In April 2022, Nazarene Archives staff noticed a curious listing in its inventory records: “Video tape of film taken at the 1928 General Assembly.” 

The listing led to the finding of a Video Home System (VHS) tape containing about 15 minutes of video footage of the Seventh General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene, held in Columbus, Ohio, 94 years ago, along with other General Assemblies up to 1940.

“The footage contains no audio or color and is therefore quite rudimentary by today’s standards,” said Ryan Giffin, Archives manager. “It is also really nothing more than a montage of live motion shots of assembly participants as they head into the assembly hall or leave it. Nevertheless, the footage itself is in great shape for its age, and it may be the only live video footage we have of several massively influential figures in Nazarene history. We are very glad to have it in our collection.” 

The original footage was possibly shot on a 16-millimeter film camera, which was transferred to the VHS tape several decades ago. It has now been fully digitized. Nazarene Archives plans to share the entire footage on its social media pages in short installments over the next several weeks. 

The first installment contains the first two minutes of the footage. The following persons appear at the following times:

• 00:29 – Mrs. Stella Reynolds (spouse of Hiram F. Reynolds, the second general superintendent)
• 00:55 – C. W. Ruth (associate pastor of the Los Angeles Church of the Nazarene under Phineas F. Bresee, the first general superintendent)
• 00:59 – Reuben “Bud” Robinson (evangelist)
• 01:06 – General Superintendent Hiram F. Reynolds and family
• 01:13 – Roy T. Williams, the seventh general superintendent, and his spouse, Eunice

Later footage from the video includes appearances by early Nazarene leaders H. D. Brown, J. B. Chapman, D. Shelby Corlett, Ralph Earle, E. P. Ellyson, Susan Fitkin, Harmon F. Schmelzenbach, and G. B. Williamson, among others.

“It truly is remarkable that this video footage even exists,” Giffin said. “The individuals it captures stand tall within the history of our movement, and now that the footage is fully digitized it will live on for generations to come. We want every window into Nazarene history we can get, and this video provides us with a valuable one in our digital, image-driven age.”

The first installment of the video was shared to social media on 25 May 2022. It has since received over 8,400 views.