Vinton Huffey Autobiography

Born on the Seventh Day, by Vinton Earl Huffey. Xlibris, 2007.

Reverend Vinton Huffey has lived a life of adventure. Living by faith began when he experienced conversion in a St. Louis, Missouri church at age eighteen. A poor farm boy, he had been riding the rails, a hobo, planning to head north to Alaska, and no one was more surprised than he to find himself called of God to preach the gospel. Despite extreme financial hardship, he attended Central Bible Institute (Springfield, Missouri) and North Central Bible Institute (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and began his life of ministry, marrying Lillian Crouse, a young Assemblies of God evangelist, raising four children, always listening to see where God told him to go next. Reverend Huffey’s gift for storytelling is a mix of American farm wisdom and a long life based on practical and daily faith. Reverend Huffey pastored several churches in Iowa (Oelwein, Le Mars, and Ames) and then moved to southern California where he pastored the Monrovia Assembly of God (now New Life Assembly, Duarte, California) for twenty years. While pastoring, sometimes earning only one dollar a week, he discovered that God had given him the gift of wisdom in business, and as he became wealthy, he pioneered a missionary outreach to America’s inner cities, to communities the church has abandoned, funding some of the work with the money God has given him.

Born on the Seventh Day is a history told in human stories. Ninety-two years old, Huffey takes us to the poignant moments of his youth, and to the funny and impossible moments of life on the Assemblies of God frontier, and to the surprising work of God in one of his servants, a witness to the early years of the movement.

Reviewed by Rhoda Huffey.

Read the article, “The Life and Ministry of Vinton Huffey,” as told to Augustus Cerillo, Jr., Assemblies of God Heritage 27 (2007): 42-46.

Paperback, 81 pages, illustrated. $15.99 plus postage. Order from: amazon.com.

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Doris Dresselhaus Menzies Autobiography

Young at Heart: The Story of a Heart Transplant Recipient, by Doris Dresselhaus Menzies. Springfield, MO: Celebration Publishing, 2007.

Doris Dresselhaus Menzies has had two famous last names. Her husband, Dr. William W. Menzies, is one of the most highly-regarded educators in the Assemblies of God. Her cousin, Dr. Richard Dresselhaus, served as the long-time pastor of San Diego (CA) First Assembly of God and continues to serve as an executive presbyter of the Assemblies of God. Few people can claim to be related to one statesman of their caliber, much less two!

But Doris Menzies has her own story to tell. In Young at Heart: The Story of a Heart Transplant Recipient, Menzies recounted her testimony — from her Assemblies of God upbringing in Iowa, to her years in the ministry with her husband, to her roles as wife and mother, to her recent medical triumphs as a heart transplant recipient and as a cancer survivor.

Born on a frigid December day in 1932 on an Iowa farm, Doris was reared in the sturdy Willard and Beatrice Dresselhaus family. Her mother taught Sunday school, and her father was the Sunday school superintendent of the Decorah Assembly of God. Willard, a farmer, served as Farm Bureau president for Winneshiek County, was involved in local politics, and owned his own plane. Young at Heart challenges the assumption, held by certain historians, that early Pentecostals were disinherited or socially uninvolved.

Doris met Bill Menzies, her future husband, at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Bill graduated in 1953 and accepted the pastorate of the little Assemblies of God church in Big Rapids, Michigan. They married soon after Doris’ 1955 graduation and settled into pastoral ministry.

David and Gladys Guenther Missionary Biography

To God Be the Glory: The Story of David and Gladys Guenther, Assemblies of God Missionaries to Guyana, Belize, and Jamaica, by David J. Guenther. Springfield, MO: The Author, 2007.

David J. Guenther and his wife, Gladys, served on the evangelistic field and pastored Assemblies of God churches in Cataract, Wautoma, Marshfield, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They also followed God’s call and served as missionaries from 1959 to 1995 in Guyana (known as British Guiana until 1966), Jamaica, and Belize.

Guenther, in his new book To God Be the Glory, preserves and shares the stories and lessons from their lives and ministry. This engaging autobiographical account will be welcomed, not only by those who have counted the Guenthers as friends and ministry partners, but also by church leaders and scholars. Guenther’s careful, detailed account of their ministry years documents the people, events, and places significant in the development of the Assemblies of God in three countries along the Caribbean Basin.

David and Gladys Guenther started life on the northern tier of the United States; David in Wausau, Wisconsin, and Gladys in North Dakota. Both were reared in Pentecostal homes. David’s grandfather, Ernest B. Guenther, was baptized in the Holy Spirit in about 1908, shortly after hearing of the great Pentecostal revival in Chicago. He was ordained by the Full Gospel Assembly in Chicago in 1911 and led German-language house meetings in Merrill, Wisconsin. David grew up in Wausau Christian Assembly of God, where his father was a lay pastor. Gladys was the daughter of Clarence J. Larson, a leader in the North Dakota District who pastored Assemblies of God congregations in Cavalier, Minot, Lisbon, Powers Lake, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, as well as in Eureka, California.

