It was a distinct pleasure and joy for me to attend this year's homecoming at Southwestern Christian University. I had flown to Oklahoma City on Monday, November 8, 2010, to attend the executive council of Evangelism USA on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 9 and 10. We finished the council meeting on Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday evening, Charles and Ann Phillips took me out to Ted's Mexican Restaurant. I know it is the best Mexican food in the known world. They serve as an encore, Sopapillals with honey and butter that will make you tongue slap your tonsils, put diamonds in your smile, or glitter in your grin.
Charles and Ann Phillips have been dear friends of ours since we moved to Oklahoma City in 1975, when I became the third president of Southwestern College, now Southwestern Christian University. I needed an executive secretary who was equally gifted in public relations. I met the Phillips at Muse Memorial Church across the street, Northwest 10th Street, from the Southwestern campus. I sensed that Ann had what it took to be my executive secretary, and I invited her to consider my offer. The rest is history. She was without question the right person for that time in history of the college, and she did an extraordinary job. She was efficient and brought dignity and graciouosness to the president's office.
Melvine and I, along with Greg and Stephanie, enjoyed being with the Phillip's family and our friendship has grown over the succeeding years. A couple of years ago, Melvine and I were invited to spend a few days at their lovely home on Tenkiller Lake which is a reservoir in eastern Oklahoma formed by the damming of the Illinois River. The earth-fill dam was constructed between 1947 and 1952 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for purposes of flood control and hydroelectric power generation. The lake covers 12,900 acres and has a shoreline of over 130 miles in the Cookson Hills of the Ozark Mountains of Cherokee and Sequoyah counties, about seven miles northeast of the town of Gore a few miles from highway 10. One of the townships bordering this lake is Aqua Park, at the far southwestern edge of the lake.
Charles took us out in his luxury boat with an inboard engine to sight-see the beauties of this lake and the lovely lake homes, boat ramps and picnic areas. The sun was hot and we had to wear hats to prevent getting sun burned. One evening, Charles grilled steaks for us, as well as a niece of Ann's and her husband who is a medical doctor who joined us. They have a home near the Phillips' home on the lake. Of course, we ate Ann's famous breakfasts and luncheons. We dined two nights outside the home in lovely restaurants nearby.
I was blessed to sit next to Charles and Ann at the Southwestern Christian University homecoming banquet on my left, and Bishop Frank and Lu Tunstall on my right. Both Frank and I are former presidents of Southwestern Christian University.
It was a joy to see so many friends at the homecoming. Many of them told me they enjoy reading Hugh's News. What an encouragement that was, and like Fox News, I must be fair and balanced and endeavor to give as much attention to the news out in the west as I do to the news east of the Mississippi River.
My father, Hugh Henry Morgan, loved Oklahoma and Texas. He was born December 12, 1884, in Denison, TX. His father was a rancher. They moved to Oklahoma. My Dad often said, "that although the Apostle Paul wrote that he was content in whatever state he was in" . . . had this retort: "but Paul never went to Alabama." I got the impression from what we told us that Alabama was not a love in his life. He lived there because of his deep love and respect for my mother, Julia Payne Morgan. My parents were godly people--my Dad a bi-vocational church planter/pastor, and my mother a retired missionary, a 9 year tour in Hong Kong, China, without any leave back home to the United States before she married my father. She was a missionary from 1920-1929. My parents married in Oklahoma City at General Conference in 1929. Bishop Dan T. Muse, the first bishop of the west performed their wedding. It is interesting that I hired both Dan T. Muse, Jr. and Scott Muse to work with me at Southwestern College. Scott Muse succeeded me as president, after Vince Synan served as the interim president. So, I have a love for Orientals, especially Chinese. I believe that love is deep within my DNA, and my love for the Pentecostal Holiness Church is equally deep inside of me. I am grateful for all the many opportunities for ministry and service the International Pentecostal Holiness Church has afforded me.
In the provident of God He has allowed Melvine and me, as well as Greg and Stephanie, to be a vital part of the life of this church and the institutions, Emmanuel, Southwestern, and Holmes Bible College. We are all grateful for the many friends we have from coast to coast, and from north to south, and around the world.
Posted on
Mon, November 15, 2010
by Hugh Morgan