Rev. Oscar Vouga

United Pentecostal Church International

1903 ~ 1978

Reverend Oscar Vouga was born June 29, 1903, in St. Louis County, the fourth of ten children. The spiritual turning point in his life came in 1924, when he was filled with the Holy Ghost and was baptized in the Name of Jesus in Oakland, California, at the big downtown mission under the ministry of Pastor Harry Morse. That same year he married. In December of that year he was ordained, and he and sister Vouga went to Hawaii as missionaries on December 27. They remained in Hawaii until 1932, with the exception of approximately one year spent on the mainland in the years 1926 and 1927.

Brother Vouga affiliated with the Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance in 1930. He held several successful pastorates. His first, after returning from Hawaii, was in Nampa, Idaho, where he labored until 1935. At that time, he accepted the church on 78th and E Streets in Houston, Texas, remaining there until 1937. In 1937 and 1938, he served as pastor of the church in Bemis, Tennessee. From 1941 until 1943, he was pastor of Apostolic Temple in Winnipeg, Canada. Following the merger conference in 1945, he returned to Winnipeg, and established Bethel Tabernacle, the first United Pentecostal Church in that part of Canada. He pastored in Prichard, Alabama, from August 1953 until January 1, 1963. Before the merger, he was a member of the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated, and served this organization in various capacities.

The name Oscar Vouga figures prominently in the account of the merger in 1945. When the committees were appointed from the Pentecostal Church, Incorporated and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ to work out terms of the merger, he served as secretary of the two joint meetings. At the merger conference Oscar stepped down from the office of secretary in order that officials could be selected from both the former organizations. At that time he was appointed a member of the Foreign Missionary Board of the United Pentecostal Church and held this position until 1949, when he was elected assistant general superintendent. He continued in this office until 1962, when he was chosen to fill the office of director of foreign missions. He served faithfully and well in this office until October 1969. After that time he was pastor in Macon, Georgia.

No history of the Oneness Pentecostal movement would be complete without including the ministerial activities of Oscar Vouga. It was on August 8, 1978, that he "finished his course" at the age of seventy-five. Audio Recordings of Oscar Vouga are available in our audio library.