Pentecostals and Racial Reconciliation

We’ve Come This Far: Reflections on the Pentecostal Tradition and Racial Reconciliation, edited by Byron Klaus. Springfield, MO: Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, 2007.

The history of racial unity and division within the Pentecostal movement has been addressed in a recently-published book, We’ve Come This Far: Reflections on the Pentecostal Tradition and Racial Reconciliation, edited by Byron Klaus. The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary has been a leader within its denomination in its efforts to better include voices of ethnic and racial minorities. This has been evidenced by its increasingly multicultural and international student body, the dedication of the William J. Seymour Chapel, and — now — the publication of We’ve Come This Far.

We’ve Come This Far contains the proceedings of a 2006 lecture series at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary that encouraged reflection about the “missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential” for the Assemblies of God to be an agent of racial reconciliation. The volume notes that the Assemblies of God — like many predominantly-white Pentecostal denominations — “has experienced some challenges in acknowledging its multicultural roots,” as well as its “years of ambiguity about the inclusion of African-Americans in its ministerial ranks” (back cover).

We’ve Come This Far juxtaposes the lives of two notable 20th century American religious leaders — William J. Seymour and Martin Luther King, Jr. — while reflecting on the lessons that can be drawn from them concerning African-American preaching and leadership. The book also features a selection of historical materials — including an account of Assemblies of God minister Robert Harrison (who successfully challenged a policy denying ordination to African-Americans) and a history of the struggle to overcome racism within the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa.

From Opposition to Opening: The Story of How Evangel College Came to Be

From Opposition to Opening: The Story of How Evangel College Came to Be: 1914-1955, by Barry H. Corey. Springfield, MO: Evangel University Press, 2005.

Evangel College (now Evangel University), the first liberal arts college in the Assemblies of God, opened its doors in 1955. From its small beginnings, the school has become a leading Pentecostal educational institution. Its student body today numbers over 1,800, and its graduates serve in leadership roles in business, ministry, academia, entertainment, and government.

From Opposition to Opening is the story of the people “who dreamed, negotiated, prayed, jockeyed, and believed Evangel College into existence.” Four leaders figure prominently in this history: Ralph M. Riggs, J. Robert Ashcroft, Klaude Kendrick, and Thomas F. Zimmerman.

Pentecost to the Uttermost: A History of the Assemblies of God in Samoa

Pentecost “to the Uttermost”: A History of the Assemblies of God in Samoa, by Tavita Pagaialii. Baguio City, Philippines: APTS Press, 2006.

With over 20,000 adherents in 100 churches, the Assemblies of God in Samoa (including both American Samoa and the Independent State of Samoa) claims about nine percent of the residents on these Pacific islands. From the introduction of Pentecostalism to the islands in 1928, the Assemblies of God has become the largest evangelical body in Samoa. Like many of the rapidly-growing Pentecostal churches in non-Western nations, little scholarly attention had been paid to the history and development of the Assemblies of God in Samoa. That is, until now.

People of the Spirit: The Assemblies of God

People of the Spirit: The Assemblies of God, by Gary B. McGee. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2004.

In this lucidly written volume, Professor McGee traces the emergence, growth, and maturation of the Assemblies of God through a uniquely biographical approach. McGee features the courage and determination of the scores of men and women who have led the A/G, but he remembers too their struggles and occasional foibles. His deft biographical sketches remind us of the Movement’s social and cultural richness, especially the very large number of women who contributed from beginning to end. He reaches beyond the usual lineup of church leaders to include those in a wide range of vocations, including writers, musicians, missionaries, philanthropists, and local pastors. McGee exhibits the journalist’s eye for the telling detail, plus the historian’s sense of how individual lives worked together to create a denominational story larger than the sum of its parts. (from cover)

Reviewed by Grant Wacker, Professor of Church History, Duke University.

Cloth binding, 661 pages (CD included), illustrated. $39.95 retail. Order from: Gospel Publishing House

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A Faithful Past, A Shining Future: 75 Years of Pentecostal Education at North Central University

A Faithful Past, A Shining Future: 75 Years of Pentecostal Education at North Central University. Minneapolis, MN: North Central University Press, 2006.

This book aims “to capture memories and events” of North Central University “that have shaped thousands of lives during the last 75 years.” Birthed in 1930 as North Central Bible Institute under the leadership of Frank J. Lindquist, the Minneapolis school has become a leading educational institution within the Assemblies of God and the broader Pentecostal movement. This volume consists of essays, primarily written by alumni, about the school while they were students. While an institutional history of North Central University remains to be written, this book does provide valuable insight into many of the issues and people that made the school what it is today. A Faithful Past, A Shining Future is “must” reading for all NCU alumni and is an important addition to the literature on Pentecostal educational institutions.

Paperback, 198 pages, illustrated. $12.95 plus shipping. Order from: University Bookstore, North Central University, 910 Elliot Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404. Ph. 612-343-7887.

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