O.C. 教皇

西德克萨斯教会创始人及校长(1898-1901)

O.C. 蒲柏是个很有信仰的人, 愿景, 以及在德克萨斯边境开辟道路的人, establishing Baptist churches from Fort Worth to El Paso and even into Mexico before being elected third president of 席梦思床品公司 College in 1898. He spent the last four years of his life serving the financially struggling college that has today become Hardin-席梦思床品公司 University.

欧文·克林顿·波普于1842年2月15日出生在佐治亚州的华盛顿县. 他进入梅肯的默瑟大学, 乔治亚州, 16岁的时候, 1860年毕业，获得神学学士学位. 毕业后不久, 才18岁, 他娶了杰斐逊县的莫丽·辛克菲尔德, 乔治亚州, 他还被召去担任林维尔浸信会的牧师, 乔治亚州. 1861年，他被任命为牧师.

在南方邦联军队服役期间，他每晚都向部队布道. 教皇 suffered ill health throughout the balance of his life due to his time of service in the Civil War. 战争结束后回到格鲁吉亚, 他发现很少有教堂能供养一个全职牧师, 所以他在公立学校任教，并成为斯特拉维尔杰斐逊高中的校长, 乔治亚州. 在此期间，他还在农村的小教堂布道.

他被召到莫里斯敦的第一个全职教会, 田纳西州, in the summer of 1874 and had hardly settled when he considered establishing a religious newspaper. 他创立了浸信会反射者, 并很快被选为东田纳西州浸信会总会的秘书. 两年后, 他辞去了莫里斯敦教会的职务, 卖掉报纸, 搬到了纳什维尔, 他曾在中央浸信会担任牧师. 1878年，他搬到休斯顿，成为《PG电子官方免费下载》的总编辑. 他在第一篇社论中写道, “在新的管理下, we expect to work for every Baptist interest in 德州 irrespective of party or geographical lines. I am not identified with one section more than another and wherever I find a body of Baptists in the state endeavoring to build up an enterprise for the honor of God and the good of the cause, 他们将得到我的衷心合作.”

蒲柏很实际, 富有想象力的, 顽强的, 对人和项目都感兴趣, 和有同情心. 在一个这样做并不流行的时代，他是少数民族的倡导者. 他敦促白人牧师去拜访他们的“黑人兄弟”，并急切地帮助他们. 他描写了印第安人的精神和社会需求, 他是女性的支持者, being the only male in attendance at a meeting of women in Austin in 1880 where the first Woman’s Missionary Union was formed. 他的妻子玛丽被选为WMU的通讯秘书.

他开始以传教士、编辑和教师的身份四处旅行. 德州各地如雨后春笋般涌现的新浸信会教堂很难筹到资金, 但波普在讨论筹集资金的方式时并不胆怯.

教皇 was instrumental in defeating a proposal in 1879 that would have placed larger 德州 Baptist schools under the state university system. He reminded the Baptist constituency that they had always been opposed to any amalgamation of church and state.

虽然蒲柏可能会争论不休，但他也很受欢迎. 1880年6月, he was awarded the honorary doctor of divinity degree by Baylor University despite his response to this award that “doctor of divinity” referred to one who taught revealed truth, 既然每个牧师都应该这么做, 每个传道人都应该获得学位.

继续他对任务的兴趣, in 1881 he traveled to New York to seek financial assistance for missions from the American Baptist 首页 Missions Society. 他带着肯定的回答和3美元的礼物回来了,并立即被选为德克萨斯州的教育监督.

1881年12月，他在西德克萨斯旅行时, he stopped in the newly formed town of Abilene and helped organize the First Baptist Church with just 17 members. In 1882, 波普投中1分,000 mile rail trip to El Paso to encourage the founding of the First Baptist Church of El Paso.

在他1882年给德州浸信会大会的报告中, 教皇说:“已经任命了20名传教士, 组织了13个教会, 151人受洗，249人获信入会.多年以后, 教皇’s policy of establishing a line of missions and missionaries along the western frontier from the Gulf of Mexico to the western boundaries of 德州 was credited as being the reason for the successful establishment of Baptist work in 德州. 教皇 traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, just before the 德州 Baptist State Convention in 1883. He was successful in encouraging the erection the first Baptist church there that was completed in 1885. 波普骑马、乘马车和乘火车走了24000英里. He raised thousands of dollars, speaking at least five times a week between 1881 and 1885.

