I am humbly grateful to have been selected by the Freed Hardeman College Lectureship Committee to speak upon the topic: Restoration Leaders—R. N. Hogan.
It is not an easy thing to
gather material on such a great and versatile preacher as Bro. R. N.
Hogan. So I thought that it would be wise on my part to contact Bro.
Calvin Bowers, one who is very close to Bro. Hogan, and received from
him some useful material. Bro. Bowers went by and interviewed Bro. Hogan
and in their conversation Bro. Hogan related to Bro. Calvin, many of the
things that will be said in this discourse.
Bro. R. N. Hogan was born in Monroe County, Arkansas, November 30,
1902. His parents were Willie & Emma Hogan-his father died with consumption (T.B.) when Bro. Hogan was three years old. He lived and attended school in Monroe County, Arkansas until he was about eight or nine years old. About this time his mother turned him over to Bro. G. P. Bowser of the Silver Point Christian College to develop Bro. Hogan into a Christian minister. He completed the eighth grade and entered the ninth grade at Silver Point, Tennessee.Bro. A. M. Burton persuaded Bro. Bowser to move to a better facility in Nashville, Tennessee. This school became known as the Southern Practical Institute. The school closed a short time later because the white administrator wanted the black students to enter the back door of their own school. Bro. Hogan began attending the school, and was among those who went home. While in Nashville Bro. Hogan lived and worked in the home of Bro. A. M. Burton. Following the break up of the school, Bro. Hogan moved to Louisville, Ky. with the Bowser family and attended public school there.
Bro. Hogan obeyed the gospel when he was about ten years old, under the preaching of Alexander Campbell (black) and began preaching at the age of fourteen. After being turned over to Bro. G. P. Bowser at an early age, he traveled with Bro. Bowser as a boy preacher.
His first sermon was: "What Think Ye of Christ Whose Son is He?" He also traveled some with Bro. A. J. Bynum, an older gospel preacher. Bro. Hogan was known as "the boy evangelist." He is now known today as "the walking Bible." Bro. Hogan began preaching at Silver Point, Tennessee at fourteen years old.
Bro. Hogan helped to get Southwestern Christian College started in 1949 and has served on its board of directors ever since.
Bro. Hogan has several books in print: Sermons by R. N. Hogan 1940. He has several reprints: Jesus only and Jehovah's Witness Blunders—Seventh Day Adventists and the Bible. He reprinted Bowser's: "What We Believe arid Why We Believe It." Bro. Calvin Bowers wrote a Master Thesis: A Critical Study of the Preaching of R. N. Hogan-published in 1972. It can be ordered by writing George Pepperdine University Library 8035 S. Vermont Avenue, c/o Mrs. Terry Leoung, Los Angeles, California, 90044. Bro. Hogan has been the editor and publisher of the Christian Echo since 1953. This publication ought to be in every Christian home in our great brotherhood.
Bro. Hogan has influenced over one hundred men to preach. He has preached at the Figueroa Church for forty three years since its beginning. There are about fifteen hundred members at Figueroa, about one thousand of these are faithful in attendance.
Some of the improvements that Bro. Hogan has sought in
the church include Christian education, race relationship,
support for ministers, and more missionary work.
Bro. Hogan feels that large strong congregations should be developed as a base out of which other works may grow.
Some of Bro. Hogan's closest friends include Levi Kennedy (deceased), G. E. Steward (deceased), J. S. Winston, G. P. Holt and O. L. Trone, among the younger men would be Dr. Jack Evans, Dr. Willie F. Washington, Calvin Bowers, O. J. Dyson, Roosevelt Wells and really about all the preachers who know him.
Bro. Hogan's family consists of his wife Maggie, children: Alberta, Harold & Dorothy. He has nineteen grand children and thirty six great grandchildren including two identical twins, Danny & David Minor and two great great grandchildren.
Bro. Hogan has been preaching for almost sixty-five years. He has established several congregations and baptized thousands into Christ.
He has debated with almost every major religious group, including Baptist, Methodist, Holiness, Seventh Day Adventist, Muslims, etc. He has received many tributes. He received an Honorary Doctorate from George Pepperdine University; Man of the Year salute by Women At Work for Southwestern Christian College over which Dr. Jack Evans is president; A legend in his own time salute; and the development of the R. N. Hogan scholarship by George Pepperdine University are among the most recent honors.
Bro. Hogan has preached in about forty of the fifty states. In 1970 he traveled in twelve countries and he also preached in Jamaica.
He has been on practically all of the Lectureships at Christian Colleges frequently as the key note speaker. He sponsored the first state-wide lectureship among black Churches of Christ at Houston, Texas. Later he helped to initiate the National Lectureship among black churches of Christ. He has spoken at many encampments. In the fall of 1980 he visited the Farris Drive Church of Christ where I am the regular minister. When he got off the plane, my son-in-law took him straight to my home. Bro. Hogan said he wanted to take a nap so I let him stretch out in my long bed, of course, that doubles the value of my bed because Bro. Hogan slept in my bed.
He also preached in Rogersville, Alabama at the Southside Church of Christ where my son-in-law, Freeman Malone, is the regular minister. Bro. Hogan was at his best. Bro. J. S. Winston, Dr. Willie F. Washington, and Bro. Roosevelt Wells also preached on the program.
Now for the benefit of all those who might not know it, Bro. Hogan suffered a heart attack in October of 1980. He did not preach for several months, but I learned from Bro. Bowers that Bro. Hogan's is now preaching again but he is not traveling around holding meetings. Remember him in your prayers.
—by John Harris, 1982 Freed-Hardeman Lectures, page 152-154
R.N. Hogan (L) with J.S. Winston, Hogan's Song Leader in 1939
In A Gospel Meeting In Lower Rio Grande Valley In Texas
Winston was Hogan's Lifelong Friend And Associate
N34˚04.016' x W117˚50.368'
Accuracy to 15' / Grave Faces North
Location: Section-Cherished Memory, Lot 2065, Space 3
Location In Cherished Memory Section Where Hogans Are Buried
Maggie E. Hogan
Beloved Wife
Mother & Grandmother
1902-1996
In Memory Of Our Beloved
Richard Nathaniel Hogan
"A Hard Fighting Soldier"
In The Churches Of Christ
Evangelist, Writer, Educator
1902-1997
The Setting Around The Graves Of R.N. & Maggie Hogan
Mount Baldy In The Distant North From The Grave Of R.N. Hogan
From Grave Looking Toward Mount Baldy In The Distant North
From Grave Looking Back Toward The Mortuary