Rev. Arthur T. Morgan, Sr.

Arthur T. Morgan was born August 27, 1901, in Lufkin, Texas, to Joseph W. and Mary Morgan. In 1907 the Morgans moved to Cravens, Louisiana, where Arthur completed his high school education in nearby De Ridder, Louisiana, in 1918.

On August 4, 1922, he was united in marriage to Nell Knight in De Ridder. Sister Morgan became a great asset to his ministry and a wonderful Bible teacher. During the next nine years, they were blessed with four children: Gloria, Mary, Joseph, and A. T. Jr.

In 1916 a young preacher by the name of Oliver F. Fauss came to the area and began preaching the Oneness message, baptism in the name of Jesus, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Morgans joined their neighbors to learn more about this new doctrine. It was in one of these meetings that young Arthur Morgan heard the Oneness Pentecostal message for the first time. They bought a Bible and began studying Scripture. The message Brother Oliver Fauss preached had a lasting effect on the entire family and played a great part in their later decision to receive the Pentecostal experience.

It was about three years later, while employed at the De Ridder Post Office, that young Arthur, finding himself under conviction, began seeking the Lord in earnest and received the wonderful experience of the Holy Ghost two weeks later.

During the years he worked at the post office, he began to feel the call to the ministry. In 1929 he was ordained, and affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. Later Brother Morgan became associated with the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance. This ministerial alliance became the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated in October, 1932.

In 1931 Brother Morgan was chosen pastor of the First Pentecostal Church of De Ridder, Louisiana, and held this pastorate for approximately two years. In 1932 Brother and Sister Arthur Morgan moved to Alexandria, Louisiana, accepted the pastorate of a small, struggling work there, and in the next twelve years built it into a strong, flourishing church.

The twelve years in Alexandria were ended when he moved back to De Ridder, in 1944, and became assistant postmaster. At this time he was also serving as district superintendent of the South Central District of the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated.

In 1945 Brother Morgan was called to the pastorate of Faith Tabernacle in Port Arthur, Texas. He gave up all civil service work, and devoted his full time to pasturing the church and to the growing district work.

He served on the General Board of the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated in its meetings with the General Board of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ to consider the possibility of uniting these two large bodies of Oneness Pentecostal people. After several meetings and much discussion, the final agreement was reached in September 1945, at the General Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Thus was born the United Pentecostal Church.

After the Merger Brother Morgan was chosen to serve as district secretary-treasurer of the Texas District. He also served as chairman of the Board of Christian Education, and as a member of the Foreign Missionary Board. Then in 1951, Arthur T. Morgan was chosen as general superintendent.

Arthur T. Morgan passed from this life while presiding over a General Board meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on October 18, 1967.