On The Religion Beat
From James Donahue’s Journal
The Bible training I received during my early years as a practicing “fundamental” Christian in South Haven gave me a familiarity with the Bible and a foundation for the job that awaited me in Kalamazoo. When handed the “religion” beat, I was suddenly thrust into a world that was already quite familiar to me.
At the time I started covering the beat Kalamazoo hosted an Episcopal Diocese headed by Bishop Charles Bennison. His headquarters were located in a monstrosity of a structure located along the I-94 highway swinging around the city. People jokingly called the structure “Fort Bennison,” since it was erected during his reign. The diocese oversaw Episcopal churches throughout the western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
The city was host to many Reformed churches that were so varied in their teachings that I was usually confused about which was which. I know that one of these denominations had its headquarters (I think it was called a Synod) in Kalamazoo.
While on the beat I was privileged to be there in 1971 when the Roman Catholic Church opened a new diocese and installed the Rev. Paul Donovan as its new bishop. I was granted a personal interview with this man and decided I liked him very much. In spite of my feelings about Catholicism, I felt that Bishop Donovan was a truly spiritual man who had something to teach his flock.
One could find just about every kind of church and religious institution one could think of, and then some, in Kalamazoo. They ranged from Greek Orthodox to Unitarian, Jewish Synagogues to Jehovah’s Witness and Church of the Nazarene. As I moved among the pastors and spiritual leaders of these different faiths I enjoyed engaging them in open dialogue, when the chance presented itself, and through this my education in church doctrine and dogma grew. I learned the similarities and sometimes narrow differences in doctrine that separated one Christian church from another. Some, for example, believed the rapture of the saints would occur before the seven years of tribulation, while others believed it would occur afterward. Still others believed it would happen sometime in the middle of the tribulation. The issues were sometimes that silly.
We picked the First Baptist Church, a large church on Main Street in downtown Kalamazoo, as our first church home. The services were so packed that the church offered two of them each Sunday morning. A Sunday morning breakfast gathering was offered between services. While the speakers were always outstanding, Doris and I found that the place was just too large for us to develop any fellowship there. We later moved to the Calvary Bible Church, located on the outskirts of the city. I liked that church because its pastor also was a professor of Bible at the Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music. He offered college-level Bible classes in the basement of the church on Wednesday nights. I took courses in Daniel and the Book of the Revelation from him, which gave me everything I needed to know about end-times theology.
During the two years we stayed in Kalamazoo, my time on that news beat was an educational pathway. I learned things about human religiosity that changed the way I thought about man and his relationship to God forever.
Indeed, the Christian belief system became so implanted in my subconscious, it was going to take several years of dramatic dynamite-styled blast experiences to unhinge me from that pathway and turn me in a different direction. But that was exactly what happened. After we left Kalamazoo, we walked into minefields where-ever we went.
From James Donahue’s Journal
The Bible training I received during my early years as a practicing “fundamental” Christian in South Haven gave me a familiarity with the Bible and a foundation for the job that awaited me in Kalamazoo. When handed the “religion” beat, I was suddenly thrust into a world that was already quite familiar to me.
At the time I started covering the beat Kalamazoo hosted an Episcopal Diocese headed by Bishop Charles Bennison. His headquarters were located in a monstrosity of a structure located along the I-94 highway swinging around the city. People jokingly called the structure “Fort Bennison,” since it was erected during his reign. The diocese oversaw Episcopal churches throughout the western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
The city was host to many Reformed churches that were so varied in their teachings that I was usually confused about which was which. I know that one of these denominations had its headquarters (I think it was called a Synod) in Kalamazoo.
While on the beat I was privileged to be there in 1971 when the Roman Catholic Church opened a new diocese and installed the Rev. Paul Donovan as its new bishop. I was granted a personal interview with this man and decided I liked him very much. In spite of my feelings about Catholicism, I felt that Bishop Donovan was a truly spiritual man who had something to teach his flock.
One could find just about every kind of church and religious institution one could think of, and then some, in Kalamazoo. They ranged from Greek Orthodox to Unitarian, Jewish Synagogues to Jehovah’s Witness and Church of the Nazarene. As I moved among the pastors and spiritual leaders of these different faiths I enjoyed engaging them in open dialogue, when the chance presented itself, and through this my education in church doctrine and dogma grew. I learned the similarities and sometimes narrow differences in doctrine that separated one Christian church from another. Some, for example, believed the rapture of the saints would occur before the seven years of tribulation, while others believed it would occur afterward. Still others believed it would happen sometime in the middle of the tribulation. The issues were sometimes that silly.
We picked the First Baptist Church, a large church on Main Street in downtown Kalamazoo, as our first church home. The services were so packed that the church offered two of them each Sunday morning. A Sunday morning breakfast gathering was offered between services. While the speakers were always outstanding, Doris and I found that the place was just too large for us to develop any fellowship there. We later moved to the Calvary Bible Church, located on the outskirts of the city. I liked that church because its pastor also was a professor of Bible at the Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music. He offered college-level Bible classes in the basement of the church on Wednesday nights. I took courses in Daniel and the Book of the Revelation from him, which gave me everything I needed to know about end-times theology.
During the two years we stayed in Kalamazoo, my time on that news beat was an educational pathway. I learned things about human religiosity that changed the way I thought about man and his relationship to God forever.
Indeed, the Christian belief system became so implanted in my subconscious, it was going to take several years of dramatic dynamite-styled blast experiences to unhinge me from that pathway and turn me in a different direction. But that was exactly what happened. After we left Kalamazoo, we walked into minefields where-ever we went.