4/30/12

WRITERS: Focus on Margaret Muse Oden (1917-2002)

The Oden family (Courtesy of the SCU Archives)


One of the first female writers to consistently appear in Pentecostal Holiness Church denominational pages was Margaret Muse Oden.  Her love for writing, and creative expression in general, meant she would logically gravitate toward music, art, and writing. That is exactly what she did mastering and teaching the organ and piano, attaining teaching level mastery of China painting, and developing skills in both editing and writing.

On July 20, 1916, the home of Daniel Thomas and Margaret Adelaide Scott Muse welcomed into their simple home a baby girl, Margaret Pearl Muse.   In the 1920, U.S. Federal Census for Oklahoma the family was residing at 526 California Street.  In 1927, her father would be called to pastor the church where he had begun working in 1907 as a janitor. The earliest First P.H. Church of Oklahoma City was located along two stretches of California street.  Later it moved to NW 9th and Blackwelder.

In the 1930 U.S. Federal census for Oklahoma, they were living at 1812 NW 10th Street (although subsequent news accounts indicate it was NW 2nd Street). The family now included Dan, Addie, Scott, Margaret. Both of her parents listed their occupation as ministers with the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

In 1934, her father was appointed superintendent of the Western District of the Oklahoma Conference of the P.H. Church. In the late 1930's,  Margaret goes to school at the denominational facility, Kings College, in Kingfisher. Later she will go on to Oklahoma City University for a music teaching certificate. 

In the mid-1940’s she is teaching piano and organ at Southwestern. During that time she also helps the school launch a student newsletter, “The ROC.”  She also wrote some articles in the alumni newsletters and magazines beginning in this period. Her family was used as illustration for one such writing/publishing project.

In the 1950’s she begins doing the Women's Auxiliary column in the Pentecostal Holiness Advocate.  In 1955 she published Steps to the Sun, an obvious memorial to her beloved late father, Bishop Dan T. Muse.  She also wrote a short work on the subject of Christian Education and life called, God's Recipe for Life, which was published by Advocate Press sometime in the 1950's. 

In the 1960's through 1970's she also worked editing publications for both the Oral Roberts and T.L. Osborne organizations in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  She is also by the 1960’s-70’ editing the youth (Reach) and women’s magazines (Helping Hand) of the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Over the next decades she edited a great variety of works for many people, co-writing a song, and becoming a gifted and expert china painter. 

In 1979 her husband Burney Oden died at age 68, his obituary indicated he had been a professional tile layer.

In the early to mid 1980’s she assumed the new role of archivist for the  Pentecostal Holiness Church denomination. The ARC (Archives and Record Center) took shape under her direction. Her energy and vision brought form to the abstract concept of collecting history.  She reveled in the opportunity to meet old friends, interview people, and write  about the history she was discovering.  Many crucial early historic records, narratives, and images were preserved due largely to both her long connection to the church and her high profile as daughter of a beloved Bishop and well known woman of words in her own right.

In 1985, she married once more in Oklahoma City to Woodard Glenn Drum. The November wedding took place in the church named in honor of her father, Muse Memorial Church, with her son Dan Oden and daughter Sharon Hall officiating.  The couple went to live in Franklin Springs, Georgia.   Drum died in 2001 and the next year, in 2002, Margaret followed, dying January 5 in Merrimack, NH.

In a time of personal and family growth, in those booming and blossoming post World War II days,  Oden's columns, devotions, and inspired work helped bring human interest and creativity to numerous publications. Most importantly she was able to engage a generation of people within the context of a maturing Pentecostal organization. She assumes the position of being one of  the first significant female writers in the Pentecostal Holiness Church. She was a person who wrote for the sake of both exercising her imagination and expressing her heart. 

Some Sources:
"Drum-Oden". Oklahoman, (Nov. 30, 1985):15.
"Margaret Muse Oden Drum Obituary." Oklahoman, (January 2002).
Oden, Margaret Muse. God's Recipe for Life. Advocate Press, 195?.
Oden, Margaret Muse. Steps to the Sun. Advocate Press, 1955.
Oden, Margaret Muse; Metzger Robert Douglas, Rev. S.N. Greene. Job's God is True. AIM High Music Company c/o BMG Music Publishing, Beverly Hills, CA. (www.ascap.com)

4/25/12

'SCRIPTURAL HOLINESS' AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

After promoting the new biography on British born scholar Noel Brooks, we received many comments. Many wished to know where his early noted work Scriptural Holiness might be purchased.  In response to those we are sharing this information.

