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Biography

Pastor McArthur and Mrs. Esther Anderson met at Pentecostal Church of God in Davenport, Iowa as teens. They grew with the church to become Bishop and First Lady. They share their memories of their early days with the church, the people and the growth of the church community.

Transcript

Janacia: My name is Janacia Park and I am interviewing my Pastor and his First Lady Anderson. And can you say your full name please?

Mrs. Anderson: Esther Dawkins Anderson. Dawkins was my maiden name.

Janacia: Can you say your name?

Bishop Anderson: Yes. My name is McArthur Anderson. I was named after the late General MacArthur; but I spell my name capitol M-c-a-r-t-h-u-r.

Janacia: Thank you. And how old were you guys when you were baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost?

Mrs. Anderson: I think I was baptized at age six and I received the Holy Ghost about seven and a half – seven and a half.

Bishop Anderson: I think I was baptized and I am guessing this is kind of hard for me to remember. But I am going to guess I was about 14. But I didn’t receive the Holy Ghost until I was about 17.

Janacia: Ok. And Bishop was your parents members of the church?

Bishop Anderson: Ah, my mother was but not my father.

Mrs. Anderson: Both my parents were. They brought me to this church as a little girl. My dad was a deacon and also the Sunday school superintendent and the bus driver. And my mom was _________.

Janacia: And first lady Anderson, when did you learn how to play the piano?

Mrs. Anderson: I think I started at about age seven when the former pastor’s wife decided to learn how. And she taught…she started me off about the same time she started. Then after that I took some piano lessons from various teachers and was inspired by other people.

Janacia: Thank you. And Bishop when you first became pastor was it a big challenge and if it was, how did you overcome?

Bishop Anderson: Well, you know I have to say it was a big challenge, but the blessing was I really at that point was like 31 years old. So I didn’t really recognize how big of a challenge it really was. That helped a lot. That…That…I say just not recognizing how big of a challenge it was. That helped me overcome.

Janacia: Thank you. And what insight did you get from the past, Pastor?

Bishop Anderson: Well since I started praying in this church I was about eight years old. So I have always been a person who watched and observed and observed and learned. So basically mine is what you call kind of OJ2, on the job training. And so most of my learning came from watching him, being around him, and just basically coming to church.

Janacia: Ok, thank you. And First Lady Anderson when your mom became pastor was it hard being a pastor’s child?

Mrs. Anderson: I don’t think that it was difficult. Cause didn’t seem like much changed when my mom was pastor. She started pastoring when I was about eleven, and she pastored ‘till I was about twelve or thirteen. And then she stopped and came back to this area. That was in Oklahoma. And then when I became an adult and had children, she started another church and I wasn’t a part of that.

Janacia: And as being a Pastor’s wife do you help council the people that come to your husband?

Mrs. Anderson: Sometimes, if I am asked, I’ll do that. Other than that my counseling is kind of limited. I don’t try to council anybody unless they ask me a question about something. That’s normally not my real job.

Janacia: And Bishop and first lady Anderson, you tell us some of the good things you enjoy of being over the church.

Mrs. Anderson: Well, first of all I enjoy going out with Pastor and then -going home with him. I enjoy the young people and other people. They treat me kind of like a mother. And then I in turn treat them kind of like my children. I enjoy doing things for them and teaching them things, you know. I enjoy my position.

Janacia: And first lady Anderson, is it hard being over the choir? And how old were you when you started?

Mrs. Anderson: I was an adult when I took over the choir. And there are some things about it that’s kind of difficult in that, I am one who likes peace and quiet. But if you are going to be in that position you do need to listen to music and spend some time with it. So there’s a conflict in it.

Janacia: And first lady Anderson where are some of the jobs outside of church that you enjoy doing?

Mrs. Anderson: Well ah…I work at one of the high schools as a teacher.

Janacia: While being in church first lady Anderson could you…could you attend any sports or actives at school?

Mrs. Anderson: You want to start?

Pastor Anderson: Yes. I could always attend. I probably didn’t attend a lot because; I was under the assumption the pastor really preferred me to be at church as opposed to attending… attending a lot of other outside activities. But I tried to attend.

Janacia: Ok. First Lady?

Mrs. Anderson: I attended my first game, real game with my husband. That was when I was an adult. Cause when I...when I was a member of the church in the early day we didn’t participate in sports and neither did we go to activities.

Janacia: Thank you. And can you please tell me some history on the Delts, Deacon Woods and Mother Perkins and their positions?

Mrs. Anderson: Mother Perkins I am just really familiar with her. Because when I came to the church in the early 50’s, she was here. And we spent a lot of time with her. She…she would always visit the saints’ houses when they got…they got sick or whatever. She was always avail…she was a Sunday school teacher. So I had her as a teacher. I always…as a kid I always tried to avoid her when we had…we had a get together every month. We had dinner. She would always make sure I ate my green peas, which I didn’t like.

