Sixty Years Of Preaching the Gospel

Sunday will be a special day for the Hodge family. We will be in Texas at the Bardwell Church of Christ. This is the place where Pops and Granny were converted and baptized into Christ. This is also the group that planted a church in Rankin. It was there my grandfather served as an elder and dad began preaching. (Little known fact: The Rankin church probably produced more preachers per capita than any other church.) With a gift and passion to preach the gospel dad left the farm at the age of 16 and traveled west to attend ACC. He will graduate in the infamous class of "1952" with Paul Faulkner, Carl Brecheen, and Bill Teague. After graduation he will go up north to Harding College and, there, he will receive the first Masters Degree in Bible that Harding offered. (He will also meet mom which is another article at another time.)

He will begin his preaching career in Johnson (Switch), Ark. He then had an opportunity to move close to home when he was offered the job in Ennis, Texas. Dad soon learned a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown. Mom and Dad moved to Seagoville where dad probably did his best work. He learned at Seagoville the lesson of leaving too soon. A church in Houston called and the big city invited the country preacher. Dad learned - just because it glitters - doesn’t mean it is gold. After Houston the Hodge 5 moved to Cowtown where baby Jerry made them the Hodge 6. Dad learned a valuable lesson about staying somewhere too long. (Although he did that for me) Dad finished his full time ministry at Duncanville where he helped a church to grow large and build a new building. He also learned about poor leadership. Sometimes little men with big mouths in the wrong position can cause much pain.

Dad has now preached for sixty years! He has written numerous books and material for teachers. He has been the boy wonder invited to speak at every major lectureship. He has been a voice on the cutting edge to call a brotherhood to grace. He has been a voice of warning when truth had been compromised. He has been boycotted, written up, and fired. And through it all he keeps preaching and learning!

Sunday about 15 miles from where he started Hodge will celebrate 6 0 years of preaching. He will begin by breaking down and crying. He will then move into his sermon that will be filled with truth and a passion that has grown with the years. In the audience will be some of the Hodge 19 - the most "God blessed family on earth." Dad we are proud!

Charles Bee Hodge, Jr.’s son