Noel Brooks authored Scriptural Holiness in the early 1960's and it quickly attained the level of a classic among Holiness and Pentecostal groups. The ability of this small volume to speak across theological and denominational lines is a testament to the sound scholarship and Biblical interpretation used by Brooks.   LifeSprings of Franklin Springs, Georgia, currently has this book available for purchase at $7.95.

http://www.lifespringsresources.com/products/4602020/scriptural-holiness/

4/17/12

WOMEN PREACHING - R. B. Hayes

In the July 11, 1918 issue of the Pentecostal Holiness Advocate, there is an article by early Pentecostal pioneer, Richard Baxter Hayes. Son of Rev. Hamilton N. Hayes, he had been a minister in the Fire Baptized Holiness Church and then an evangelist for many years in the Pentecostal Holiness.  He died in in July 1937 and Bishop J.H. King and Paul F. Beacham led the service. 

"We see by all the scriptures that there have been women preachers all along the way, and we notice in every holiness movement, as long as the power and fire fell and they kept red hot for God, women preachers were in the crowd...just as soon as they backslide and compromise and tone down, they want to elbow off the women preachers." (pg. 6)

"...in every great holiness movement when the saints are red hot for God and the burden of the lost upon them, they lose sight of churchanity, sectarianism, the world, and the only burden of their hearts is to get souls saved and sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost." (pg.6).

Such stalwart support for the disenfranchised was not new to Hayes.  Randall J.Stephens  recounts some of the abuses he was subject to for his racial inclusiveness in southern evangelism tours during "Jim Crow".

POETS OF PENTECOSTALISM

Velma Cochren Terry (1914-1999), a Pentecostal Poet.


Born on the wind swept plains of middle Kansas was married at age 15. She was a mother to ten children of which only seven survived infancy.  She raised five children by herself after being deserted by her first husband. During WW2 - while a 'Rosie the Riveter" - she met the man she would marry after the war and have five more children. 

She first attended a Pentecostal church in the 1940's in Nebraska (Church of God and Foursquare congregations).  She became a member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church under the ministry of Rev. Sally Flippin in Wichita, Kansas in the early 1950's. She was a charter member of churches in Wichita and Wellington, Kansas (under Sally Flippin, Bill and Evelyn Thompson, Pastor Burchett and Hoyle Baker). 

She trained as a Nurses Aide later in life and served as special care attendent at local hospitals and in private care. 
Velma Cochren Terry, ca. 1950

Velma's first poem was published in the church newsletter, then she was published in a local newspaper, and then notebooks filled and kept secreted away.  She continued to live life, became a mother and grandmother and friend to many.

In 1972, she and her husband retired to the Ozarks and she published two books of poetry before the death of her husband and her own subsequent failing health. She lived to see almost all of her children accept Christ, become active in church and several in ministry. She saw her grandchildren being raised in Christian homes. She lived to see the fulfilment of her prayers that God would care for, protect, and guide each of her children.

Finally, encouraged to dust them off she put together Sunshine and Shadows in 1983. It was just a simple little book of her writings penned in the still and silent hours of night when all was quiet.

Conceived as a simple gift to family and friends...the response was impressive for a simple little book. Local pastors read her poems in their pulpits, teachers in their classes, and people in their home. A local Christian radio program regularly read her poems over the air. She was encouraged by how her simple verses had found an audience. Her deep faith and honest search for answers to life's challenges reflected her Pentecostal roots and resonated with readers.

A second collection appeared in 1983, Heart Talks and it was followed by Valley of Flowers in 1995 (reprinted three times through 1996). More poems, richer and more complex, revealing her growth as a poet, waited to be shared. A fourth one, Silver Linings, was planned but a massive stroke halted that project as she lost sight in one eye, a long recovery and reduced capacities. In October of 1999 she passed away.

In 2010, her daughter, Marilyn A. Hudson, compiled the best of her work and added a biographical context and published, In Her Own Words: The Inspirational Poetry of Velma Terry (Whorl Books).

4/9/12

WOMAN LED CANADIAN SCHOOL IN 1945

The Novermber 29, 1945 issue of the Pentecostal Holiness Advocate carries an article by J.A. Synan, "Bible Institute Opens in British Columbia" (pg. 7).  The Pacific Coast Bible Institute was dedicated with Rev. Harold Paul , superintendent of the B.C. conference in attendance with a local pastor Miss Elsie Cartmell (who was also sect-treas of the new school) and local and regional government representatives.