Janacia: And Bishop, can you tell us anything about Deacon Woods?

Bishop Anderson: Well Deacon Woods, came here from Indianapolis, and got saved while he was here. My wife probably knows much more about him than I do. But ah…Once I became pastor he…he…he was the head deacon under me. So I became Pastor in 1978. He was really just an excellent, excellent deacon and helper in the church. Really he was, actually I’d say during the early years, when I was pastoring, his position…he really was a Deacon, but it was more like he was an assistant pastor. And Deacon Delts?

Janacia: Yes.

Bishop Anderson: Deacon Delts, he was here first when I got here. Again my wife probably knows more about him than I do. But Deacon Delts under Bishop Boyd, I think he was like the head Deacon. And he more or less held the church together. He was…he and his family kind of held the church together. And you could always…very dependable when it came to the early years of the church. And the one thing I really remember about him that stands out to date, one was that…his...his…ah one of his main philosophy was, anything worth doing is worth doing right the first time. Another thing that he brought to the table that was just, I can’t help was excellent, he was very time conscious. He just believed there was a time to start and there was a time to finish. As far as things like that are concerned. So he was…he was very very concerned about mainly the physical aspect of the building.

Mrs. Anderson: He was very…he was a handyman.

Bishop Anderson: Yes.

Mrs. Anderson: I mean he could teach us about everything. I think he...he worked in elec…he did elec…he worked in electricity. One of the early, earliest memories I have of him is when I came as a little girl, back in 50…bout 54. He always led the service at night. Sunday night. And he and his family would usually do a number. Then his wife and his daughter played the accordion. And they all sang together. So those are some of my fond memories.

Bishop Anderson: Did he work for Alcoa?

Mrs. Anderson: I think he did. Yes. Then the other thing that I remember….He was so handy, he always…if anybody had a questions about something you know you could always go to him. When I was…I don’t know…when I was a kid, I got my thumb caught in a car door. It turned purple and everything and it was giving me a lot of pain. And he said come here I know what to do. So he whipped out his little pocket knife and he drilled a hole right in the top of my thumb. The nail and all the bruised blood came out and I was fine. It never hurt any more. So that’s the kind of man he was. He knew a lot.

Janacia: Thank you. First Lady Anderson you played the organ for a long time. And as a child and as an adult what was your favorite song and can you play a little piece?

Mrs. Anderson: I don’t know if that I have a favorite song. As years went on what I had as a favorite would change. I will play something.

Bishop Anderson: You have a song?

Mrs. Anderson: Would you like to sing? Did you want piano or organ?

Janacia: Whichever one you want.

Bishop Anderson: ________

Mrs. Anderson: What?

(Mrs. Anderson plays the piano)

Bishop Anderson: What was it? (applauds)

Janacia: Thank you. What was the name of the song?

Mrs. Anderson: “Oh how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.”

Bishop Anderson: I could’ve sung.

Mrs. Anderson: What? I said you could. I would have let you. (Laughs)

Janacia: Bishop, can you tell us about some of the pictures and memories of the church in this
book? And can you turn it around for the pictures?

Mrs. Anderson: Be nice to start with the cover. That takes you way back. That was where the church was when I first came in 53’. And some of the cars there – I think that’s the pastor’s. Had a lot of good times in that little church.

Bishop Anderson: This is the church that was at 6th and Warren. Actually the building is still standing. Barely, but its standing. The front cover here is the Bishop Boyd. And he loved to drive Chryslers. That was…he thought that was the number one car on the road. It was pretty
hard – big at that time. And then sitting behind that vehicle must be the assistant pastor’s car.
Bishop Anderson: I Imagine at that time was _____

Mrs. Anderson: He wasn’t the assistant Pastor at that time.

Bishop Anderson: No. No. Now the interior here…we have here is a picture of the beginning of preparing to build until all we had was like an open mine field. That house was next door. The house we actually lived in. And then cutting the grass there one of the young men in the church at that time. Prentiss Berbidge…he was actually my second cousin. Then as we prepared to build we had a service on May 30th, and we have…

Mrs. Anderson: Ground Breaking…

Bishop Anderson : …ground breaking. So in this picture here, we have four individuals this was the Michael Bowers who was the…our banker, who helped us get our loan. The next one to him is myself. And then we have Bishop Jeremiah Reed who was a Pastor in the city of Des Moines, Iowa. And then this was our mayor at the time, of the city of Davenport, his name is Gibbs, Pat Gibbs. Another picture over here again our banker. And then we have a picture of my wife, First Lady Anderson, First Lady Reed, Bishop Reed’s wife. Her name is Willie Mae Reed. And then I believe this is Mark Nussem he was our financial advisor at the time. And then finally a picture of the building once it was up.

Janacia: Well Bishop and First Lady Anderson thank you for taking the trip for us today.

Bishop Anderson: Thank you.

Mrs. Anderson: Thank you.

Bishop Anderson: It was our pleasure.