pentecostal songwriters was Frederick A. Graves (1856-1927).

F. A. Graves overcame significant childhood adversity. He was orphaned at age nine and was diagnosed with epilepsy five years later. He was an earnest young Christian and prepared for ministry at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and studied music in Northfield, Massachusetts. Despite suffering periodic seizures, he moved to southwestern Minnesota and served as an organizer and evangelist for the American Sunday School Union. He heard John Alexander Dowie, the famous healing evangelist, at a meeting in Minneapolis. At Dowie’s meeting, Graves experienced a miraculous healing of his epilepsy.

Graves wrote at least 43 songs, including popular hymns such as Honey in the Rock (1895) and He Was Nailed to the Cross for Me (1906). However, Graves did not write a single song until he was almost 35 years old, after his healing from epilepsy. Much of Grave’s inspiration as a songwriter came from his own experience of suffering and God’s merciful healing. Graves did not expect to be healed, nor did he expect to be a songwriter. Graves often testified in his usual understated manner, “God had a blessed surprise for me.”

Graves received credentials as an Assemblies of God minister in 1916. All of his children attended Central Bible Institute in Springfield, Missouri. His son, Arthur, became president of Southeastern Bible College (now Southeastern University). Another son, Carl, became an Assemblies of God missionary to Ceylon. His daughter, Irene, married Myer Pearlman, the noted convert from Judaism, author, and theology professor at Central Bible Institute. F. A. Graves died on January 2, 1927. Nearly 1,000 people attended his funeral in Zion, Illinois.

Read the obituary of F. A. Graves on page 7 of the January 22, 1927, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

* “Keeping our Accounts Balanced,” by D. W. Kerr

* “Old-Time Pentecost,” by Mattie Ledbetter

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center. For current editions of the Evangel, click here.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA

Phone: 417.862.1447 ext. 4400
Toll Free:  877.840.5200
Email: Archives@ag.org

Review: God’s Shining Jewels

God’s Shining Jewels, by Marvin and Helen Frey. Columbus, GA: Brentwood Christian Press, 2008.

The song “Kum Ba Yah” is widely known, but few realize that this African-American spiritual emerged from the life of the Pentecostal church.

In 1936, young Pentecostal evangelist and songwriter Marvin Frey (1918-1992) wrote the chorus, “Come By Here.” According to a recently-published biography of Frey, God’s Shining Jewels, this chorus traveled to Belgian Congo with African missionaries, who eventually brought the song to Angola. The Angolan believers sang “Come By Here” in the Lu Valle dialect, sounding like “Kum Ba Yah.” The missionaries, upon their return to America, brought this musical adaptation with them, which quickly spread throughout America and beyond. Frey registered both “Come By Here” and “Kum Ba Yah” with the Library of Congress. For an alternate account of the song’s origins, see the Wikipedia entry for “Kum Ba Yah.”

Who was Marvin Frey? One of twelve children born to immigrants from Germany, Frey was reared in Portland, Oregon. At age seventeen he began a prolific songwriting career, composing some of the most popular Christian choruses of the twentieth century. In 1955 he and Helen united in marriage, and they formed a dedicated ministry team for thirty-five years. The Freys began a children’s and youth ministry in New York City. They held credentials with the Independent Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal organization led by Rev. A. W. Rasmussen.

God’s Shining Jewels is a careful retelling of the lives and ministry of Marvin and Helen Frey. Of particular note are stories of their memories of and interactions with Pentecostal luminaries such as Charles S. Price, Aimee Semple McPherson, Thomas Wyatt, and Jack Coe. This inspiring and informative volume will be of interest not only to friends and ministry partners of the Freys, but also to scholars who will appreciate this account of a significant figure whose influential music and ministry extended over several generations.

Twenty of Frey’s most sung choruses (followed by copyright dates) are below:

Alleluia, 1973
Blessing and Honor and Glory, 1977
Do Lord, 1977
He is Lord, 1977
He Showed Me His Hands, 1977
He’s All I Need, 1974
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, 1983
I Have a Jubilee Down in My Heart, 1977
I Know It Was the Blood, 1977
I Love Him For He Is Mine, 1977
Isn’t He Wonderful, 1973
I’ve Got Peace Like a River, 1977
Kum Ba Yah, 1936
Lord Make Us One, 1977
Oh the Blood of Jesus, 1977
Praise Him in the Morning, 1977
The Move Is On, 1977
This Is My Commandment, 1977
We’ll Give the Glory to Jesus, 1977
With Healing in His Wings, 1978

Reviewed by Darrin J. Rodgers

Paperback, 160 pages, illustrated. $12.00, plus $2.50 postage. Order from: Jubilee Productions, PO Box 273, North Chili, NY 14514. For more information, contact the author by email:  hfrey2@rochester.rr.com

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