Rev. Paul Barton, The Porch Preacher for Hopkins

At the Hopkins Historical Society, there is a display featuring Rev. Paul Barton, who was a preacher for the United Methodist Church in Hopkins. His father and both his grandfathers were Methodist preachers, and he was 25 years into preaching when he accepted the calling to preach at the church in 1938. Figuring out that church attendance needed to rise, he decided to try preaching his sermons from the front of his porch for a change. His first such sermon was delivered on July 3rd, 1938.

At the time, church competed against amusements such as horseshoe pitching and croquet in Hopkins. But word got out pretty quickly, and Rev. Barton was featured in the Omaha World-Herald on July 24th, 1938. Water and iced tea were served. “I’ll talk until the iced tea gets cold,” he told parishioners.

The World-Herald featured a lot of the congregants in the article. Among those pictured were Mrs. Eunice Otis, whose son, Merrill Otis, was a Federal Judge down in Kansas City. Everett Ulmer, a neighbor to Barton, listened to the sermon lying down on his couch. Eldon Bridgewater, a neighborhood boy, was pictured, along with Mrs. Ida New, Cina Johnston, Leola Williams, Mayor R.W. Sirles, Mrs. William Jeffers, and W.S. Nicholson.