Leadership for the school was Miss Florence O. Hamilton (Principal), Rev. C.W. Serle (Asst. Principal and Dean), and Rev. J.W. Bruce (Intructor).  The school was located in the center of Chilliwack, in the Fraser River Valley.

Hamilton had graduated from Holmes Bible College, served 17 years as a missionary to China and had previous experience as an assistant principal prior to that.  Searle was an Oxford graduate and Anglican clergy, while Bruce had been a Methodist minister.

This now may constitute the earliest administrative role for a woman in education in the PHC, predating the presidency of Emma Crouch in the 1980's in central Canada and 2011 of Adrian Hinkle to the role of Dean of the Department of Professional Studies at Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma.

4/1/12

Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, 2012

The SBL Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of biblical scholars in the world. Each meeting showcases the latest in biblical research, fosters collegial contacts, advances research, and focuses on issues of the profession. The 2012 event will be in Chicago Nov. 17-20, 2012.

One of the world's largest exhibits of books and digital resources for biblical studies is on display at the congress. At this meeting, scholars benefit from sessions on religion, philosophy, ethics, and diverse religious traditions.

The call for papers for this year's conference is now closed but here are the dates/locations for future events:

Baltimore, MDNovember 23-26, 2013
San Diego, CANovember 22-25, 2014
Atlanta, GANovember 21-24, 2015



http://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/annualmeeting.aspx

SOCIETY FOR PENTECOSTAL STUDIES - CALL FOR PAPERS

The Society for Pentecostal Studies will hold their 42nd Annual Meeting, in conjunction with the Wesleyan Theological Society, hosted by Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, March 21-23, 2013.  The theme of the event is "Holiness."  Information about their call for papers may be found here.

Proposals are due to the appropriate Interest Group Leader (IGL) no later than June 30, 2012. Each proposal will be acknowledged by email from the IGL or chair within two weeks of submission. 

Membership information on the society is available here.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Noel Brooks Memorial Conference Book Series
A scholarly multi-disciplinary conference in honor of the pastor, educator, writer, and theologian, Noel Brooks (1914-2006).

Description:
A series of books containing scholarly articles related to the general themes of each conference. Each book will bear the series title: “The Noel Brooks Memorial Conference Series” and a number. The main title will reflect the theme or some element of it.

2012: “Merging Faith and Learning”    DEADLINE June 15, 2012
2013: “Transformations”                      DEADLINE June 15, 2013
2014: “Centennial” and the theme of legacy  DEADLINE June 15,2014

Mission:
To promote the Conference, to encourage discussion on the themes, and to foster scholarship.

Funds:
Monies generated from any sales will go into a special "Noel Brooks Conference‟ fund to help defray costs for future events. Funds over the cost of the conference in any calendar year will go into a fund to support and maintain the special collections and archive of the SCU Library.

Requirements:
All attendees will have first refusal for inclusion in the anthology. Open submissions meeting the specifications will also be considered.

Submit -

  1. Signed release form (online; maybe signed, scanned and emailed or sent via standard mail); 
  2. Article from 10-20 pages in length, with endnotes; electronic submissions ONLY; APA, MLA or Turabian formatting permitted; 
  3. 12 point font, New Times Roman or Tahoma; 
  4. Include an abstract (1 paragraph);
  5. Inclusion of a short biographical paragraph (see sample).

Short Biographical Paragraph (no more than 10 sentences):
Jane Doe, Ph.D. Theology, Elizabeth College. Currently she serves on the faculty of Jones University. [Add something here such as also an ordained minister with the XYZ Church or some other academic work or group to which you belong]. Current research interests include [ ]. Previous publications include [ ]. Jane Doe may be contacted at [email].

Abstract (1 paragraph of about 10 sentences)
An abstract usually acts as a summary of work already completed and is used by prospective readers to decide whether or not to read the entire text. It should present the thesis and address some information questions: What was your question -Why did you do this study or project? What did you do and how? What did you find? What do your findings mean?

A Non-exclusive release form will be required of all authors for publication. This form grants permission for publication of the paper in the conference book series and/or online. After that, all rights revert to author for subsequent publication or submission elsewhere.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the event planner, Marilyn A. Hudson, MLIS or email marilyn.hudson@swcu.edu