It's hard to believe that it was 46 years ago that Dr. Hugh H. Morgan was elected the 3rd President of Southwestern College. He resigned his regular commission as an Air Force active duty chaplain with the rank of Major to succeed Dr. W. R. Corvin as president of the college. Hugh did not seek that position. He was called by Bishop J. Floyd Williams, the General Superintendent of the IPHC, to consider leaving the Air Force to become president following the resignation of Dr. W. R. Corvin.
Dr. R. O. Corvin was the founder and first president of Southwestern College. His brother, Dr. W. R. Corvin succeeded him when R. O. became the chancellor of Oral Roberts University. Oral and R. O. were boyhood friends and dreamed of establishing a Christian college for the glory of God and to educate young men and women for ministry and service in the church and in their respective communities and in the world.
The Air Force moved Hugh and Melvine Morgan and their children from San Antonio, Texas to Oklahoma City, where he was one of four certified supervisors in Clinical Pastoral Education. They began the Clinical Pastoral Education in the Air Force. Hugh and Melvine purchased a new custom home north of the campus on Christmas Eve. They and their children, Greg and Stephanie, attended Muse Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church when Rev. Bill Anderson and his wife, Bette, were the pastors. The Corvins and Morgans worshiped at Muse Memorial Church and were friends. The church was located across the street from the college and was known for its purple carpet and a balcony.
As a new president I faced great challenges with the help of God. One of the biggest challenges was dealing with the Veterans Affairs concerning military veterans attending college under the GI Bill. Another challenge was to give every student opportunity to attend chapel services twice a week. The chapel we had at that time would only hold around 100 people. We moved the services to the gymnasium. I asked John Parker to head it up, to get the best speakers and preachers he could obtain. We had a large number of Iranian students who came to Southwestern for the math and science courses we offered. We had the best in teachers in both fields of study. Most of all, I wanted these students to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
During my tenure of service to the college I met some of the finest young people I had ever met. It was a joy helping students to trust God to provide for their financial needs. God helped me to find and hire two men who were gifted in finance to help the college. They were Dan T. Muse, Jr. and Scott Muse, Jr. first cousins. Dan's father, Bishop Dan T. Muse, Sr. performed the wedding ceremony for my parents, Hugh Henry Morgan and Julia I. Payne, at the General Conference that was held in Oklahoma City in 1929.
I needed a qualified person to be my executive secretary. I met Ann and Charles Phillips at Muse Memorial Church. As I talked with Ann I felt she was the right person to help me and the college. We negotiated her salary and working schedule. Their son, Chuck, was a football player for Wheaton College. They wanted to attend the games when they could, and it worked out that we could arrange that kind of schedule with proficiency. Ann knew the church and how to related to the leaders and members of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Ann was a gift to the college and to me as the president.
It was my intent to stay at Southwestern and to see it grow. However, that did not happen. After a series of events that occurred, God released me from my call to be the president. The time had come for me to resign and move on. As God closed that door He opened another door for me to return to the pastorate. My home church in Birmingham called me and invited me to consider being their pastor. And so, in 1977 we moved to Birmingham, Alabama where I pastored Good Shepherd Pentecostal Holiness Church following Charles Eugene Brown who had done a great job in building the Sunday school to record highs. His son, Miles, is a brigadier general in the United States Army.
I was privileged to pastor the church in Birmingham for some nine years. While there, the Lord allowed us to build a brand new church facility and purchase property in Hoover, over the mountain from Birmingham. The church was sold years later to the Baptists. Today, it has been purchased by the Anglican Church and the Gospel is being preached there.
Dr. R. O. Corvin was the founder and first president of Southwestern College. His brother, Dr. W. R. Corvin succeeded him when R. O. became the chancellor of Oral Roberts University. Oral and R. O. were boyhood friends and dreamed of establishing a Christian college for the glory of God and to educate young men and women for ministry and service in the church and in their respective communities and in the world.
The Air Force moved Hugh and Melvine Morgan and their children from San Antonio, Texas to Oklahoma City, where he was one of four certified supervisors in Clinical Pastoral Education. They began the Clinical Pastoral Education in the Air Force. Hugh and Melvine purchased a new custom home north of the campus on Christmas Eve. They and their children, Greg and Stephanie, attended Muse Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church when Rev. Bill Anderson and his wife, Bette, were the pastors. The Corvins and Morgans worshiped at Muse Memorial Church and were friends. The church was located across the street from the college and was known for its purple carpet and a balcony.
As a new president I faced great challenges with the help of God. One of the biggest challenges was dealing with the Veterans Affairs concerning military veterans attending college under the GI Bill. Another challenge was to give every student opportunity to attend chapel services twice a week. The chapel we had at that time would only hold around 100 people. We moved the services to the gymnasium. I asked John Parker to head it up, to get the best speakers and preachers he could obtain. We had a large number of Iranian students who came to Southwestern for the math and science courses we offered. We had the best in teachers in both fields of study. Most of all, I wanted these students to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
During my tenure of service to the college I met some of the finest young people I had ever met. It was a joy helping students to trust God to provide for their financial needs. God helped me to find and hire two men who were gifted in finance to help the college. They were Dan T. Muse, Jr. and Scott Muse, Jr. first cousins. Dan's father, Bishop Dan T. Muse, Sr. performed the wedding ceremony for my parents, Hugh Henry Morgan and Julia I. Payne, at the General Conference that was held in Oklahoma City in 1929.
I needed a qualified person to be my executive secretary. I met Ann and Charles Phillips at Muse Memorial Church. As I talked with Ann I felt she was the right person to help me and the college. We negotiated her salary and working schedule. Their son, Chuck, was a football player for Wheaton College. They wanted to attend the games when they could, and it worked out that we could arrange that kind of schedule with proficiency. Ann knew the church and how to related to the leaders and members of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Ann was a gift to the college and to me as the president.
It was my intent to stay at Southwestern and to see it grow. However, that did not happen. After a series of events that occurred, God released me from my call to be the president. The time had come for me to resign and move on. As God closed that door He opened another door for me to return to the pastorate. My home church in Birmingham called me and invited me to consider being their pastor. And so, in 1977 we moved to Birmingham, Alabama where I pastored Good Shepherd Pentecostal Holiness Church following Charles Eugene Brown who had done a great job in building the Sunday school to record highs. His son, Miles, is a brigadier general in the United States Army.
I was privileged to pastor the church in Birmingham for some nine years. While there, the Lord allowed us to build a brand new church facility and purchase property in Hoover, over the mountain from Birmingham. The church was sold years later to the Baptists. Today, it has been purchased by the Anglican Church and the Gospel is being preached there.