Rev. Philip Alfred Dugas

United Pentecostal Church International

1933~2012

Phillip Alfred Dugas was born at home on July 26, 1933 in Los Angeles, California.  His parents were Ethel Mae Boyd and Alfred Frances Dugas. Ethel had no religious background, but one day she attended a Bible Study at a neighbor’s house.   She went back for more Bible Studies and eventually received the Pentecostal experience.  Fred was a Roman Catholic, but after seeing the change in Ethel’s life, he received the same experience.

Phillip’s siblings were Glenn, Maxine (Allen) and Paul.  He had a happy childhood.  His family moved a lot between Long Beach, CA and Prineville, OR due to his father’s work as a Sawyer in several different lumber mills.  But everywhere they moved, his mother conducted church services   Phillip attended schools in Prineville as well as California.

At the age of 14 Phillip experienced great sadness.  His father, Fred, developed heart problems and became very ill.  He died in 1947.  Phillip took a paper route to help meet the needs that he and his widowed mother had. Two years later, Phillip was blessed with a new stepfather.  Rev. Andrew Urshan married Phillip’s mother and provided for their needs.  He had a son named Andy who had come to live with them.  Andy suffered from muscular dystrophy and was paralyzed from the neck down.  Andy  and Phillip became good friends.  Andy passed away in his early twenties.

Phillip attended Long Beach Polytechnic High and graduated in June of 1951.  Then in April of 1953, he was inducted into the Army during the last months of the Korean War.  He served in Ulm, Germany where he worked in Ordinance.  He finished his term and went home on April 7, 1955.  He enrolled in Junior College and studied Engineering.  He began attending church with his mother and stepfather.  Andrew Urshan noticed that Phillip became intensely interested in the subject of Bible Prophecy.  He gave him a book entitled “Things To Come”, which he was fascinated with  He gave his life to the Lord and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  His life totally changed from that point on.  He lost interest in the Engineering classes.  A tour group of students from Western Apostolic Bible College visited the Long Beach church one evening and Phillip attended.  He was impressed with the singing of the quartet, and the sincere testimonies of the men.  Something stirred in his heart and a desire was born to enroll in that College.  In the fall of 1957 he journeyed to Stockton and became a student.

The next three years of his life were exciting.  The classes enriched his life as he explored the Word of God. He especially enjoyed the Prophecy classes taught by Clyde J. Haney. They were so informative as they studied Daniel, the book of Revelation, time lines and parallels of scriptural truth in the books of Daniel and Revelation.   

At WABC, he established friendships that endured for over fifty years.  In his last year at WABC, Phillip began dating a fellow classmate named Doris Galpin.  On the night of their Graduation they became engaged. They were married in San Leandro, California on October 15, 1960.  

They began traveling on the Evangelistic field.  Their first Revival was in Turlock, CA where Bro. Henry Moore was pastor.  They continued to Evangelize for 2 ½ years.  In the Spring of 1962 they began pastoring a small church that was meeting in a Grange Hall in Oroville, CA. There were only 2 families in the church, but after a time, the church began to grow.  Phillip was hired by the California State Department of Water Resources as a surveyor for the Oroville Dam project.  On October 1, 1963, their son John David Dugas was born.

On December 17, 1964 a daughter was born to Phillip & Doris. She was named Deborah Joy Dugas. Around that time, plans were made to build a church on the corner lot on 10th Street that they had been making payments on.  Construction began with help from a neighboring Pastor, Burl Woodward, who was a Building Contractor.  By May of 1966, the new church was ready to occupy. 

Their 3rd child, Andrew Joseph Dugas was born on  May 17, 1966.  The United Pentecostal Church of Oroville began to grow.  Some of the activities were bus ministry, fund raising by making Peanut Brittle and attendance drives and contests.

Phillip served the Western District as California District Youth Secretary.  He also worked on the Oroville Dam project.  In 1972 the Phillip Dugas family resigned the Oroville Church and felt that God had called them to Ashland Oregon.  They moved to Ashland into the basement of a lovely old church for the purpose of continuing the Home Mission work that Pastor Jack Renison had begun.

In 1973 the Dugas family was called to pastor the UPC church in Salem Oregon.  They remained in Salem until they received a call from Rev. Kenneth Haney in Stockton.  He asked Phillip to come there to become the Executive Vice Presisdent of Western Apostolic Bible College.  His Mom, Ethel Dugas Urshan came to Stockton to visit when she became ill.  She passed away at this time. 

In December of 1976, Phillip was voted in as Pastor of Evangel United Pentecostal Church, located on Killingsworth Street in North Portland.  These were busy years, in which  Revival was experienced.  Once again the call from Bro. Kenneth Haney came for Phillip to return to Stockton to teach Bible Prophecy.  During this time he served as Dean of Students and the Bookstore Manager of CLC.  He also made several Mission trips to Majuro, Marshall Islands. 

In December of 1995 Phillip accepted the call to Pastor Abundant Life Church here in Portland, where he was pastor until January 15, 2012.  He was invited to travel to Ethiopia to teach and minister to Bible students there.  On January 15, 2012 he was officially installed as Pastor Emeritus.  He served in that capacity until his death on April 29, 2012.