chapel.html

The Mt. Adams Sun, Bingen, WA., February 24, 1955, page 1
Includes portrait

LITTLE WHITE CHAPEL LADY PASTOR RESIGNED TO REST BUT NOT TO QUIT

Sixteen years to that day since the Rev. Miss Louise Pinnell arrived in Bingen "for two weeks at the most" she retired as pastor of the Little White Chapel.
On February 13, 1939 she preached her first sermon in Bingen. There were seven people in the pews and she brought five of them to town with her.
Two Sundays later, 19 church-minded residents asked her to stay on - at least for three months. Bingen had never had a resident pastor. Its one church (now the Community Church) had been inactive for several years. Few seemed to mind.
Others felt that the Bingen needed a church. In fact, the man who telephoned her to come here committed suicide a week later. They never met but Miss Pinnell will never forget his appealing voice.
She too had known desperation and sorrow. She was born Aug. 19, 1883 near Patterson, Missouri. Before she was old enough to remember, her mother died. Miss Pinnell was brought up by her grandmother, near Milton, Iowa.

MUSIC

Those who have admired her knack with children often attribute her skill to music. Actually this was her chosen field. Her music education was interrupted when she contacted tuberculosis during her senior year in high school. As soon as she recovered -- an almost miraculous event in those days - she enrolled in Southern Normal School, Bloomfield, Iowa.
After receiving her B.A. degree in piano and harmony, she took two years of private piano and voice lessons with teachers from the School of Fine Arts, Chicago.
But even music failed to satisfy her completely. Determined to brave the public prejudice against women in general and lady ministers in particular, Miss Pinnell registered at the Chicago Training School for city, home and foreign missions, from which she was graduated in 1904.
"Actually I didn't train for the ministry," she says, "But everything I learned came in awfully handy."

ON THE GO

In 1917 Miss Pinnell transferred for membership to the Nazarene church by which she was ordained in 1921. To the evangelistic commissions that followed, she brought plenty of experience.
For years the she had traveled across the face of the United States and Canada with Miss D. Willia Caffray, an internationally-known Methodist evangelist. They were slated to sail for England and Scotland when Miss Caffray became ill.
Miss Pinnell decided to proceed on her own. Under Nazarene sponsorship she tried to reach for expanding commissions which eventually covered the entire U.S. and Canada.
"Of course I didn't cover them all," she says. "But I was constantly on the go."

NINE FUNERALS

Before three other churches organized in Bingen, Rev. Pinnell was very busy. She conducted nine funerals in two weeks. Even Hood River couples who came to be married in her parlor.
Friends are urging her to write a book. There is plenty of humorous material - including the time her kitchen caught fire while she calmly proceeded to finish a wedding in the front room.
After the Community church was organized, Miss Pinnell held Sunday school and services in the Bingen gym for two years. But her congregation wanted its own church.
In August 1949 they started the Little White Chapel, a homey little church in her backyard. There on Sunday, Feb. 6 she preached her final sermon: "How to Help a Minister".
Any young minister, male or female, could learn plenty from Miss Pinnell but she is happy to leave her work in "Rev. Carl Wilde's younger and stronger hands" … several times she felt compelled to quit but she was persuaded to continue until somebody could take her place.
Now she is tired. In addition to her own work at the chapel she organized the first vacation Bible schools in both White Salmon and Bingen. (Last summer there were four) Her "Joy Club" was well-named. It gave the kids lots of fun and must have exhausted her.

LOTS OF HELP

"I haven't done it alone. God and the good people of White Salmon and Bingen deserve much of the credit," she says.
"When we started building the Little White Chapel, many volunteered to help - even men who never go to church. Local merchants and donated materials and gave a generous discounts. "
She appreciates their kindness.
Once the women found out that she was at the end of her financial ropes and about to lose her house because she couldn't meet a mortgage installment. Without consulting her, they passed a hat down Steuben Avenue and saved the day.
Help often came from unexpected sources. Sunday school treats from a filling station operator. A small purse every Christmas. And not all of it was financial. As a lady minister, Miss Pinnell considered it a great honor to represent all local churches at the dedication of Skyline hospital. She can't resist saying thanks for the thousands of garments people donated for the Chapel's overseas relief.
"A woman has a battle no matter what she does," Miss Pinnell says. "It takes a lot of courage to be a woman. When I resigned, I cried. But now I know life isn't over. I'm not quitting. I'm slowing down.
"After I've rested awhile, I'll make myself useful again. Doing Bible school work, for instance.
"The inter-denominational phase seems to have ended. But I still believe in Christians working together. Little differences aren't as important as the big essentials. There's plenty of the Lord's work for everyone.

TEAMWORK

Mrs. Betsy Worf and Mrs. Charles Brown are the only two in members remaining of Miss Louise Pinnell's original congregation. On her formal retirement as pastor of the Little White Chapel, they presented her with a valentine corsage from "your flock."
Miss Pinnell introduced the new pastor, Rev. Carl Wilde who paid tribute to her work.
"We did not come here to push Miss Pinnell out," he said. "We came to work as a team."