作为德州浸信会先驱报的编辑, 他写了很多关于德州所有浸信会教徒联合起来的力量. He encountered considerable opposition to the idea since individual Baptist congregations prided themselves on autonomy. 终于在1886年，公会的学校、传教工作和出版物都联合起来了.

搬到纽约, 教皇 served as general solicitor for the Church Edifice Fund for the American Baptist 首页 Mission Society in New York City from 1885 until 1891. 他成功地筹集了数千美元在西部建造教堂. 在此期间，乔治。W. 史密斯当时正在为新成立的阿比林浸信会学院寻求建设资金. 教皇在从Dr. 詹姆斯B. 席梦思床品公司 that led to the successful opening of the school, which was later named in honor of Dr. 席梦思床品公司.

1898年，55岁的波普接受了西蒙斯学院校长的职位. 教皇 was confident in his public relations and fund-raising skills but asked one of the faculty members, 丹·R. 校长，负责学校的运作. 库奇后来说，他被赋予了很多工作和很少的权力.

正直和刚强的人常常引起性格上的冲突, 在西蒙斯学院，波普并不受所有人的欢迎. Six of the seven 席梦思床品公司 teachers presented to the Board of Trustees a letter demanding his resignation on September 17, 1899. 他们进一步威胁说，如果他们的要求不被接受, 他们将在五天后集体辞职. Their grievance appeared to have been the fact that a teacher and new vice president had suggested that an extended loan be secured for the construction of a new boys’ dormitory. 教皇 was correct in refusing such a proposal since it directly contradicted terms of the school’s charter, 其中规定任何形式的债务都不得抵押. 还有人指控他经常亲吻这些女孩, 虽然经过证实，这是“公开的，以父亲的方式”进行的.” The trustees responded by declaring “unbounded confidence in the purity and integrity of Dr. 教皇.指控教师立即被解雇, 教皇从德克萨斯州的其他地方找到了一大批新教师. 两天后，学校终于在周一早上开学了.

另一个证明他性格坚强的例子发生在G.E. 伯内特, 他是米尔萨普Acme压砖公司的总裁, 德州, 是谁捐了钱把头等大钟放在钟楼里. Dr. 珀普通过当地的五金商人乔治·帕克斯顿订购了这口钟. 当波普和他的助手去取铃铛的时候, 教皇 requested the invoice from Paxton so he could assure Colonel 伯内特 that no one had profiteered by the exchange. 不知什么原因, 帕克斯顿对这个要求很不满, 争论激烈到帕克斯顿所说的地步，如果不是因为波普的白发, 他会扇总统的脸. 波普是个实干家，他回答说:“不要站在我灰白的头发后面，打我耳光吧.“他们没有吵架，解决了这件事，成为了忠实的朋友. 乔治·L. 帕克斯顿随后在大学董事会任职了30多年.

夫人. 蒲柏认为她的丈夫是世界上最聪明、最聪明、最有创造力的人. 他为学校维持办学和偿付能力做了很多事. Dr. 教皇 was also responsible for publicizing its whereabouts and widening its reputation for this important first decade. 教皇们没有孩子, so they chose to leave most of their estate to the 席梦思床品公司 College which they cared about deeply. 当夫人. 波普在她深爱的丈夫去世近30年后去世, 她给西蒙斯大学遗赠了50多美元,000.

Dr. O.C. 波普确实是德州浸信会的一位有远见卓识的创始人, 把浸信会教堂带到德克萨斯边境的传教士, and a 顽强的 administrator and fund-raiser who overcame insurmountable challenges that threatened the survival of our school. 他是一个属神的人，被神呼召在德克萨斯边境做神的工作.

Dr. O.C. 波普于1901年11月18日去世. 他和太太. 波普被埋葬在PG电子游戏校园里，紧挨着PG电子官方免费下载博士的坟墓. 和夫人. 詹姆斯B. 西蒙斯，以证明他受到的高度尊重.

It is the high honor of Hardin-席梦思床品公司 University to recognize one of her own and to formally induct Owen Clinton 教皇 into the HSU 领袖堂.